While researching my project I have come across a few artists who have become quite popular through social networks. Namely, Instagram. Instagram can be, when used effectively, a clever way to capture peoples attention. This is how I found the artist Elly Smallwood and have since found many other artists and interesting people.
I’ve started to dither back into the realm of film and the role that play within the art world. I stumbled across a videographer/photographer/exhibitionist who goes by the alias of Vex. She has started a website called Four Chambers which depicts people through a variety of closeup shots. Vex chooses to have a main theme for the films and works in correspondence to that theme. While looking at her films the most popular way she interprets the theme is through sexual acts, or the illusion of sexual acts. Her films are tastefully shot with beautiful chemistry between the people involved. This had a direct link to my work and how I am focusing on porn film stills at the moment in order to capture a moment. However, in a way, I think Vex’s films capture a truer moment than the stills I’m re-creating at the moment. Vex captures chemistry, captures a pure igniting moment between two (or more) people.
There is one particular film where she focuses on the marks that can be made upon her body by two other people. The intensity in the moments where you are waiting for one person to touch the other is unbearable; the energy that is captured through the slowed down footage is indescribable. I think part of the intensity is due to the clever editing of slowing the clips down to such a pace that it still keeps the viewer interested but that builds tension. There is a variety of slow and fast paced moments in the films which is really effective. What is also effective, is how Vex doesn’t try to encompass too much into an image; the simplistic shooting/set-up of the films lends itself to the tastefulness of the film. By zooming in on either the reaction from the people in the film, or zooming in so much to the action taking place that it blurs, creates an ambiguity. We are on edge because we know what is happening, we have a good idea of what is going on, but there’s nothing to confirm that;from ambiguous names such as ‘Tendrils’ and ‘The Renascence’, there is a sublime element to the pieces.
Since my dissertation, I have found myself returning more and more to the theory of the sublime and one thing I have learned is that the sublime is very individual to the person experiencing. What may be sublime for me may not be for another person and vice versa. but that individual experience and the way images/sounds/art is interpreted is what makes the sublime so terrifying. The very idea that something as complex as the sublime is both definable and indefinable at the same time is hard for some people to comprehend. It is definable because an individual can define it for themselves, but they cannot define it for everyone else. There is no universal meaning for the sublime. I quite like the idea of looking into the individual experience of the sublime and not just my own experience. When doing group tutorials for my dissertation it was interesting to see how all of our definitions of the sublime differed.
*All the images belong to Vex, the people of Four Chambers, or the individuals involved in the making of the films/photographs.*
I’ve started toying with the idea of sketching the subject with paint rather than painting with paint. The paintings I was doing were okay but they werne’t wowing me at all and I was never really happy with the final outcome of them. So I started switching up my technique; I’m painting on a smaller size and with a lot more carelessness. I start by quickly painting on the canvas all over as a background/under-laying colour, this gives me something to work on top of. The disadvantage of this though is that I can’t work directly onto the canvas straight after painting on it, I have to give it a few days to dry and for the colour to settle onto the canvas. When that has happened I then use my reference picture to trace the outline of the face. I tend to start with the nose and work my way outwards. This gives me a good starting point and lets me gauge the proportions of the face a lot better. I use black acrylic paint for this, I wanted a harsh colour and something that would provide definitive lines that would show through the block colour I would put on after. Black proved really effective here, although I’m sure a burnt umber or dark purple would do the same job. The black gave the classic sketching look that I liked and almost looks like it was done with charcoal or Indian Ink. I then start to block in some parts of the background with the black, this harshness helps cement the face as part of the image, I’ve found. Without doing this the face almost looks like a floating head and there’s nothing to ground the image. Another way of grounding the features is that I left some of the red paint from the background showing through the face.
I then start to block in some of the shadows and highlights. Using a flesh tone and yellow ocher as well as a little bit of golden yellow, it helps to bring some definition and contour to the face. The flesh tone also acted as a highlight to provide some dimension to the painting and compliment the contours from the darker colour. When defining the features I left it very rough but also left out some information such as the hair, the hair wasn’t integral to the image and I think it would have detracted from the overall effect of the painting; by providing a finished piece it is slightly more conclusive for the viewer to see whereas by leaving out some parts and leaving it unfinished it allows the viewer to help fill in some missing parts. Unless the viewer read this blog post or my sketchbooks they would not know that this is from a porn film however with this ambiguity the viewer can come to their own conclusion. The role of the viewer in my work isn’t entirely integral to its success but its something to note.
After I block shade and light in I then use the black and start to go back in; I then go back and forth between this until I’m happy. I also use some of these block colours in the background as this allows to create a harmonious image. Although I am interested in creating a cohesive image that flows I still want an unfinished quality that comes from sketching. This could also be a “rough painting” or a study before the bigger painting. I’m not interested in doing bigger paintings that signify the end result of something though; I’m really interested in the idea of a continued body of work that evolves and remains inconclusive. Rather than bouncing from one project to the next, completing each one with a satisfactory ending, I prefer to keep it open ended.
I’ve been trying to push myself in terms of exploring different techniques in painting. I have used palette knifes before and been quite successful with them so this isn’t really me pushing myself but because of the rut I’ve found myself in recently I think starting by playing with palette knifes is a good way to start exploring different concepts.
Using a palette knife offers a different insight into how paint can be applied and the materiality of the paint I’m using. You have to be very careful with the amount of paint you’re using but also the way you’re applying it. It’s hard to get thin defined lines but it’s really amazing at blocking in colours and applying a lot of paint in one go. I really like using a palette knife but it just doesn’t offer the intimacy with a painting that a paintbrush can provide.
These are some of the paintings I came up with and I really like them. In my second year of uni I explored the idea of eliminating features of the face as a way to create a sublime feeling, I think using a palette knife for this would be really effective. I’d really like to continue using palette knifes with paint.
