I have just reread my last two posts in an attempt to give myself a boost and a belief that what my work has dealt with and what I am attempting to communicate is something I can continue to address…Today we had a group studio crit which went really well alot of positive encouragement helpful suggestions and feed back .Talking in a group doesn’t come natuarly to me but I feel I have grown more in my confidence as time has gone on. The thing I am finding difficult at the moment is what I am trying to address ,say, and communicate through my work. Through the summer of 2013 I read a book called the Abu Gharib Effect which was a powerful portrayal of the imagery that broke out from the Iraqi prison 2004 not an easy subject matter to handle- which made me realise how artists that do deal with and respond to difficult subject matter probably do so from an informed and sober perspective. Susan Crile is an artist who has researched on Abu Gharib and went onto produce powerful pastel images.Crile talking about her work said”First you are drawn to something akin to beauty and then you feel the despair, the cruelty.” http://www.artnewsnviews.com/view-article.php?article.
I have a real sense of unease at present about how to communicate issues that affect me and go on to produce art round my chosen subject in someway. I find a real sense of searching and questioning of this subject matter going on within me … this sense has culminated over the last month or so, I am not sure of the way forward though having the student crit today was helpful in one way as it has confronted me with my growing deep sense of unease..(about what I was hoping to produce for my end of year show) I know I now have to confront these issues and make some decisions concerning a way forward. Having researched and produced my dissertation looking at art with social meaning, particularly Golub and Roslers work emerging from the Vietnam war, I found I had a definite passion for the subject matter and found it impacted my understanding immensly, it was benificial toward furthering my understanding of art with social meaning. In the context from which the artists (whom I chose)… works emerged the dissertation has greatly impacted and informed my understanding of state and media portrayl of issues that arise concerning state policies, through researching sociologists such as Judith Butler and Herbert Marcus (also a philosopher) along with writers Dora Apel, Suzi Gablick, John Bird,I have learnt a great deal this will stay with me but I do need to take stock and plan a way forward, I probably need to have a chat with tutors. I am going to explore a more abstract perspective. See studio space work before exploring new ideas.
