When I began this year I wanted to get far away from Jackson Pollock as possible, the reason is because I wanted my artwork to be remember as something that I did and not copied another artists’ technique. I was thinking about what I would want to say in my work, but the thing was that I did not know what I wanted to say in general. All my life I have found that I am kind of hiding a part of me that I do not want people to see, this was what it was like for most of my life but know all I want is to show the whole world who I really am as a person and an artist.
When I am an artist I express myself more than I do in life, and I do not want there to be two different versions of myself. So during my final year I thought to myself that I would put myself out there more and see what happens, it turns out that it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I have realized during this process that over thinking everything is not a good idea because in the end you will not get anything done. I have put the same process to my artwork, trying not to over think anything and seeing what the results will be at the end.
I am still not a hundred per cent what my final piece is going to be I have a few different ideas for example creating an installation of my work space using three dimensional printing, use the marks that I have on the wall or finding a way to display my canvases whether that is individually or together. This is the one thing throughout my course that I always over think because I want it to look like a professional piece of work.
Like I said previously I have always over thought this part of the process because I want it to look good enough to be in an exhibition, another problem that I am facing at the moment is that I need to try and get my multiple ideas down to two. Having two definite ideas means that I can get a space that fits the propose o what I want to create.
When creating my paintings I try to make them with some invention. Through the process of creating a small composition I engage with the process as much as possible, which in result creates something that has a lot of movement, or it could show a memory or even both as the same time. Which lead me to think about Gustav Metzger and the thirteen points of process, this process in particular is called invention art, or ‘artistic creation’ as a process, mainly mysterious and generally engaged and spontaneous, which was either physical or mental, or even both. (Cole, I (1999) pp. 31-38)
Cole, I (1999) Gustav Metzger: Retrospective, Art as Process: A Baker’s Dozen. Oxford. Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.. pp. 31-38
In my dissertation I was focusing on the structure of the artist’s process and how the documentation impacts their work differently. The two artist’s that I researched were Jackson Pollock and Francis Alys. The two years before I began my dissertation my work was about process but I did not know much about process and how this impacted my work. But in the process for writing my dissertation I was able to find more information on what my work was about. I do not like to create a painting with just the traditional method of using paint brushes, I like using plastic cups, broken brushes, cardboard or fabric.
Pollock states “… I continued to get further away from the usual painter’s tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or heavy impasto with sand, broken glass, and other foreign matter added. When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing.” (Pollock, J. and Essers, V. (2003) pp. 6-9)
Pollock, J and Essers, V. (2003) Jackson Pollock. Heidelberg: Kehrer, pp. 6-9
At the moment my work is still heading in the same place, I am trying to figure out were my voice is through my artwork. I have had many different tutorials with my lecturers and the conversations come down to me creating more and more work, which then might in turn result in my finding out what I want as my final piece of work.
I am focusing on process, documentation, colour, and expressionism. These four elements are what I am looking at through my art, my goal is that I want to try and create a single piece of artwork that says how I am as a person and artist without actually saying anything.
That is what my end goal is for the year and with a bit of luck it will happen they I have planned it.
In my last post I was explaining that my work that I have created throughout my university experience has been compared to Jackson Pollock, so that is why I decided that in my last year that I would change the direction that I was in and explore the idea of who I am in my art.
The artwork that I create is very in the moment and spontaneous, I wanted to create the feeling that the work was flowing as one than having several elements to the the painting. So last week I had a tutorial with my personal tutor and I wanted to talk to her about what I wanted to do and what could I look at for reference.
We talked about the scale of the painting, try painting on top of a photocopy or print of the painting. Also I have a good variety of artists to look at as reference, for example Frank Stella, Tiff Manuell, Ian Davenport, Howard Hodgkin, Robert Rauschenberg, Bernard Frize, Zebedee Jones, Sarah Morris and Christopher Wool. The scale was something that I wanted to play with, I have always painted on a large scale but I think that painting on a small scale might create texture and thickens. Working on a smaller scale but using the same amount of paint I think will bring a different depth to my work, it will almost be three dimensional.
