Shadow Portraits
With the new year brings a new approach to art making for me. Only recently I was advised to focus in completely on one or two projects rather than spreading myself too thin amongst a million ideas. I’ve taken this advice whole heartedly and have noticed an interesting turn in my work. It’s slowed down considerably. Before, I was going at it a hundred miles an hour, enthused and excited by the prospect of beginning a new ‘thing’. As a consequence I never resolved any work.
This change of pace has been a real boost but feels unfamiliar: I’ve forced myself to confront what it is that kept me going in the first place. To resolve something is to say that it is finished, complete. That’s what I’ve been avoiding. For me the most exciting part of my work is the beginning when it’s still new and there are lots of possibilities.
Continuing work on the shadow portraits… Initially I thought it might be a interesting to knit a black shadow but my reservations were proved; the knit was too clunky and inprecise – it couldn’t match delicate contours. This photo shows a fabric cut out and I think works. This project is morphing into two parts; wall shadow tracings and cut out fabric tracings.
Quite often I don’t know why about these things, it seems to be intuitive, but I want to give the fabric cut out to the sitter. I’ve asked myself why the fabric should be black like a shadow, maybe white silk would be a more interesting alternative. Then what does the sitter do with it? What is it for?
Ahhh, s p a c e…
After a massive cleanout of office and studio the head clearing effects of new space is not to be underestimated. I’ve got rid of all my junk and all the junk that I thought I would one day do something with but never managed to so far. Gone.
The prospect of a new year and new possibilities is still with me.
I’ve been doing some preliminary research and logistics regarding the ATM project. Elena has suggested that I could take photos somewhere busy like Ikea that has plenty of families using ATMs, but issues with finding obliging participants and reassuring them that I’m not recording their pin numbers would be very difficult. Instead, I think photographing my family would be easier. Next I need to find a good location. Stay posted.
Here’s a pic of an ongoing cathartic project in the meantime… each layer contains the details of a missed project/ idea. Out with the old and all that. In a way it releases the project.
I’ve just received my copy of Drawing Projects by Black Dog Publishing, what a great book I thoroughly recommend it and also a brilliant publishing house. Mmmmm… the smell of a new book!
I’m getting on with the Shadow Portraits at the mo, knitting the shape of a shadow. Just investigating whether a knitted piece can produce an accurate enough silhouette of a face and body contours.
Organised
Yesterday was a day fully committed to becoming organised. Planning and sorting through a backlog of projects, I’ve whittled them down to three projects to work on at a time.
1/ ATM Family Portraits
2/ Shadow Portraits
3/ Sculptural Freedom
I’ve seriously restricted any work on other projects – I have to finish some pieces for my website. I’m also committing myself to working on 3 opportunities at a time, so I can get moving.
So, proof here that I’ve reigned in all the phaffing around, is that I’ve made a start on the ATM Family Portraits. Most simply, these will be a series of family portrait photos taken at the site of an ATM. The idea came to me as an awkward image, in opposition to the staged bucolic family photos from the past.
These preliminary collages were useful in determining the kind of image I’m after. I want the family to stand in line waiting in the queue with their wallets and purses ready. But I definitely don’t want anyone else in the picture so I’m thinking that there is going to be some logistical issues here. It’s not going to be easy to get everyone together either, I’ve set myself up with a challenge.
Next on the list is some research. Is it legal to take photos at an ATM?
Some good advice
I’ve just received some pertinent but very useful advice. (Thanks Ken). It takes someone else to point out what’s under your nose.
In a nutshell: stop fannying around. I’m wasting time working on too many ideas at once, life’s too short, they all sound great but really alot of them just don’t have the legs.
I am open to advice and in this instance I will take it. It would be easy to spend all my time playing around with this and that but it’s not going to get me anywhere. Not that I will cease to experiment or create. No, I will manage my time effectively and organise projects in a hierarchical order of priority. I’m presuming that’s what everyone else does.
It’s in my nature to flit from one idea to another but essentially this is how I keep creative. This will be an opportunity to become super organised. Wish me luck. Tomorrow will be great, I have an entire day to get on with what I need to do.
2012 brings with it a studio space super spring clean. Let’s hope all is not in vain as the Mayans have predicted.
Shadow Portraits
This is a project I’ve been meaning to get to grips with for a while now. There’s something of the confessional about it.
I want to trace shadow portraits but specifically the moment after the person has told me something, anything, confessional or otherwise.
It just so happened that I had some birthday wrapping paper left over so I thought that would make a good start. I asked Paddy what’s one of the most memorable birthdays and why, this is what he said;
“Best birthday was at Marwell zoo, it rained, I was about 10. On the way home dad pulled up into a lay-by and for a joke pretended that we had run out of petrol 2 miles from home. My friend Darren Mansfield started crying in the back of the van.”
This is the initial stage of this project. I’m thinking along the lines of whether the photo is more succinct in expressing the idea or if the tracing itself is enough. And how to include the text; maybe hand write it on the paper? Get the sitter to write it?
As always, lots of possibilities none of which are clearly right or wrong, and at the end of the day are left to subjective judgement.
What I do know is that it’s handy to give a project some time to breathe. I need to be able to look at it in a new way and decide what needs tweaking and why.
