It’s been a busy month and I’ve struggled to get to my studio. Thankfully this week, it’s getting back to normal. The good news is that I had something to be getting on with straightway so it was right back into it.
I’ve been continuing on with my works on paper; collage and painting explorations. I’ve been using slightly bigger sheets of paper this time and instead of including bits of images from magazines, I’ve been using my own printed out photographs, focusing on some images from the New Zealand landscape. I like the idea of contrasting my painting that has a UK context set against alternative New Zealand imagery.
I was recently asked why I always work in layers. By collaging different shapes onto these painted backgrounds, it creates a kind of interruption. These interruptions brings forth new ways of seeing and create different possibilities. I have come to realise that when it comes to art, I like the unexpected and this way of doing things helps facilitate that.
I think layers also makes the viewer look a bit harder. There is a kind of ‘seeking out’ of some sort of clarity or explanation, which in these cases, can really only be found in the viewer’s psyche. It feels a bit like creating a Rorschach test – and by this I mean the abstract ink blot tests used in psychology to help examine a person’s personality characteristics and emotional functioning. However I’m not trying to delve into other people’s inner workings. Quite the opposite, I am trying to cut ties, create openings and move on in fact.
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve become rather disillusioned with the whole ‘exhibiting’ rigmarole. That doesn’t mean I will never exhibit again, but I’ve been searching for something to help fuel my art practice in a much wider sense. To this end I have accepted a place on a Masters of Research in Art: Theory and Philosophy course at Central Saint Martins starting later this year. I don’t know what this will specifically bring to my art practice, but I’m looking forward to the copious reading, writing, meeting new people and the different challenges ahead.
