Tricia’s Art Blog

A recent trip to the Whitechapel First Thursday Exhibitions highlighted for me, the importance of how art works are displayed. It got me thinking about the degree show and how I might display my work. I will have paintings, and sculptures, how will they all hang together? Should I even try to use them all?
The word canvas has so many possibilities. Should I hang it as a self-portrait, of public face and private pain? Should I take it off the frame and use it as a quilt on a bed? Should I suspend it from the ceiling so it can be walked around? Should I use lights behind it, to illuminate the words?
I guess the answer to all these questions is another question. What am I trying to say, and how can I make the most impact when saying it?

The First Thursday trip was closely followed by another trip to London, this time to see the Marlene Dumas exhibition in Tate Modern. I knew nothing much about her work but some people had said that my painting of the eyes reminded them of her work, so I thought I should take a look. The display called Rejects, had the most impact on me. The wall was filled with portrait heads.

“These ink and graphite images began with images the artist had discarded from another work. It reminded Dumas of the so called reject stores in South Africa where clothes with imperfections were sold. By bringing these rejects together and making visible the artistic process of selection and judgement Dumas was, maybe, making a comment on the way that society accepts some and excludes others. “Excerpt from the Room Guide for the Marlene Dumas exhibition  Image as Burden, at Tate Modern.

“Art is not a mirror. Art is a translation of that which you do not know” Marlene Dumas (2003)

Taken from the Room Guide for Image as Burden, at Tate Modern, as are the following images:

Cover Page: Image as Burden, Room Guide: (2015)

 

Marlene Dumas: Rejects: (2015)

 

The images were disturbing to look at and it reminded me of how uncomfortable I felt looking at my ‘eyes’ picture and maybe that is the point. I realised that in my desire to make an aesthetically pleasing image, I have been trying to make what happened to me acceptable to myself by trying to pretty it up. Why am I doing that? The sexual abuse of a child is not pretty, it is not acceptable. I should be trying to show the real face of it; the emotionally destructive, guilt- ridden, shame burdened truth of it.

Rimantas Plunge, a photographic fine artist from Lithuania came to UCS to set up his exhibition in Waterfront. There was an opportunity to attend a seminar where he talked about his work and to have personal tutorials about our work, I was keen to take advantage of both.
During the tutorial, his comments about the face canvas surprised me. He didn’t think that what I considered untidiness in my brush work, detracted from the painting at all and that the fact that I had mixed the background colour myself, meant that there were nuances of light and shade in the paint’s application which made it interesting. To my comment, about being more careful, he said “Don’t be careful be free, express yourself.” and to the suggestion that I might use a smaller canvas on which to paint my original idea, he advised me not to close myself in and to use large canvasses to make a series in which I developed the first painting. An interesting thought!

When I spoke to Rimantas about my intentions for the ‘word canvas’, he asked if I had considered using paint to mask the words, as working with the fabric would take a very long time. He suggested that I might make two smaller versions of the canvas, cover one with fabric and one with paint to see what I thought would work best.

I decided to pin pieces of fabric on to a small area of the canvas and think about using paint instead, as I was working. However, as I worked around the stitched words, I realised that the therapeutic process of making the stitches had been very important to me. Each stitch had been a small act of healing and I chose to continue that process.

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Pinned section

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media: Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Stitched section

The canvas is now on its frame and I am finding ways to obscure the words. I will use a variety of fabric pieces to cover them. The small words will be partially concealed, legible only upon close inspection. The large words will be covered leaving just part of certain letters on view. The viewer will be aware that something is under the surface but not know what. What is lurking beneath the surface is the effects of abuse.

Sexual child abuse:
“A child is sexually abused when they are forced or persuaded to take part in sexual activities. This doesn’t have to be physical contact, and it can happen online. Sometimes the child won’t understand that what’s happening to them is abuse. They may not even understand that it’s wrong.”  (N.S.P.C.C. website: 2015)

More information available at:

https://www.nspcc.org.co.uk

Children who have been abused or neglected may suffer physical or emotional harm and the effects can be long-lasting, often into adulthood. It is likely that someone who has been abused during childhood will be abused again.
The long term effects can be debilitating and can cause
such emotional difficulties as anxiety, low self-esteem or anger. It can also cause mental health problems such as, depression, self-harm or eating disorders.
Victims can suffer disturbing thoughts, and have difficulty communicating and with building and maintaining relationships.

Because of the secret nature of this type of abuse, the cause of these problems can go undetected for years.

 

I experimented with different ‘see through’ fabrics.

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Netting

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media:  Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Netting

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Lace

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media:  Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Lace

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress (2015)

Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread

Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm

Location: Studio

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

Close-up Detail

 

Lace

 

I think that the lace works best at obscuring the words, I will continue with that.

I decided to paint my child’s face to look like a black and white photograph. Black and white photographs are of the period when I was growing up and it seems to be the medium of choice when portraying a poignant message.

Famine in Ethiopia : (1983-1985)

Image available at:

https://2020famineinethiopia.wordpress.com/

 

Life Magazine: Starving Children of the War in Biafra: (1967-1970)
Image available at: http://emeagwali.com/photos/biafra/template.html

 

Sexual Abuse Lawsuit News: Sexual Child Abuse: (2015)

Image available at:

http://fightforsexualabusevictims.com/child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-news

Every few weeks, it seems, there is yet another report involving sexual child abuse.

Bearing in mind Robin’s mantra of painting from dark to light, I chose the darkest skin tone on the online image and painted the whole canvas except for unpainted sections for the eyes nose and mouth.

Tricia Cottrell: Eyes: (2015)

Media: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 199.5cm x 258.75cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2015)

 

I had just finished painting the canvas when, to my astonishment, David suggested that I leave it as it was, commenting that “less is more.” The following day I had several more of the same comments. My own feeling was that if I had intended to leave the painting there I would have been a bit more careful with my brushstrokes which I felt were rather untidy. It was suggested that I leave it for a while and then go back to it and consider it again. This is exactly what I did and continued with the word stitching on my sheet canvas.

I rescued a frame which was destined for the skip, I will use it for the next piece of work. I had several ideas about how to use the frame; covering it with bandages and covering it with the words I thought I was going to use on the fabric sculpture.

Tricia Cottrell: Preparatory Sketch: (2014)

Media: Pencil on paper

Dimensions: 6cm x 9cm

Location: Artists Sketchbook

Scanned Image

 

Maybe this is too obvious. One of the main characteristics of this kind of abuse is that the victims are encouraged by their abusers to keep silent. “It’s our secret”, “Don’t tell anyone” or “No one will believe you” are phrases that are often used.

I feel the need to give voice to the words, that for me, embody sexual child abuse but there is also the desire to reflect the aspect of being hidden or covered up.

I used a cut and sewn together sheet which will become the ‘canvas’ for my frame and started by painting the words, big and bold with fabric paint. The paint seeped into the fabric as I was writing the words which made it look as if the words were bleeding.

 

Tricia Cottrell: Words: in progress: (2014)

Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint

Dimensions: 2m x 3m

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

Close up section

 

I revisited text artist Jenny Holzer. She uses language exclusively in her art. She has engaged with issues of violence and trauma which I feel has strong links to my own work. In 1977 she began an ongoing series of provocative, one line statements which she collected and had commercially printed on billboards which were pasted on buildings in and around Manhattan. They were meant as an attack on established ideas about who art was for, where it should be shown and for what purpose.   She displays her texts in a variety of formats:

• Posters
• Monumental signs
• Billboards
• Television
•  LED signs

More information is available at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jenny-holzer-1307

Below are some of her images,  that I feel are particularly pertinent to my work.

Jenny Holzer: Televised Texts: 1990

Media: Video

Duration: 13 minutes

Image courtesy of Video Data Bank

Website available at: http://www.vdb.org/

“Holzer adopts the form and language of commercial messages to disrupt communication, presenting kamikaze texts that are designed to stimulate thought, with humor, and inspire a critical attitude in an often passive audience. As in all of Holzer’s work, these television spots present deceptively simple sequences of text that mix provocative social commentary with resonant poetic reflection.”

Tate Website:  No Author, (no date)

Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jenny-holzer-1307

More information available at:

http://landmarks.utexas.edu/projects/video/holzer

I tried the video link on this website but it yielded no results. It seems that this particular video is not held in the video archive. I have tried several other searches but to no avail.

Jenny Holzer: Survival Series: 1983-1985

Media: Screen Print on Wooden Postcard

Dimensions: 9 x 14cm

Location: Unknown

Image available at:

http://www.grahamegalleries.com.au/index.php/stand-1-grahame-galleries-editions

Jenny Holzer: Survival Series: 1983-1985

Image available at:

http://www.grahamegalleries.com.au/index.php/stand-1-grahame-galleries-editions

Jenny Holzer: Inflammatory Essays: 1979-1982

Media: Lithograph on Paper

Dimensions: 431 x 431cm

Location: Tate Collection

Jenny Holzer’s approach is brutal and to the point, it challenges people’s perceptions. My own approach is less blatant, I am hinting at rather than spelling it out. I decided to stitch the same words in a smaller size in the spaces between the larger words. It is symbolic of the use of different strategies to cope with traumatic experiences.

Below is the link to a video of me stitching.

 

http://youtu.be/JuXh2e2sOg8

 

To have a break from stitching, I turned my attention to a large canvas I had made with the intention of painting a portrait of a child, to represent me and found an image online that I wanted to use.

I found some black and white photographs of me as a child and thought that I could use my own features in the painting. The images were very small only 6cm x6cm. When I tried to enlarge them, the features were completely lost. Kathryn took some pictures of me so that I could study the shape of my facial features. The eyes are the most prominent feature in the online image. They are full of emotion and it is this emotion that I would like to capture in my painting.

I came back in to this post  in order to add the reference information to the online image, but despite an extensive search I could no longer find the image.