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Discovering the portrait work of Vhils immediately made me think of the works in concrete and plaster of Rachel Whiteread. Although the two artists are a long way apart visually and conceptually they are both working with essentially the same medium. Vhils marks out his images in paint and then removes the concrete or sand and cement, what is left is the finished work. In Whiteread’s 1993 sculpture House, she pours concrete into the inside of an old Victorian residence in London, lets it set, then removes the entire outside of the house. Both artists are essentially removing and destroying building materials in order to create something new. These artists have made me question the materials I am using and the materials I should be using in my work and what these very materials mean.

Whiteread’s House is not a direct comment on homelessness, but while working on my own project I cannot help but see a link. Whiteread has taken an ordinary dwelling and made its rooms and the entire house itself in-enter-able. She has taken a constructive and positive material and made a negative. The solid concrete cast has turned the inside of a home into a tombstone, monument and mausoleum.

From talking to those in a homeless situation I have found that for some, this is their view of a permanent place to live, the dream of living in their own home is dead, something out of reach, something from their past but not of the future, a house as a ghostly memorial rather than a real and positive thing. Vhils on the other hand creates something much more life affirming, something celebratory and iconic. In Vhils portraits ordinary people are written large on buildings and the carving out of construction materials creates something monumental and triumphant.

The use of these materials would add another layer to my work. I have decided to explore working on and into hardened sand and cement as a way of giving the viewer other layers and meaning to think about. Part of my work concerns equality, portraying people in the stuff and substance of our towns and cities, of our buildings, houses and monuments, the basic and universal materials of construction, levels everyone.

Rachel Whiteread Interview – 1993

In my dissertation I analysed the work of the American photorealists of the 1960s and early 1970s. My practice at that time was heavily reliant on the use of photographic source material and my desire to paint in a strongly realist style naturally led me to look at artists such as Chuck Close, Ralph Goings, Richard Estes and Robert Bechtle.

The aesthetic aspect of their work, their technique and application were what initially attracted me to them, but after researching their work, their backgrounds and listening to these artists in the comprehensive and extensive interviews on the Smithsonian Archives of American Art website http://www.aaa.si.edu/ I began to find myself drawn to other qualities in their work.

These artists chose to paint the things they knew well, their own time and era, the people and things around them, their neighborhoods, their own societies. Of these artists Close and Bechtle were the ones I kept returning to most. Close obviously as he is a portrait artist and as such he paints people that will attract our attention. He tells his subjects stories through their expressions, features, lines, folds and marks faces as many portrait artists before and since have done. What interested me about Close though was how he has kept his work fresh and interesting. His constant exploration of materials, processes and scale keep his work dynamic and give the viewer another element to think about.

“…the way you chose to make something influences the way it looks and therefore what it means.” (Arthur, n.d. cited in Lucie-Smith, 1994, p.189)

This has encouraged me to look at how I can explore and incorporate other approaches to bring more punch and points of interest into my own portrait work. Of the two artists though, Bechtle I found particularly interesting. On the surface his work seems a dry exercise in technique and aesthetics, but when viewed as a whole, particularly his figurative work the sociological content becomes the strongest element.

“These images” Bechtle has said, “are about where and how I and my family have lived. It may not be perfect, but it’s not something I can turn my back on. To a considerable extent, I am a product of this place.” (Bechtle, 2005, cited in Bishop et al, 2005, p. 41)

Collectively the works become a portrait of a whole particular social group. His middle class neighborhood, the cars they drive, the houses they live in, the clothes they wear and in his group portraits the way they interact with each other and the environment they live in. Bechtles work has helped to open my eyes to a way of including sociological content into my work without direct and aggressive comment. The even and unbiased way Bechtle has approached his work has been helped by the use of the camera in gathering the source material and Bechtle’s fairly faithful reproduction of that photographic image. His camera makes no artistic decisions and Bechtles use of the camera, like my own use of the camera, allows us a neutral perspective and allows the viewer to make their own minds up on the subject matter presented to them.

“If one of Bechtles themes is the kind of bourgeois respectability embodied by the carefully manicured homes and possessions of average Americans, the viewer’s attitude toward that subject will be determined more by his or her own nationality, social status, and ideological beliefs than by any editorializing on the part of the artist.” (Bishop et al, 2005, p.56)

References:

Bishop, J., Auping, M., Weinburg, J. and Ray, C. (2005) Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: Berkeley University of California Press.

Illustrations:

Ill. 1. Finch, C. (2010) Chuck Close: Life. Munich: Prestel Publishing, p. 154

Ill. 2. Bishop, J., Auping, M.,Weinburg, J. and Ray, C. (2005) Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: Berkeley University of California Press, p.86

Ill. 3. Chase, L. (1988) Ralph Goings. New York: Harry N.Abrams, Inc, p.7

A reflection from the beginning…

At the outset my vision was to work with different homeless agencies in order to research the homeless issue and collect my own primary sources to work from to create a series of portraits challenging the public’s preconceptions and confronting the truth about the causes and effects of homelessness.

Over the past three months my motives have become stronger as my understanding of the issues are much clearer. Through my exploration of the subject matter and my methods of working, my project has evolved into something much more diverse and rewarding. Initially my aim was to produce a series of contemporary portraits using traditional materials and approaches, however, as I became more connected with the homeless community I found that other approaches had something to offer.

By reflecting back to my beginning posts and then to my most recent for this project, I have found that as my understanding of the homeless community developed, my use of materials and mediums have improved. The introduction of cardboard and construction materials such as wood and cement are intended to give the viewer and myself another layer and meaning to explore.

Having spent three years studying portraiture I came to realise that the most contemporary and exciting form of portraiture could be found on the streets. After studying these methods and motivations of street artists such as Vhils, Jeff Aerosol and Ernest Zacharevic, I began to feel that the use of both traditional and contemporary approaches could be very powerful in conveying my message in the same way that it has proved for the artists mentioned above.

Some side ventures of my project have had to be shelved perhaps for a future date because of time restraints and to maintain an efficient way of working. For instance the proposal put to me of holding meaningful activities such as art classes for the clientèle. This would have proved to be too costly in terms of time and I would not have been able to give the classes my full commitment during the period of this project. I have ideas for future projects which could be much more beneficial at a later date.

I also had the intention of working from primary sources, however as I have mentioned in previous posts the use of primary sources from one agency would have given me a very narrow view of homelessness as a whole.

My exploration of new techniques, materials and approaches has not been without its failures. Some works and ideas have fallen by the wayside, they just haven’t worked out. I think becoming a better artist is less about improving technique and more about improving decision making and becoming a better editor. It’s ok to have misadventures and mistakes as long as you can recognise that they are misadventures and mistakes. Talking of which, my little diversion into coloured pencils. What was I thinking of? I’m sure some artists can make good use of them, but I’m not one of them. This little nightmare was brought to you by myself and caran d’ache aquarelle artist’s colours. The results were the combination of a poor choice of subject matter and primary school techniques in pencilmanship. A neat, pretty and cheerful looking man smiling back at us telling us nothing. Way to go Katie.

My intentions of not showing every homeless person as desperate and without hope went a little astray with this one. Of course my intentions remain to show something approaching the breadth and depth of people out there in this situation, but I still have to be discerning in my choice of subject. Perhaps it may be that I have taken an interesting person and my treatment of him has taken that away, but in reality I think I was swayed by the shear appeal of the man’s face. Anyway I don’t think any approach, technique or medium could have solved a poor choice. While I’m being critical I’ve got to say I made things worse by my very neat colour within the lines approach to depicting the face I had chosen.

Then when you think things could not get any worse I introduced ink as an attempt to resuscitate a dying portrait. When attempts to revive the patient failed, I made the courageous decision to tear away the mid-tone in the face and the background to provide some point of interest and a flicker of life. Instead I was left with the flat lining artwork, it was here where I had to say my goodbyes and accept my defeat.

Sometimes you may have to leave what seemed a good idea alone. Move on and learn from your mistakes. From the beginning my first mistake was the face and expression I had chosen and then perhaps my treatment of it lacked visual and psychological depth. I am however glad that I had chosen to experiment with this medium if only to rule it out for the immediate future. My technical ability at this point in time with colouring pencils is simply too limited. For me this medium does not have the texture, strength and power of the more robust materials I have been using.

Again I don’t want to portray every homeless person in a stereotypical dishevelled and ragged appearance as this is just not the reality, but I’ve got to say that here my technique also let me down. Looking on the bright side I recognised a work that was a loser and decided to cut my losses and share them with you.

At the start of my project my aim was to work with three agencies. Some of these ventures have been more successful than others, there have been problems in communication and also in meeting suitable subjects to create appropriate work. Many of the people I have met have been unwilling to take part in this type of project. There are many issues involved in this, such as the protection of an individual’s privacy and identity. Psychologically some people found the thought of being pushed into the spotlight deeply uncomfortable. For others legal issues were a factor – they simply did not want to be recognised by the law for various reasons. There seemed to be many more reasons for a person not to be involved in a project like this that to participate. However, overall my contact with these agencies has been hugely positive. My understanding of the effects and causes of homelessness has increased hugely, the knowledge I now have has contributed to my project a great deal and the insight and experiences I have had have proved to be invaluable. Working with a single agency alone, I would have a very narrow view of homelessness. Each agency seemed to specialise in certain issues surrounding homelessness for example:

The Soup Kitchen dealt with the issue of hunger and well-being, looking after another person’s basic health needs with volunteers to deliver food, clothing and bedding prioritising those in greatest need. With visits from an NHS nurse to deal with any basic health issues.

The Community Resource Centre encourages and provides information for people to try and find their own way out of a homeless environment and lifestyle. My experiences with them so far have been restricted to mere observations of the way they work and the people that use their services.

Progress has been slow with working on a one to one basis with the clients. Finding willing participants has been problematic, however, the insight it has given me has been greatly beneficial to my work. As my work is very much more concerned with the sheer scale, breadth and diversity of people effected by the homeless issue, I have not found this to be too much of a problem as working from secondary sources is proving to be much more effective and rewarding. Homelessness is not just about rough sleepers, it is about families facing eviction, the elderly, young people, people with jobs, people going through various upheaval in their lives. Through secondary sources I am finding access to these people, their lives, stories and problems.