Rachael back from her Malvern project so got together yesterday to re-cap where we are at. I have been thinking about the cutting and it has lead me on to ideas for objects, reflections and using the inspiration from the house contents for adding dimension to the drawings. Reflections will be interesting. I am working on several ideas including a cabinet set-up of objects. The link to art history will come in the form of Metaphysical art of DeChirico, breaking up the drawings into component parts in a tunnel of perspective that will be balanced to suit. The exhibition in Haden Hill House itself will be linked directly to the atmosphere in it. Dates around next June-July. Rachael’s ideas for constructions and so on will balance in nicely to what I am planning, so the show should be good.
I am using the thing as a testing ground. I feel that the ideas will bring a natural development to my work and I am keen to see Rachael trying out new ideas too. The whole idea for my drawings is to keep the delicacy and how they work against Rachael’s pieces will be interesting. In our conversation it became clear, from comments Rachael made, that light is a key element to the drawings, confirming ideas.
Discussed in our meeting today more about our ways of working in relation to Haden Hill House. I am interested in the way that Rachael wants to dig down into the core of the subject and bring to the surface all she finds there. I like this in terms of the intimacy it shows, how certain details, not at first visible, become a spark for enquiry.
Myself, I have worked on my first drawing, that of the rear staircase. I was taken by the view up to the void at the top, where the servant room is, it is just visible from my viewpoint. I am pleased with the feel of the drawing in relation to my interaction with the space. I was keen to work on the corridor, yet I found upon starting a drawing of that, it did not work, something was not ‘right’. This, together with Rachael’s insight, has made me question further what it is I am focusing on, what ignites the drawing to make it ‘work’. I have realised I am not fully aware of this and that the requirements for a drawing to work are possibly narrower and more important than I initially thought.
I will now think on this, I will also go back to the house to take a look at some other areas that are sticking in my mind. I am waiting to see what Rachael uncovers from the space to see if it affords some new way of initiating a drawing, or maybe more importantly, to see if it reveals more about what it is I react to in my own connection with a space.
I haven’t had much time to reflect on our Haden Hill visit but I have been thinking about how this collaboration will move forward. I’m inclined to let it take shape naturally. So far we have been talking through each other’s ways of seeing generally and our reactions specifically to seeing Haden Hill. I like this approach of seeing how our ideas are shaped and modified just by comparing them in our informal dialogue; it’s new to me. As usual I am becoming engrossed with the processes of the process… I must not stray too far from my original thoughts of creating texts inspired by both the interior space and Anthony’s interpretations of that space. I shall steel myself and focus!
