It’s been a month of exploration, of the building, of my practice and most of all…myself. I don’t think you can create anything of value if you don’t first look in the mirror and ask who and why? The first answer tends to lead into the second. So cathartic musings aside for a second and let me tell you about my work. I’ve got two major projects running side by side. My primary focus is on the ‘Ishtar’ project which is why it is on the front page of my website. As you may know ‘Ishtar’ stems from my earlier work on the nature of sexual psyche. That initial project which I called ‘The Absurdity of Sex and the Unconscious Mind’ lead me to Jung…obviously. I have since become fascinated with the ‘Goddess’ concept, representations in ancient culture, the theoretical representation in the ‘collective psychic’ etc. I have little in the way of work to show as I’m waiting for some prints so I’ve mostly been buried in research this month. I find myself re-reading passages in the same book and each time I see something a little deeper.
The second project is a resurrection of an earlier idea to do with thought, memory and collective consciousness. It involves a lot of painting and wiring, It’s more of a next month kind of project.
So, self exploration eh? There was a period of mild self loathing, feeling very at odds with the world. That has passed, thankfully. It helped me to see that I have a purpose and that purpose is important. I have the ability to create, in a way that defines who I am. I will delve more into this topic over the coming months. It’s quite a milestone as it has taken me 36 years to discover something this blindingly obvious, with hindsight obviously.
As well as personal discovery, there has also been some actual discovery. Spode is a big place, it is essentially a small town right in the middle of a city. Much of it is in the process of repair; a couple of the buildings were too far gone and were demolished a couple of months ago. A lot of places are off limits because of the danger of asbestos, however there are still interesting places to frequent. This month I was shown round the ‘catacombs’, a long stretch of underground caverns containing the remnants of the old factory moulds. I have taken a few photos for you to enjoy. The experience was exciting and a bit creepy.
Finally I completed a painting this month it’s called ‘Vector S’ and has nothing to do with any of my other projects.
