I think it’s safe to say I’m not the most verbal blogger…! But I will endeavour to do better, as this is my last 6 weeks in Pietrasanta. To be honest my silence is largely due to finding one piece I have been working on very difficult to finish, as I mentioned in my last blog. I have now finished it and it is on it’s way to be made into bronze along with two small pieces. This means we have added the sprues and the wax is ready to have a ceramic shell, which is like the mould in which the bronze is poured. I think I have been rather slow about getting to this point, it has been quite stressful and I have given myself a hard time, it has been a struggle to stop experimenting and commit. However now I am back with experimenting and I have decided to make a series of clay heads. I have longed to make something with clay and something that isn’t small scale for a while now. What I really want, is to produce at least one work in bronze that exudes a kind of confidence and I don’t feel I have that in the wax having only really used it for the last 7 weeks vs clay for the past 10 years! This residency has been challenging both on a professional and personal level, I have had to learn to live alone and work in another country in a foreign language. Professionally it’s been an ongoing negotiation to discover what this residency will mean for me and what I want from it, more that what might be expected from me.
Following on from the incredible drawing lesson I did last month I have been using those drawing techniques in my own drawings and in life drawing classes. Working without guidance from Almuth makes is much harder and I have felt myself losing my way but I am persisting and I am now discovering something new, that belongs to me. I am beginning to think that there is something in that one lesson up in the mountains that will impact on my work for a long time. I can’t tell you how inspiring it is. It has also made me realise how important it is to draw in this way, setting aside at least 2 hours a week to draw is really important and utterly enjoyable. Following a life drawing class last week a rather wild artist told me that I ought to have some boundaries, which I thought was hilarious at the time considering the source of this comment! But actually I have mulled this over and I think Almuth was my boundary in the class and without her I wasn’t setting my own parameters. I have started to do this by sticking to a pallet, technique and drawing one drawing per pose and it worked well for me in the class today. I think trying to do too many new things at once often ends up in a bit of a mess. This is my mind-set in relation making these clay heads, if I stick to something I know and the only thing that changes is the transformation into bronze then I will actually learn a lot more. It’s a bit like science GCSE, you are taught to only change one component at a time to get the best results. I think I can safely say that’s the only thing I remember from those classes, apart from…no nothing else.
All my musings haven’t left much room for all the other stuff going on in my life here, so I’m going to give it to you in a nutshell: cycling to the beach, sunshine, espressos, Lucca, Cinque Terre, my Dad visits, foundry visits, bar visits, lots of aubergine, tears, lunches with various artists, BBC, bad literature, Italian lessons, mould-making, skype…
So much to say I don’t know where to start. Last time I posted I failed to mention my meeting with Helaine Blumenfeld, which was fantastic. I had the honour of seeing her studios in Pietrasanta; she is certainly prolific and her work has such an incredible energy. I really enjoyed seeing the models and sketches of her work; there is something special in getting a glimpse into the sketchbooks or workings of an artist’s studio. For me these bursts of energy and incomplete things are exciting, I like the working out of things and discovery rather than the polished finished item. Finishing work is a problem I have come across again in the last week as I yet again over did a work and sort of killed it a bit. But I took a risk and I’m proud of that but it is difficult that I can’t always trust and see when something works and when I ought to stop. It’s exacerbated by the creation of bronze works. I am beginning to measure my works value in relation to the material of bronze, is this piece worthy or this one? Have I done enough to warrant the expense? Interesting and bizarre way of thinking about it, but up until now my work is so temporary so low-fi that my forms raise the materials up but now the fear is whether my forms can hold up in this material. It’s not really about economics, it’s a new system of judgement I seem to have set up that is unhelpful and is holding me back. So enough is enough, I have one piece on it’s journey towards bronze and the other pieces are going to be a lot less arduous and more spontaneous, this is where my energy is and this is what I want from this residency…fun, energy, spontaneity, experimentation. And hopefully something vaguely coherent at the end….
But I have digressed someone drastically from the story at hand: Helaine’s studio. We sat and had tea after my tour and talked for some time about Italy, Artisans, language, sculpture, family and many other things. One of the things Helaine and I discussed was whether or not I should try enlarging works using the old techniques that are still used now in foundries and stone carving studios all over Italy. It’s about measuring point on a model and translating them onto another material but increasing the ratio…I think. We agreed that it isn’t for me and I am relieved. It was the one thing I didn’t much want to do! I felt Helaine was tuned into my work when she suggested it might not be the right thing for me. The idea of slavishly translating the random marks and gestures I make from one scale to another is not appealing to me, I would rather just make something bigger myself. If you want something monumentally massive then sure this is helpful technique but I am not considering this at the moment unless I am offered some sort of major commission…open to offers!
I also had the pleasure, while Helaine was in town, to attend the exhibition Donna Sculptura in Pietrasanta curated by Valentina Fogher my friend and contact here in Pietrasanta and a woman that seems super human in various roles in life including Museum curator and mother and still finds the time to help me out and give me tours of the exhibitions. I was lucky enough to bag an invite to the artist’s lunch after the opening where I enjoyed the company of some wonderful artists and guests. The exhibition itself is put on annually but this year it was an anniversary so 40 artist were included with 3 artists leading the exhibition as a homage to women who have since passed away. I am including some pictures that were my highlights.
