After a difficult time in January, things have definitely picked up this month.
Unfortunately the course has crammed in almost back to back tutorials, crits and seminars the last few weeks which can be a bit frustrating when all you want to do is get on and make some work to be able to talk about it. However, make some work I have done. Taking the numbers a bit further by making a whole set – this time a bit more practically sized and made using a laser cutter. They have come out as quite beautiful objects, sharp and solid.
Originally thinking to put them in a domestic space, I decided to first create some sort of installation – pseudo domestic/mixed with a more intuitive feel for colour, shape and pattern.
Framing views by using the camera, in an attempt to show the more encompassed feeling gained from experiencing the work. It is a quick way to work, changing objects and views to rapidly see how things work together. This way of discarding and editing comes quite naturally and has an intuitive way about it – it also gives the work an essence of temporality, something not quite permanent although the individual objects themselves are quite solid.
Now a period of editing and planning for the next step.
It has been a difficult week, starting back after a long break for Christmas and New Year. For the first time I have not had to work (paid work) through this holiday break and had expected to spend plenty time catching up on studio things and being really productive.
As quite often is the case, things don’t always quite work out the way you had planned. Perhaps the most productive thing I did was writing a review, see here.
It’s been a disappointing week on many levels which whether you want it to or not, really has a massive influence on your ability to work, or work well. It can make you question what you are doing, the reasons and motivations and if it really is good or productive to be following a particular path.
Having confidence in your abilities is so important, as a practicing artist there can be lots of difficult moments in your career, and a strength to draw upon is vital.
The knowledge that you can’t do it all, be involved in everything should be obvious, but it is all too easy to lay pressure on oneself to do so.
Like a recovery from a physical injury, it takes time to build strength and little by little it will come.
Having worked a little on some poster-like drawings, and a few other things before the break, I feel like now a return to beginnings may help this feeling of uncertainty – return to drawing, observing, taking stock and gradually focus on what I want to do for the latter part of the academic year.
I may not be so happy with all of my work to this point, but it has served a purpose. If I can take heart in this, I can find my way again.
Having been part of the collective 2|1|4|1 since about June last year, I have had plenty of opportunity to get involved with shows and events. This time, the project was our annual members’ show. Since being back studying full time, I have thought of the collective a little differently. Being inside an institution is really great and there are lots of opportunities and connections to be part of. But equally so, having something outside it seems really important.
Sometimes doing something on your own seems difficult or even impossible but with others, there is definitely strength in numbers. A shared sense of responsibility and with that, shared dividends – we all get to participate and create a thing which I actually feel becomes part of my practice. I have come to enjoy and value working with others on projects such as shows and events and the general creation of an organisation or group such as this, rather more than for example: sharing a studio.
As we focus on what we want to achieve in our group, this shared sense of potential gives confidence and a feeling that much can be achieved, which in turn can reflect on my own practice.
Pursuing the idea I had about making the numbers into objects; I had thought of them as just numbers – they can mean anything. As I made them with a pound sign they are monetary but the actual amount is arbitrary.
Physically its satisfying to make something (3 dimensional, purposeful) . I’ve always found that. It is also good to make something that is as big or as tall as me – it is a little uncomfortable and a little intrusive. And I see by making it something quite simple appears to have a strong message.
Next, I want to take them all sorts of places.
