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I’ve found that being in the studio for five days a week, can be quite difficult for me to concentrate and focus on one particular project. I also have discovered that the more I try to force what I want to do, the less success I seem to have.

when Im going through these less productive periods, I’m re-enthused by letting go and making some quick, expressive drawings and paintings.

by working on paper that is relatively cheap, I dont feel too concerned about the outcome of what I’m doing and just enjoy the process of making the work.

I feel that working in this less inhibited way, the work seems much more loose and natural. I try not to think for too long, I just commit to doing it.

Proccess shots.

Charcoal and oil paint on paper.

Oilbar on paper.

I stumbled across an image (on Pinterest) showing a group of tormented looking men, huddled together, in what looked like a cell of some description. I glanced at the text underneath and saw the words ‘World War 2’ and instantly assumed that this was a holocaust image. It was only after reading on further, that I learned that this image had been taken in a mental hospital in the U.S. I saw a certain irony in that the Americans liberated the surviving prisoners in the concentration camps in Europe, yet were keeping mentally ill, vulnerable Americans in similar conditions.

My earlier assumption, that the image was of a concentration camp, made me consider the importance of titling the painting. I’m considering calling it ‘1945’ just to see if it pushes people to a similar conclusion. if I call it ‘Asylum’ it would be interesting to see if people associate the image with the U.S.

The week before I was due back to start my final year of the course, I was lucky enough to be chosen to go on a week long residency in the rather remote holiday town of Nida, Lithuania. I was aware that the the week was going to be focused on photographic and video based work (something that I know very little about).

Taking part, were myself and five other students from UCS (where I study) and twelve Lithuanian students, from two different universities. When we arrived, we were split into mixed gender/nationality/university groups. The number of students didn’t divide equally, so I ended up in the smallest group, in which there were three of us. I generally find the thought of being thrown into group situations like this horrific at best, only this time I had the added bonus of not speaking the same language as the other group members. The group consisted of myself, and two Lithuanian students, a guy named Arnas and a girl named Aurelija. It soon became apparent (and much to my relief) that they both spoke excellent English. This made life so much easier for me, but more difficult for them, as it meant that they felt obliged to speak English in front of me, so I knew what was going on. I came to learn that Arnas is a talented video artist and commercial photographer. Aurelija is studying graphic design, she also draws and writes poetry.

After our awkward introductions, we were briefed that each group would have to produce a video based on our surroundings and along the themes of ‘Baltic signs’ or ‘time’, then present it to everyone by the end of the week. Luckily for me, Aurelija and Arnas were very ‘techy’ and knew exactly what they were doing in this department. Myself on the other hand, wasn’t quite sure what I’d be able to bring to the table. I draw and paint, which at first didn’t seem like it was going to be of much use to anyone for this exercise. We were all then advised to go off in our groups and explore our new surroundings for inspiration.

The next morning I met with my group and we went for our inspirational walk. We didn’t get far before finding a bar and restaurant and over a breakfast of ‘meat soup’ and beer, we came up with some ideas for the video. I made it clear that I had little to no skills in the video or photography department, but for what it’s worth, I would be more than happy to draw something. It was then that we all decided to combine the strongest elements of what each of us do, to make the video. The idea of the video would be to show the passing of time. We decided that the video would be a combination of mine and Aurelija’s drawings animated over the top of Arnas’s photographs, accompanied by the text from a specially written poem from Aurelija. Although initially I was dreading the idea of the collaboration, I actually felt OK about it, when I knew that I actually had a purpose within the group. I learnt from discussions with the other British students, that there were some disagreements and communication problems within the other groups. This made me feel extra grateful, as we all got on really well in my group and had quite a laugh during the week.

When the time came to actually start making the work, I made four A4 charcoal drawings, from photographs taken by Arnas. These drawings were all animated in the final video. I also made a larger drawing of a lighthouse, that was situated on a (very steep) hill, not far from our accommodation. It may be worth mentioning now, that landscapes are not my usual choice of subject matter. I did however, see the collaboration as an oppurtunity to push myself in a slightly different direction and actually enjoyed the process.

On the final night, all groups gathered in the communal dining/lecture area, to view the videos. Ours seemed to be recieved well. It was great to see all of the elements that we’d each contributed, put together in the final and very polished (thanks to Arnas) video.

I’ve been looking at the possibility of incorporating text into my work. I’ve continued to look at right wing social media posts, particularly the comments that are left behind by Facebook users.

I’ve played around with different ways of combing the text within the images

The idea is to make a series of these, but on a larger scale.

Early in the semester, I’d had the idea of making work on and around the subject of the conflicts in the Middle East, in particular the west’s involvement in Syria and Iraq.

I thought about making a series of paintings that would depict the main ‘characters’ in the overall narrative that was being played out in the western media.

The lead roles- Obama, Putin, Assad etc. Then supporting cast- coalition soldiers and black clad Islamic State fighters, that have both come to serve as symbols of good and evil respectively. Finally, the extras- ordinary people who have experienced firsthand, these terrifying situations that have been brought about by this conflict. People who have suffered in the wars in Iraq and Syria and the people in Europe who have suffered, particularly the from the attacks in Paris.

I’d started to make a large painting of Barrack Obama. A large close up of his face, taken from a photograph found online. During the time that I was working on the painting, there was some footage on the news of Obama crying, whilst giving a speech on mass shootings in the U.S.

I found a video of the speech on YouTube and took several screenshots of when he appeared to be crying.

Although he seemed to be genuinely distressed in the footage, I couldn’t help but see the hypocrisy of the U.S. President mourning the deaths of American kids, while the U.S. is carrying out regular drone strikes in the Middle East that are killing innocent people, including children all the time.