Luminosity

I think using the wall is well suited to the subject of my work, because it’s about confronting the fears and worries that play on my mind and a wall this size, there is no escaping or hiding! As my recent work has been very colourful, it had to be big, to accommodate the ferocity of the substance, which is fluorescent spray paint. (Plus cans are meant for the wall, I love looking at all the graffiti that has mysteriously been placed around town and wondering about the story behind it).

I am quite daunted by the space at the moment, I always find it hard to start a blank canvas and I’ve never made any work as big as this. Of course, I am excited too, to see if my plans for the wall work well.

This is my space.

Day 1

I have cleared out the space to start on the far, left-hand side of the wall and work my way to the right. I then laid down a ground sheet and got all my cans together and chosen objects ready to paint, but before I started painting the wall, I decided that I would use three colours: pink, blue and orange, because I liked these colours when I used them together on some wallpaper.

I first of all sprayed over some string, however I found it a challenge to hold the string in place for it to be able to flow and I was unable to get the clear trace that I wanted. My first idea was to double over some tape but, as you can see from above where the string has been held at certain points stands out really well and the rest not as much. I like these bright colours at the moment, so all I need to think about is how to hold the objects in place when painting, as holding some pieces with one hand has been quite awkward.

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For my first attempt at the wall, I am not overall happy with the result and I have decided to paint over it, because I think the blue clashes and taint’s the other colours. I also think having the clear masking tape lines in random spots would not look good unless, I split the wall into sections which I thought about but I do not want my work turning into a cubist style. I have decided to use yellow instead of blue; placing all the warm colours together. By this point I had run out of spray paint so I went and bought more cans ready to start a fresh the next day.

Day 2

I was now all ready to start again and after finding it hard to keep the string temporarily pinned to the wall. (I had tried blu-tack, tape and glue stick) I was then told about spray mount which might help, and be able to readjust in different positions, so I got some when I went to get more paint and found that it works well enough for me to spray over the string and leave visible traces when removed. For the bigger objects I have, had to just cover one hand with a glove and hold them in place. Today I am feeling more positive and have made a good start in the right direction. I am pleased with the colours but I am worried about the consistency of my work across the wall as I am painting over several days.

Day 3

At the end of day 3, I have painted across 2 and a half boards out of 6 so far. I have not been able to paint the top of the wall because I have been unable to find steps or a ladder. However, I was told that it looks good without the need to be completely painted because it will become over bearing, especially as the colours are already bright. With that in mind and the difficulty of finding the right equipment, I have decided to not paint all the way to the top and see how it looks when I have finished and then if I don’t like it, I can fill in the gaps.

Day 4

This is all I managed to get done today because I had run out of spray paint again and spray mount. I also feel that my work has too many of the same items now so I will be spending the rest of the day finding a few more things to use to keep the work interesting.

Day 5

Seeing how much I had already painted, I was sure I was going to finish by today but unfortunately, I did not by the time the studio had to be closed. At this point in the painting I like how the top has ended so I will not be finishing it.

Day 6

I only had this much wall left to paint so I was determined to finish it early in the morning. After a little while, I had used another can of spray mount so I decided to not use objects towards the end. This shows how things can be conjured up out of nowhere.

This many cans later….

I have finally completed the wall and eventually after some debating came up with a suitable title for my final piece; Fluorescent Adolescent because it is at this stage where you become more aware of your surroundings. You are transforming from a child to an adult and after leaving education, you have to decide what you want to do. You are faced with all these big decisions that you are not prepared for; all the responsibilities you suddenly gain without instructions (needing to know how to pay the bills, do taxes which you are not taught at school, but at least you learnt algebra and the ins and outs of a plant!) and obviously the fluorescent colours; a giant warning sign!

My work has repetitive elements because I am always double checking that the doors are locked, the oven is off or checking I still have my purse and keys (like a responsible adult) It has now become a ritual, even though I know I just locked the door, I panic just in case I haven’t done it properly this time.
The wall has become a tangled web of numerous objects, attached with fears and worries; using these items as a way of revealing mental clutter and exorcising this. The objects were once of use and now they have been hanging around the house for some time, like useless information which thoughts do mentally.

I have used spray paint to express this subject instead of using a paint brush, because I bottle things up and then combust. With a brush there is a certain level of control and delicateness about it, whereas spray paint just flies at the surface (you don’t have as much control like you don’t with your emotions).

I am happy with my final piece and the colours really hit you when you see them. I like that there is a lot to look at and you need to go close to inspect the different elements however, I would have liked to of had the string match up instead of separate piles.

After the degree show, I am going to have to paint it white again, my work will become hidden like thoughts and something new will eventually replace it – more traces are going to be left by other people.

I have now been shown my degree show space and told that I can paint directly onto the wall, so I have looked at a few artists who use large areas of the wall for ideas.

Beat Zoderer

I have been using string in my work and would like to incorparate it into my final piece, yet I am not sure how I am going to hold the string in place. Looking at Zoderer’s work has sparked a few ideas and I love the colours and fluidity, as well as the work slightly hanging off the wall.

Carlos Cruz Diez

‘Chromosaturation’ by Carlos Cruz Diez.

Diez’s chromatic spaces are produced to alter the perception of its viewers, by changing the colour of their clothing and the objects that come into contact with the area. When your eyes adjust to these colours in one room, you walk into another and are thrown by more colours and have to adapt again and again. The artist has played with colour using architecture and light. The colours are unnatural and it’s like being in a ‘dreamscape’. I am not planning anything to this scale but I will be using bright colours that will hopefully shock visitors.

Walead Beshty

Walead Beshty covered a wall at The Barbican by pinning a collection of 1200 cyanotype prints like wallpaper, full of random items displayed on different paper. This piece took a year and unfortunately I do not have that amount of time to do anything like this, but I like the idea of silhouettes of objects. So far my two mediums of choice have been spray paint and photography and right now I feel more drawn to paint; I have been thinking about creating a much bigger version of my canvases in my degree space – using vibrant colours like Diez and using objects to create imprints, like Beshty’s cyanotypes.

I have briefly gone back to photography after seeing the works of Andrew Carnie and Susan Aldworth in a book called Art and Science now by Stephen Wilson. Aldworth created a series of etchings in 2006 called ‘Brainscape’ and more recently a series called ‘The Entangled Self’ using real hair. The ‘Brainscapes’ series look like photograms, so I have decided to make some using light sensitive paper. I have framed two that I think are the most successful from the seven I made:

I also photographed a cluster of string and digitally manipulated them:

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While researching further into the works of Susan Aldworth, I found this video below which I find interesting and is very relatable to the work that I am trying to produce.

Another video I found interesting, that also ties in these ideas (by artists who I also found in Art and Science Now by Stephen Wilson)

I am taking this time to reflect on the subject of my paintings and I have decided to look at the work, I made at the beginning of the year and to paint over them, because I do not feel they are relevant to the work that I am making now, which has developed a lot since the start. I normally paint over a lot of my work because I am not happy with them so I keep re-using the canvas until I am.

Here are a couple of the canvases I have re-painted and I am very happy with at the moment.

This painting is called Dry Cut and represents the anxiety I have related to the items shown, like going to the hairdressers and losing my keys. I wanted to make a spray painting that looked like a photo-gram, so it was supposed to be a white background with blue spray paint but, I forgot what I was doing and started to spray the canvas yellow. I stopped when I realised what I was doing and obviously the yellow turned green. Although it was an accident, I quite like the added colour; it’s like a scan showing brain activity.

The objects I used are related to things I fear/dread for example: I recently lost my keys and panicked til I found them because I do not like not knowing where my belongings are. I was getting stressed out thinking about how much they would cost to replace (£45), the money potentially lost because of not being able to go to work if I did not find them; constantly thinking the worse. Did I lose them taking the dog for a walk? Did they fall out my bag? Did I leave them at home? I am not normally this careless, why are they missing? – Over and over. Luckily I did find them.

There are some imperfections on the canvas, where I have pulled the objects away while the paint was still wet and usually I would repaint this but, I have left it this time because the painting exposes my irrational fears (faults).

I found another extract that I thought was quite fitting and that I like from David Batchelor’s ‘Colour’.

The other day I went to get my hair cut. From the outside the place looked quite forbidding with bright lights and blue neons that flashed on and off. Opening the door, I was thrown into an electric blueness that pervaded the whole space from the neon lights that seemed to duplicate their own reflection because of those countless mirrors that make it seem like there were a hundred people all having the same haircut. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized how grey I looked but was then reassured to see that the girl cutting my hair looked equally grey, or perhaps more…But what did it matter, authentic was the least problem. It was all getting quite Alice in Wonderlandish as I was mesmerized by the black and white chequered floor and the thumping white neons that flashed on and off to some unrecognizable dirge. Perhaps I was the one in my own small world.

Melanie Smith, Statement for Colour, 2007. (Cited in Colour by David Batchelor, pp.224-25)

This painting below is called Hypnotic fear; I have only used pink and blue spray paint with a yellow acrylic background. It is an A3 sized painting and shows a cycle of fears that people with anxiety usually feel trapped in, with triggers. The moments when you feel like you are in a downward spiral and can’t escape.

More paintings:

Mind Map

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Celestial Fracture

This piece was the first biggest canvas (A4) that I tested the cotton pads on but, there was something about it that I did not like and parts were not painted, so I decided to pull the pads away from the surface and see if I could get the whole lot of in one piece, which I nearly did. I thought that what I had removed would look good with a white background so I found some paper and Ta Dah! Personally it is probably one of my favourite pieces.

Going back to the whole key thing, I have made this work below using my old house key, a frame from an old canvas and string that I have used in the process of my final piece.

This relates to being worried about losing my keys also. With this old house key (which had my primary school locker key attached and a keyring) I had chucked in a hedge in the front garden while playing football after school. I had tried to find them after but could not (I was not that bothered, as I am now that I have more responsibilities being an ‘adult’ and because I roughly knew where they were). They were found several years later when the hedge was pulled up. I am now always checking I have my keys and the doors are locked repeatedly. I have made it so it looks like the key has been caught in a web (thoughts that play on my mind).

Another work I have made involving thread:

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The image on the left is how this idea started. I cut up an old band shirt and began adding strands of colour thread to symbolize hair. I was planning on sewing the shirt up and then filling the inside with objects, but a friend suggested hanging it from the corners (letting the ‘hair’ down). liked this idea so I bought better quality fabric and doubled it in half for more thickness. I also bought some brighter thread which looks a lot better than the first lot I used. The right image is the final outcome; it is currently hanging up in the studio space.

Since the last post, I have finally come up with the idea, to use bedsheets to paint onto. I thought of this, after buying some plain wallpaper to spray paint and it reminded me of when I was decorating my room and how I got purple everywhere; the ceiling, carpet, skirting board and my bed. As well as this, I would always do my art work for school and college on my bed, getting more paint and ink on the sheets than anywhere else. The bed is where most of my ideas start and works begin so, the bed sheet is the best material to work on directly because it will eventually get paint on it anyway!

Here is the small section I painted on the wallpaper:

I think these three colours work really well and have thought about using them for my final piece. I like the texture to, it really pushes the colours forward and looks similar to my small A6 primed canvases (viewing a desert from above) but a lot bigger. I would like to paint a whole roll and paste onto a board.

Going back to the charity shop that I bought the pin board from, I got a bed sheet but I did not realise it was a fitted sheet until I had begun painting so next time I will check.

I prepared to paint the sheet in the garden and collected a few discarded items that could be used as a stencil.

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Unfortunately, I did not cover the whole sheet as I had run out of spray paint, although I like the marks that the creases have made, creating more depth. It reminded me of Tauba Auerbach’s work in which the artist, folds the canvas for spatial effect before applying it on to the stretcher to paint.

Artist: Tauba Auerbach. Venue: Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen.  Exhibition Title: Tetrachromat. Date: November 11 – December 22, 2011.

I went into the studio, to hang up the bed sheet to view it properly and I quite like where I have left the edges; becoming a boarder and compacting all the colours in the middle. I also like the sheet partly draping on the floor, making it different from a painting. I am happy with the result so far and will continue with the bed sheet idea.

I have also taken some close up photographs of this sheet and they are quite interesting; one area close up looks completely different from the other, as if they were separate works. Looking through James Welling’s website; who I have mentioned in a previous post, also created a series of close up fabric works, which have influenced me to continue to play around with different angles.

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The second bed sheet painting to be made, was my own bed sheet which had ink and paint on already from other works. I wanted to see what the sheet would look like stretched so my brother kindly made a frame.  I did not paint this for quite a while and it was left in the studio, blank for weeks but eventually I took the leap to just go out and spray it. The final outcome:

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I do not like this as much as the first sheet and in the end, I have opted to cover it over with the other sheet. When the light shines through you can see traces of this underneath which to me looks a lot better.

I have also painted a quarter of another old bed sheet and folded, using a wider range of objects that have importance: