I’ve decided to ditch the idea of having a White Space to go with my Black Room. The plan now is to have just one space and that will be the Black Room. This development is due to much soul searching and concern about the connection between the two different elements to the proposed installation. I feel the link between the two isn’t strong enough, but in particular the elements of the clear cast resin droplets and the large scale droplet paintings originally planned for the White Space will be better served if they too, are in the Black Room.
A secondary consideration for the change of plan is time. Building the 5×4 metre Black Room will be wasting of too much of my time and also resources that I feel will be better applied by using the entire room my art will be installed in as the Black Room.
I feel more excited now about the whole project as I’ve had more ideas to develop the project.
By using a true macro lens on my DSLR I’m planning on photographing tiny sections from my paintings showing the indexical trace of A Space That Once Was and projecting these images to a much larger scale. Playing with the perception of space with regards to scale I’m trying to highlight the fact that all too often we look, but we don’t see, or comprehend and therefore, don’t appreciate or understand what can be contained in all manor of spaces around us.
Rachel Whiteread’s negative space sculptures are prime examples of a space we may look at in daily life, but don’t actually comprehend that it holds a physical 3 dimensional space because there is nothing tangible there.
Similarly with the water droplet, there’s little comprehension that there is actually a space contained within it.
Using the colourful drawing inks to create abstract paintings via droplets and pools of water I’ve managed to create macro worlds of colour, shape and pattern. The images represent the indexical trace of the ink in the water droplet and, therefore, it’s the indexical trace of the space in which the ink was suspended until the water evaporated. This has made me think about how our understanding of, or acceptance of what actually represents a physical space is interpreted. The droplet paintings could therefore be seen as a space that once was. Similar to Kapoor’s definition of the negative space within his art when he explains to Charlotte Higgins of The Guardian: “I’m interested in the void … the moment when it isn’t a hole; it is a space full of what isn’t there.”
The concept for my degree show work, and therefore my art practice is still evolving. However, I feel it is now arriving close to the point where I’m happy with the evolution of my ideas and what the final outcome will be. Looking back at the artists I’ve explored and taken inspiration from, I can clearly see how my art practice has moved forward from the initial idea I had back in October last year.
Together with Turrell and Kapoor, other artists that have had a considerable influence on the way I use space and mediums within my art practice include a diverse of art styles and mediums used.
The installation work of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has encouraged me to be more adventurous to the approach I am taking in my current practice, especially seeing how he uses space and light. His installations are varied in approach and mediums used, but also very thought provoking.
The artists mentioned here are merely the tip of the iceberg as far as the inspirational and contextual artists I have research.
My experimentation of colour within the clear resin droplets rather than my original idea of the ‘droplets’ just placed on an image came about after discovering American abstraction artist Bruce Riley who works in psychedelic colours with paint and clear casting resin. He works in layers of resin and able to create actual depth, his paintings display physical space by shadows of the paint on one layer being created on the layer(s) beneath.
Similar the Riley, Chai Soong Ng works with acrylic on layers of clear epoxy resin producing 3 dimensional paintings. This build up of layers creates a volume to his paintings and space they occupy.
American Artist Tara Donovan primarily uses everyday objects to create her installations. Although the materials I use aren’t in the realms of the everyday, the elements that interest me with Donovan and her work are the general scale of her installations and, like me, she is process driven with regards to making art.
Had a bit of a lull in creativity due to necessary preparation of the next stage in my career. With plans of going into teaching and therefore the need to study for a PGCE qualification, I have, over the last few weeks been attending teaching observation days as part of the application process. Although this has significantly reduced the amount of art practice time, it has been very encouraging and in some ways inspirational. Having given presentations of my art practice and it’s journey through this and last year to various classes, it reminded me of how my work has developed and continues to develop. Not just that, but providing help and advice for creativity to the school children in their lessons made me realise how I work with my art. As strange as it may seem, I saw myself in some of the children, however for me, instead of someone advising me on the different ways to approach a project, I am the teacher and student in one.
