University Campus Suffolk

It was whilst perusing the artwork at the Saatchi Gallery, during my London visit, when I came across the artist Chantal Joffe, whose work I have researched in the past.

Despite my immediate interest in the subject matter of her paintings, it was not until I read the caption within the exhibition guide when I deciphered the significant link between her work and my own.

Just as I have been doing for my current project, Joffe also sources some of her images from family photo-albums. What, therefore, became most interesting for me regarding her work was the approach she had taken to recreate these images within a piece of art.

Although there are larger paintings displayed by Joffe within the gallery space, what is most intriguing to me is the set of 81 smaller works which are hung in a line upon one wall. It is the smaller scale of these pieces which help the viewer, and certainly me, to envisage these images within a photo album. I think this is something which is integral to my own work, acknowledging where the images have been sourced from and representing them in a way which is still able to maintain this sense of nostalgia which many feel towards to their family photo albums.

Selecting which images to use from my own old photographs has also been a significant element in how they come across once represented within a painting or print. It was interesting to discover the sort of photographs which this artist had used, whether posed or perhaps more spontaneous. As in my own work, Joffe utilises a mixture of both. I believe what this shows is an honesty about life, embracing the moments inbetween where the person within isn’t ‘camera ready’ and acknowledging the reality of family life.

The series of 81 paintings are displayed in two rows and stretch almost the entire length of the gallery wall. There are, however, a few gaps where it seems like there should be another painting. Whilst there may be no significant reasoning for this other than for compositional effect, I am reminded of my own family photo albums where certain photographs are absent. I believe this is able to aptly symbolize the vulnerability of memories, how easily they can be misplaced and lost.

This can relate back to what I have commented on in my previous post regarding painting on photographs and a negative space.

I find myself focusing more and more on what I do not remember, becoming increasingly interested in what is no longer present…the epitomy of my whole retrospective project.

Franz Ackermann – White Cube

I often pay the White Cube a visit whenever I’m in London as there is always a display of exciting contemporary artwork on offer.

On browsing the gallery website to see what was on, the work of Franz Ackermann certainly grabbed my attention with his brightly coloured ‘mental-maps’ and multi-dimensional element to some pieces of the work.

It is difficult when viewing the work in real life to not become completely mesmerised. Described on whitecube.com as ‘all-encompassing,’ the artist’s wall murals utilise 100% of the wall space.

Sat on the floor in the middle of the 9x9x9 room of the White Cube, I felt it impossible to imagine the usual stark white walls of the space. The use of the bright colours and the space itself can perhaps be considered as overwhelming and too busy. What this does, however, is effectively communicate the highly populated urban areas from which Ackermann draws his inspiration for these pieces.

What I found most interesting about the work was its multi-dimensional aspect. Whenever I have used layering within my own work it has still always resulted in a two-dimensional final piece. What Ackermann does, however, is to marry the various layers whilst maintaining a 3D aspect. This adds a great deal of visual and conceptual depth to the artwork which is also heightened by the contrast between the bright colours and black and white images which the artist uses.

The artist’s use of photography and painting in his pieces encourages me to consider the potential of this combination in my own work. I have in the past experimented with painting directly onto photographs as demonstrated in works from my Behind the Veil (2012) series but again these have been two-dimensional. Fellow students have reflected on how I could use this process again to communicate my ideas in my current work.

Looking back at my family photographs and contemplating old memories, I am beginning to consider how painting over images of myself could illustrate the struggle I have with remembering childhood memories. Given the 3D element of Ackermann’s work I think it would be interesting to experiment with a three-dimensional element in my artwork alongside this painted photograph process.

I think it would first be a good idea to get back into the process of just painting on photographs and seeing how this reflects the subject matter before thinking too much into a three dimensional aspect. I am currently still exploring many avenues in terms of the materials I am working with and would for the moment like to focus upon my print and paint work.

Hannah H̦ch РWhitechapel Gallery

I have never been particularly interested in politics or economics which is maybe why I find it difficult to contemplate Höch’s work within this context. What is much more intriguing from my point of view is her process of collage. Whilst the materials used evidently play a significant role in communicating social aspects of the times the artist lived through, it is the compositional aspect of the work which lures me in.

In previous artworks I have dappled in various collage and layering techniques, as demonstrated in Two-headed Woman (2012) and Bridesmaids Number 1 (2012). Whilst my works differ greatly from Höch’s, what becomes apparent within the exhibition is this potential for variation that can be produced from using such diverse materials – the possibilities really are endless.

For me Höch’s collages embody both formal and expressive qualities. It is the combination of these which creates pieces which are playful and full of character. The works I found most intriguing exemplified both collage and drawing or collage and print. This links in closely with my previous work which has explored various methods of collage and layering. I have not, in the past, thought a great deal about the relationship between different layers of an artwork I have produced. By looking at Höch’s work, however, I am beginning to consider the balance between formal and expressive elements within my own pieces and how best to execute this given the subject matter.

Mixed media is something which always seems to weave its way into my work. Perhaps this is through my own cognition that a paper collage or print does not feel finished until it is combined with something else. I believe this lends itself to my own attitude towards my work in that I am rarely completely happy with what I produce and so feel the need to keep changing it. On the other hand, as i think about this in greater depth, I think there is often a struggle in my artwork between wanting to be more formal and also wanting to be expressive. Perhaps it is through collage and layering which I am able to achieve a happy medium.

Catalogue foreword to Höch’s 1st solo exhibition at the Kunstzaal De Bron, The Hague, 1929.

‘I would like to blur the firm borders that we human beings, cocksure as we are, are inclined to erect around everything that is accessible to us. […] I want to show that small can be large, and large small, it is just the standpoint from which we judge that changes, and every concept loses its validity and all our human gestures lose their validity. I also want to show that there are millions and millions of other justifiable points of view beside yours and mine. Today I would portray the world from an ant’s-eye view and tomorrow, as if the moon sees it perhaps, and then as many other creatures may see it. I am a human being, but on the strength of my imagination – tied as it is – I can be a bridge. (…)’

Hannah Höch

For most of last week I was in London visiting galleries, soaking up the culture (and the water!) in the pouring rain! Whilst this explains my absence on here for most of last week I must now apologize for the following bombardment of posts as I begin to analyse my thoughts on each exhibition I visited.

When writing a list of which galleries and exhibitions I wanted to visit I naturally swayed more towards the ones which I felt were more relevant to my work, either in subject matter or process/material etc. What I realise now, however, is the importance in going to see completely different work from your own, to consider new ideas and approaches to particular subject matter.

My first port of call was the V&A Museum of Childhood. I’d decided to go and see what this had to offer to have a change of pace to my gallery romps. I like to draw new ideas from various sources and hoped I would be able to gain a different perspective in how to explore my own childhood in my artwork from this visit.

Much of the museum is made up of glass cabinets which house typical childrens toys. Whilst this made me contemplate the potential for me to use such items in my artwork, I can’t say I found the displays particularly engaging.

It was only certain cabinets, containing items I could relate to, which encouraged me to recall my own memories. For example, one cabinet exhibited seaside related items which made me think about the many jaunts to the seaside that I have taken with my family over the years. As I did not go abroad until I was 17, every summer my Mum would have 2 weeks off work and, along with my sister and step-dad, we would visit many different coastal towns in East Anglia. These included Felixstowe, Clacton, Walton, Great Yarmouth, Cromer…the list goes on.

From merely viewing this particular cabinet in the museum, I began to think about how significant those days at the beach were for me. Looking over my family photo albums, many feature photographs of these trips to the seaside which have become almost a family tradition I suppose. Just thinking about it now I feel quite nostalgic and realise how much I want to pursue the idea of creating a series of pieces which embody these memories.

…my notebook sits beside me, the pages scrawled with thoughts I had whilst in the exhibition. Many of these thoughts seem unimportant now. It is interesting to look back on my initial speculations and to consider how my ideas have changed in less than a week. I’m hoping this is a sign of good things to come, to take a step back from the giant web of ideas in my head and decipher which are the strongest and which are the most important to me.

I have been working hard in the print room today printing the first 9 etchings of my 22 print series.

It is only when you ink up your etching plate that you can begin to get an idea of how the image will turn out. With print the artist most often has to relinquish a certain amount of control, allowing the ink, paper and any other variables to largely determine the outcome of the print.

The success of my prints today has been varied. It is almost an art in itself to know the exact moment when the somerset paper has dried enough to not blur the ink but is still moist enough to pick up all the detail. It wasn’t until my last few prints where I seemed to achieve this balance a bit better. Perhaps I am just a bit rusty!

I feel that the approach I take in creating my images upon the etching plate is not at all one of clarity and precision but more of expression. From looking back at the 9 prints produced today it seems that the ones which work better are those which are more ‘rough around the edges’ and perhaps less illustrative. This is something I must consider in how I approach the remaining etchings in the series.

There is no doubt in my mind that I shall need to re-print some of the etching plates, although, I have decided to do this once I have completed all 22. This is because I would like to see how they look all together. I am interested to see if the images of me at a younger age work better and whether I would prefer to focus on this area of my life.

Thoughts about how to further develop this particular idea arose whilst in discussion with Andrew Vass who queried the presentation format of my prints and the potential to display them in old photo frames. This is an intriguing idea which had already crossed my mind in relation to the family album thread in my work. For now I shall wait until I have finished all 22 to see how I feel about all of them. I may even decide to re-do particular prints with a different image if I feel the initial one does not work within the series.