Reflections
Wilson, K. (2020) To See the World in a Grain of Sand
Over the past week I’ve created a few new pieces of work. My main focus this week has been on exploring different materials and styles to try and extend my practice further. The first piece I did was actually an extension of my To See the World in a Grain of Sand piece from the previous week. I printed it off on a 36” x 24” piece of Giclee German Etching Paper and framed it in a black frame.
[My studio space with the framed photograph]
What I liked about this print was the scale of it. Not much of my work previously has been this big and so it was a nice change. What I also liked about it was that the scale of it really brought out the textures in my skin and on the glass ball. Seeing an over sized hand like this really draws your attention into the piece and engages the viewer. It also reminded me of a piece I saw at First Site in Colchester last year called In the House of My Father by Donald Rodney (see below). Rodney’s photograph was also printed off so that the had was ‘larger than life’. What this does to the work is really intriguing and creates a completely different work to what it would be if it was printed off life-size. It makes the subject of the work almost uncanny, and you are forced to step back from it to understand what you are looking at – but also to get up close and see all the detail.
Rodney, D. (1996-7) In the House of My Father
One unexpected outcome from framing my work was that, because the frame uses perspex, I ended up getting a lot of reflections from the room which the work was in. My lecturer pointed out to me that this could in fact add another dimension to my work if I wanted it to. The reflections in the perspex could become part of the work. This was an intriguing thought as it was completely unintentional, and would be something I would need to think about if I were to exhibit this piece.
[The reflections off of my work in my studio]
Oil pastel
The next piece I created was a small square oil pastel drawing. Below is the unfinished piece, but you can see it in my studio space (in the picture above) next to my photograph to get a sense of scale.
Wilson, K. (2020) Untitled
For this piece, I didn’t really think a lot about it. I had an idea for this composition in which I was sitting on the floor, looking into a mirror, which would reflect me drawing the image I saw before me. I think it is quite an intriguing piece and comments upon the ideas of reflections, composition as well as the perspective. The use of the mirror to reflect the artist is similar in ways to paintings such as Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez.
Velazquez, D. (1656) Las Meninas
What is also interesting about this piece is the contrast of it next to my photograph in my studio. So many things juxtapose one another in the two pieces; the size, the materials, the highly detailed and thought out structures in the photograph against the impressionistic/rough style of the oil pastels. One thing the two do have in common, however, is this sense of looking through/into something that is reflecting back the world to us. This theme is really quite relevant to my work last year looking at memory and the way we remember things.
