Luminosity

I visited the Tate, although I usually feel uninspired going to this place because it seems to be the first go to gallery on every trip, I was lucky enough to see a few pieces of work that truly grabbed my attention. I took my time to look at these works because I was intrigued to know how they had occurred, how did the artist get to this point? rather than giving it a quick look up and down and walking onto the next piece to check off my list of ‘work I have seen’.

These were:

Nicholas Hlobo, ‘Macaleni Iintozomlambo’ (2010)

This work by Hlobo was made from ribbon and tea on water colour paper. Using this type of paper is a lot stronger to with hold the tea stain rather than soaking through and thicker to be stitched onto. The work looks like a screaming skull, falling and splattering. I can imagine the tea hitting the paper and going everywhere. The ribbon keeps the stain from spreading (its contained); highlighting the outline with various colours. I have not come across a lot of works that involve stitching which, I love to include into my own practice when I can. Hlobo has inspired me in my own A3 paintings with thread.

Another work I came across was by Niki De Saint Phalle,  called ‘Shooting Picture’ (1961) above. This is plaster filled with paint, where visitors got to shoot at the void space, uncovering the hidden pigment within. I love the interaction; having a visitor help shape the work by staining it with various colours. It feels like a positive way to release anger, creating something other than being destructive. I also like the texture produced by the plaster, causing craters, much like my cotton pads spray paintings although I have gone for a much softer approach. However, thinking on what my work is about it might be best to try something different and I have thought of more ideas after seeing Phalle’s work.

The last work that I saw at the Tate, which has helped shape my most recent work, is the piece above by Rachel Harrison called ‘XLT Footbed’ (2013) She has used a range of materials from paint, to concrete to wood and even adding objects like the shoe, to make this slightly towering structure. Harrison has not exhausted this piece with colour but used it to highlight areas, and complimentary tones (orange and blue). I have thought about using the objects that I have painted around, as part of the work rather than just using them as a stencil, so there is a visual connection to be made. I  like the shadow caused by Harrison’s structure too.

 

 

I went out for a walk one night and took some more photographs of lights, but I wasn’t out long as it was raining so, I decided to use the materials I had indoors. I began to play around with ink and water in a bowl; the images I got turned out alright, but watching the ink dance in the water was a lot more satisfying than capturing the experience, although I tried.

 

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I plan to paint from these close ups in my sketchbook using ink, as I enjoy this medium even though it can be hard to control. From taking these photographs, I thought about Wolfgang Tillman’s work that I had looked at prior to my dissertation. The image underneath by Tillman’s is called ‘Ostgut Freischwimmer’ (2004) which was made without a camera; using light sensitive paper. They are very beautiful images that Tillman’s has created and I am in the process of developing my own camera less images, to show another way of conveying a negative trace.

Below is another photograph of ink and water I took that night which I think was the most successful, that reminded me of Henry Moore’s sculpture ‘Recumbent Figure’ (1938) on the right. The light shining onto the tinted water reflects a very similar reclining figure to Moore’s piece; this happened by chance.

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Leading on from this discovery, I then found a work by artist Bruce Nauman, in a book called Light years Conceptual art and the photograph 1964 – 1977 by Matthew S. Witkovsky, called ‘Light Trap for Henry Moore’  No. 1 (1967) This ties in with my light photography, as it carries similar properties as well as my work above regarding Moore. Seeing this Nauman piece, I have revisited my own light work and edited them to enhance there colour.

A few of my images after reflecting back on them:

Having taken some time to properly reflect on my work, I have come to the realisation that it is this:

Lights are used to make things easier to find or search for something, like a path but as life proves, things are not straightforward. There is no guiding light but multiple directions; you will end up at a crossroad at some point not knowing where to go, like Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. My light photographs show this idea with street lamps and shop signs (they are there to guide you) all muddled up and criss-crossing in a space of uncertainty.

Personally I feel lost, I have no idea what I am going to do after university, I have no plan but I am forever being asked “So what are you going to do then? What do you want to do?” My answer is always “I don’t know” with a blank expression and I sense the worry for me, from other people when I respond to these questions. I have as much clue as to what I am going to do next, as I know whether it’s going to rain this day in five years’ time. This makes me feel very anxious as it would anyone and I am in the process of trying to figure it out, I see this as just small steps into my ongoing journey. Going back to the photographs, the lights have a certain fluidity for an object that is usually static, and shows that things such as plans are ever changing and there are lots of opportunities to be taken so nothing is set in stone whether you do have a plan.

It’s this fear of not knowing what is going to happen and not being in control, which makes me produce the work that I am currently making. It is a sense of having control over something which is mine and no one can tell me different because it is subjective.

I took this photograph of cotton that I had thrown in the bin and then I have inverted the image. It is one of my favourite pieces and the strands represent different paths; fleeting moments that have been stopped in time to show reflection of all matter of possibilities and choices.

For the past two years on the Fine Art course, I have mainly used acrylic paint and photography within my work and I have been wanting to explore other mediums, within my final year and make bigger works. I have decided to can the camera for now and start with spray paint, using bright colours to cover big areas quickly.

I found this old piece of board above, in the carpark outside my flat. I bought some cans and tested out the colours; contrasting it next to a piece of calico fabric. I was inspired to do this from reading through the magazine Juxtapoz and seeing artist; Mary Heilmann’s work: ‘Splashy Cut’ (2013) The three colours I like most at the moment are pink, yellow and orange (the hot colours) I shall be using these colours together later on but for now, my main focus shall be trying out different surfaces to see what works best with the spray paint.

The work above is Heilmann’s work: ‘Splashy Cut’ (2013) I like that the work is not a conventional shape; not just limited to the canvas but has broken the boundaries. I like the way the shadow fills in the gap where the work is partially disconnected, as if a ghostly presence is trying to bring the work back together without the physicality of material. I find all the different depths interesting, the two shades of yellow where the brighter tone is pushed forward and I like Heilmann’s colour palette.

I would like to create some depth in my own work by producing a range of textures to paint over, so I have bought quite a few small A6 canvases to test this on and this is how it went:

These are the first 8 small paintings I made by applying primer that was quite lumpy, to the canvas board which gave an interesting texture. Some of them I then painted over with neutral tones, while I just left the others with the primer exposed. At this stage I was just getting used to using spray cans, so I wasn’t really thinking about composition or complimentary colours. I did not wait for the paint to dry before adding other colours, that is why some of them are quite muddy but overall, I am happy with the outcome. I have bought more canvases to try out other ways, although I do like this type of texture as it is like a close up of craters of the moon or an Ariel landscape.

I am going to think about new ways of creating texture; one artist who I have researched into before I started spray painting was Katharina Grosse. I was going to write about her in my dissertation but I could not find a lot of writings on her, however she has still continued to be a big influence on my current practice. I really like her installation pieces especially these two pieces below. The first one looks like a film set (Wizard of Oz) with all the fantastical colours and then, with the brilliant white rising up and erupting out from all the chaos surrounding it. I like Grosse’s work on the right called ‘Cincy’ (2006) because she has spray painted over windows, which will change the opacity of the paint throughout the day, when the sun shines in or even when its dark and the interior lights are turned on. I would like to use lights within my own practice. I like how Grosse has sprayed directly onto the wall and floor, as if the paint is spreading like fire.

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The idea I came up with, to make a more prominent type of texture rather than continuing to just use primer, was to use cotton pads on my small canvases and paint over them.  I am very pleased with how well the cotton pads worked so I am planning to make bigger ones. I also started to use wool; gluing down strands, painting over them and then lifting off the wool to reveal a negative trace. Here are a few images of these canvases:

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This is the first cotton pad canvas I made, which is one of my favourite works to date, I love the colours (pink, yellow, orange) its like a view above a desert. I took some close up photographs of this particular piece below. I think my spray painting has improved.

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This is just a few of the canvases I prepared in my studio space, before spray painting them.

Here are some afterwards: I have maintained a similar colour choice with a few of the paintings. I think the wool works really well also and I would like to try this on a much bigger scale. At this point I am think about using bedsheets to spray on, as a possible outcome for my final piece.

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Above is the complete collection of all the small canvases I have painted. I have used a variety of methods in the process including sellotape and cotton however, I only see them as practice but, I would like to try and recreate some only bigger. I have used shells in  a couple of the paintings, which are from the beach of my home town; Harwich. I am going to incorporate more objects into my future works so they are not just flat surfaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few walks and many photographs later, I put a selection of them together into a folder and looking through them, I have been inspired to temporarily go back to paint and make an interpretation of a few of those images.

This is an A3 size acrylic painting.

As well as using the lights from outside, I bought a pack of glow sticks that I then started to experiment with and document. These images have been added to my folder also and edited to brighten the colours as some were quite dim.

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The image on the left is of two coloured glow sticks; the colours have been heightened, while on the right I then interpreted the image into an A3 piece of work, using acrylic, crayon and ink. I don’t find this painting successful as I found the crayon infuriating to work with and it did not work out how I hoped but I like the original photograph, so I edited the photograph, trying to create other outcomes and this particular edit below reminded me of the front cover of the band; Muse whose album is called 2nd Law. The album cover is taken from The Human Connectome Project; it maps out brain pathways, following the circuits in our heads and showing how we process information with bright colours.

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I was originally interested in designing album covers (music related work) when beginning the Fine art course as I am a big music fan and love the works of Storm Thorgerson (designer of the notable cover of Pink Floyd’s album; Dark side of the moon) However, I did not stick to this influence strictly although it has motivated me to produce work and glimpses can be seen in my work. I am going to see Muse in April and their shows are full of lights and wonderful spectacles that will carry on motivating me!

I also have used sparklers as a way of drawing with light, and one of my images reminded me of Muse’s EP Dead Star/In your world.

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Going back to the lights, I have thought more about the idea of projecting my images, not just limiting the lights to paper but displaying them in a different way rather than keeping them to a flat surface. Here are a few artists I have looked at ensuing this idea:

Diane Thater

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Diana Thater, Oo Fifi, Five Days in Claude Monet’s Garden, Part 1, 1992, installation view at 1301PE, Los Angeles, 2012, © Diana Thater; photo © Fredrik Nilsen, courtesy 1301PE, Los Angeles.

The link below contains a video of this piece of work by Thater.
I like how the colours have been separated into different components and then put back together, but out of sync so there is a layer of red, blue and green.

James Welling

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Welling’s work above are from one of his (colour) projects called Glass House (2006-2009). This particular series are mainly photographs, taken from outside of buildings with coloured filters laid over the top, which gives the area of subject an unfamiliar feel; the surrounding becomes subtly distorted and ambiguously playful. They can be found on Welling’s website here:

Looking through the different projects on this website Welling has used different light sources and there are many of his works, that I feel can relate to my own practice and I feel very inspired by. With the colours ones, I have been experimenting with various filters on photographs I have taken myself.

 

 

Tim Maguire

A lot of Maguire’s works are focused on paintings of flowers but there are a few of these works that he has produced from 2010. The series Light and Water are shown to viewers by duratran light boxes and video.

Coming from a seaside town (and cancer being my star sign), I feel a connection with water; as well as using Echeleman as a source of inspiration earlier, with her use of fishing nets. I would like to fit in some element of the sea possibly into my work. I am thinking about using video in the last stages of my work and using brighter colours.

 

James Clark

James Clark is a well known light artist and his balloon piece reminds me of parties as a child and working with my brother; who does balloon modelling.

Thinking more deeply into this piece called ‘The Luminiferous Aether’ (1995 -2011) the extra depth that is given using clear balloons where the lights reflect off, but also look trapped or encased within. I thought about my mum’s fear of balloons (Globophobia) and knowing how anxious she gets being near them, the fear of them popping at any given time. I looked more into this fear and how it can start from a young age by a bad experience, from balloons exploding to social gatherings like parties.

Most of my immediate family are not very sociable and I personally feel very anxious in daily situations and events (such as parties). I have realised that from creating these posts and reflecting on my work, that I have been able to confront myself with my own struggles and it is this, that is entwined within my current practice. I do not like to be in the limelight and prefer to hide at the back; I find it very hard to talk in front of people, so although my work thus far uses lights and there are human elements, they are trying hard to hide amongst everything else that is going on.

 

Catherine Yass

Catherine Yass illuminates empty corridors of hospitals. This is an interesting way to use lights; a negative image projected within a space.