I have been working away on the word canvas, without any real conviction since all my questioning about where I was going with it, after the Marlene Dumas exhibition.
Last Wednesday, however, brought the beginnings of a breakthrough.
Two students, from the Royal College of Art, came to talk about their work and offered tutorials about our work.
I was impressed, and not a little envious, with how articulate they were when describing their work and their inspiration and motivation.
We divided into two groups and each student gave group tutorials, about our work. The thing that stood out for me was how many questions they asked, questioning, questioning, questioning, to get to the heart of what we were trying to do. Reflecting afterwards about the tutorial session, I was reminded of the sessions of person-centred counselling I received in the past, in which the counsellor acts as facilitator. The counsellor asks question after question, enabling the client to get to the heart of their difficulties and encouraging them to find solutions.
The session with my group’s student, has motivated me to question myself and my work as an ongoing part of my artistic process.
My group’s student commented that she thought that the Loss of Innocence and The Eyes canvasses, were the strongest pieces of work.
With the Word canvas, she thought that my approach was too polite for the subject matter that I was trying to portray, which meant that the work was not as strong as the other pieces. I think I was coming to a similar conclusion myself.
I have made a decision! I am not going to cover the whole canvas after all. I will leave all the words showing although they will still be partially obscured. I think it will better reflect what I am trying to say, which is, that however much victims of abuse may try to cover up the emotional effects of their experiences, they keep resurfacing. Just like an open wound, they keep on bleeding.
The following group of images were taken of my studio space and close up details of the Words canvas: (2015)
Media: Fabric, Fabric Paint, Thread
Canvas Dimensions: 199.5cm 258.75cm
Photographs: Tricia Cottrell (2015)
During my tutorial with David yesterday, he suggested that I may even want to accentuate the words in some way to reinforce the idea of the emotions surfacing and resurfacing. I am liking that idea, no more being too polite!
I am working on the canvas with renewed vigour now that I have a plan. I do like to have a plan, even though I am open and prepared for that plan to expand or change as I go along, I seem to function better with some kind of structure.
