Buckinghamshire New University

Following on from a very informative tutorial with our visiting tutor I have been re-evaluating what I am trying to do. She suggested that some of my work is unresolved and this has made me realise that I have not been thinking about the materials I am using in a productive way.

In particular, I have cast concrete using cardboard yarn cones as the formers without giving enough thought as to what the cones are used for. For example, yarn is wound onto them by machinery and the yarn is soft and coloured. I realised that I had not questioned my use of concrete or the copper which I had included in the piece. The tutor suggested that by extending my investigation of the cones other work would evolve.

In essence I need to start thinking about what a material or object is used for because that will help me to know what I can do with it. This sounds obvious but until now I have been too hasty in inventing new work without developing what I have already made. I need to look back at good work and investigate its potential.

The connection of yarn cones with my grid drawings is interesting because I have been spraying paint through punched cards which were originally used to programme textile looms. The result is a kind of photographic image which I have further developed by spraying through old plastic netting and other woven or grid materials. By highlighting elements within the resulting pattern I have been able to achieve depth within the drawings.

The punched cards suggest that I can make my own cards with their own ‘code’. They could be coated with shellac, similar to the originals, and then be used to make prints or left as objects in their own right.

Cones can be further developed by casting with something other than concrete and incorporating the yarn within the material. Metal elements can be introduced as a way of association with the machinery that winds the yarn onto the cones.

Following on from our presentations to students and staff this week, I have realised how important it is to keep my work consistent with my statement. It is easy to stray away from the essential concept of one’s work.

With this in mind I have had to re-evaluate some aspects of what I am doing. I keep in mind my interest in how objects can evolve through the process of making and how craft skills may be related to this. I am also interested in how a non functioning object is either developed or seen as art. This notion is closely linked to my interest in utilitarian objects and structures and the creation of form.

Some of the objects I made from cardboard tubes earlier this month were not working. However I have subsequently made one from paper and wire that almost looks like an everyday object. This is what I am aiming for. I am now casting cement from cardboard tubes and attaching metal elements to make something that is almost familiar. This partly extends my paper objects which include graphite and metal rivets and reflects my interest in some of the crafted objects that I have been studying in Oxford’s museums.

I try to keep a constant dialogue going between my sculpture and drawing because it helps to extend my ideas. I feel that recently my drawing has veered away from my concept and that I need to bring it back into line so that it is consistent with the objects that I am making. It must not be illustrative but must explore the invention of new objects and hopefully inform the crafting process. This could take the form of a diagram.

With little time left on my course I am aware that it is necessary to focus intently on a specific enquiry and not get distracted by other possibilities.