Analysis of using mirrors
There’s an external reflection that’s public and everyone can see as a form of public identity, but there’s also an internal reflection that’s personal and happens when one is by themselves. Mirrors in the work makes the viewer part of the work because of the reflectiveness.
I’ve looked at Ryan Coleman’s work, and found his usage of mirrors is different to how I use mirrors, because he laser cuts the mirrors into shapes of gestural marks of drawing and painting. I use mirrors as a signifier to point towards subjects to do with a Lacanian and Kristevian themes of the abject and uncanny, that works together with the subject of the prints.
Summer Studio Space and Doors
I’ve chosen my summer studio space to be by a door, because I’n recognising that doors are important symbols in my works. Doors are symbols of gateways towards the unconscious for the artist. In dream dictionaries, doors are often markers of transition and has a phrase associated with opportunities: one door closes another opens. When doors are closed or partially open, the view is obstructed and we don’t know what’s on the other side. That plays with the idea of the unconscious.
Choosing the angle of the reflection as a key photo
I’ve hung the works on the wall and have taken a few photos of the mirrored prints at different angles. I’ve found the image of the mirrored prints with empty chairs and a bin in the reflection to be the most successful, because empty chairs symbolise the absence of human presence and a bin references the place for abandoned items no one wants or need anymore. It’s a metaphor for the things that have been suppressed but doesn’t entirely go away – it just gets transported to a landfill but is still there, but hidden away from populated areas.
Other approaches
I’ve also recorded a video of encountering the work.
https://vimeo.com/573031817
I’ve realised that I’m using the things I’ve learnt from the Models and Methods of Curatorial Practice module from the first semester, to help me frame the works in a space.
