I rescued a frame which was destined for the skip, I will use it for the next piece of work. I had several ideas about how to use the frame; covering it with bandages and covering it with the words I thought I was going to use on the fabric sculpture.
Tricia Cottrell: Preparatory Sketch: (2014)
Media: Pencil on paper
Dimensions: 6cm x 9cm
Location: Artists Sketchbook
Scanned Image
Maybe this is too obvious. One of the main characteristics of this kind of abuse is that the victims are encouraged by their abusers to keep silent. “It’s our secret”, “Don’t tell anyone” or “No one will believe you” are phrases that are often used.
I feel the need to give voice to the words, that for me, embody sexual child abuse but there is also the desire to reflect the aspect of being hidden or covered up.
I used a cut and sewn together sheet which will become the ‘canvas’ for my frame and started by painting the words, big and bold with fabric paint. The paint seeped into the fabric as I was writing the words which made it look as if the words were bleeding.
Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress: (2014)
Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint
Dimensions: 2m x 3m
Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)
Close up section
I revisited text artist Jenny Holzer. She uses language exclusively in her art. She has engaged with issues of violence and trauma which I feel has strong links to my own work. In 1977 she began an ongoing series of provocative, one line statements which she collected and had commercially printed on billboards which were pasted on buildings in and around Manhattan. They were meant as an attack on established ideas about who art was for, where it should be shown and for what purpose. She displays her texts in a variety of formats:
- Posters
- Monumental signs
- Billboards
- Television
- LED signs
More information is available at:
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jenny-holzer-1307
Below are some of her images, that I feel are particularly pertinent to my work.
Jenny Holzer: Televised Texts: 1990
Media: Video
Duration: 13 minutes
Image courtesy of Video Data Bank
Website available at: http://www.vdb.org/
“Holzer adopts the form and language of commercial messages to disrupt communication, presenting kamikaze texts that are designed to stimulate thought, with humor, and inspire a critical attitude in an often passive audience. As in all of Holzer’s work, these television spots present deceptively simple sequences of text that mix provocative social commentary with resonant poetic reflection.”
Tate Website: No Author, (no date)
Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jenny-holzer-1307
More information available at:
http://landmarks.utexas.edu/projects/video/holzer
I tried the video link on this website but it yielded no results. It seems that this particular video is not held in the video archive. I have tried several other searches but to no avail.
Jenny Holzer: Survival Series: 1983-1985
Media: Screen Print on Wooden Postcard
Dimensions: 9 x 14cm
Location: Unknown
Image available at:
http://www.grahamegalleries.com.au/index.php/stand-1-grahame-galleries-editions
Jenny Holzer: Survival Series: 1983-1985
Image available at:
http://www.grahamegalleries.com.au/index.php/stand-1-grahame-galleries-editions
Jenny Holzer: Inflammatory Essays: 1979-1982
Media: Lithograph on Paper
Dimensions: 431 x 431cm
Location: Tate Collection
Jenny Holzer’s approach is brutal and to the point, it challenges people’s perceptions. My own approach is less blatant, I am hinting at rather than spelling it out. I decided to stitch the same words in a smaller size in the spaces between the larger words. It is symbolic of the use of different strategies to cope with traumatic experiences.
Below is the link to a video of me stitching.
To have a break from stitching, I turned my attention to a large canvas I had made with the intention of painting a portrait of a child, to represent me and found an image online that I wanted to use.
I found some black and white photographs of me as a child and thought that I could use my own features in the painting. The images were very small only 6cm x6cm. When I tried to enlarge them, the features were completely lost. Kathryn took some pictures of me so that I could study the shape of my facial features. The eyes are the most prominent feature in the online image. They are full of emotion and it is this emotion that I would like to capture in my painting.
I came back in to this post in order to add the reference information to the online image, but despite an extensive search I could no longer find the image.
