I have been working on my piece for the Snip exhibition this evening, it feels good to be getting it ready for the show – which opens the same weekend as my degree show – I see it as the beginning of my life of making art, it is really exciting, to begin with I felt like the piece was, in a way, separate to my practice… but I think it has been good for me to realise that not every piece of work has to encompass everything I am interested in, it can be that each piece of work has different elements within it !
“I don’t think there’s any artist of any value who doesn’t doubt what they’re doing” – Francis Ford Coppola
From thoughtfulmind.com
Over the weekend I went to see the Schwitters show in London, I thought his use of ready made objects and painting would be inspiring and may help me to see how my recent ideas can be made into successful works.
The exhibition was amazing, it is fascinating to imagine an artist thinking and working in the way that he did, in the time that he was making work, the show really helped me to see how I can incorporate the raw unfinished look and readymade objects to create really important and interesting works.
A really important part of viewing the work for me was the humanness of the work, I really felt like I could imagine Schwitters making it and somehow that made the works come alive for me.
I am starting to think that the honesty and humanness that I want in my work can perhaps be found in the incorporation of ready made or found objects, I believe that situating the hand made against the ready made could create an interesting balance that has more relevance to life.
The picture on this post of the board painted black with a painted leaflet and a cloth is my first exploration into this type of incorporation and I think it is a really interesting object, the found objects – partly painted – against the painted board bring a new element that makes you unsure of what is going on… two different methods and languages.
It feels much more complete and relevant to what I am interested in than some of the other pieces, more sophisticated in its communication somehow.
I have started to realise that in trying to make my work really honest I have perhaps been making work that is a little idealistic and detached from life and the things I am trying to say. It’s very ambitious to try and make art that is completely pure but in doing so I loose the very human feeling that I strive to incorporate in my work.
I am not sure how to get around this but I think continuing to work and questioning it, I will naturally see the answer …
