University of Brighton

I really enjoyed sewing the plastic together with the fabric, I think I like the idea of seeing the stuffing through the plastic. I also enjoyed and challenged myself to follow the patterns to sew it together. I think this is something that I might take further for degree show.

Someone said to me that I shouldn’t be so literal, or figurative, i.e. don’t make faces, make chickens, birds… because it stops people to read into them. His recommedention was to keep more abstract and to leave objects with the possibility of being seen with two meanings, i.e. the object that looks like a black and yellow penis could also be seen as some funny glasses…? (I agree to this I guess) He also thought that my work is not sculpture and more like props (this really messed my brain up and really really confused me!) He thought i should keep more abstract and using bits of this chicken and mabye doing them larger. But them there might not be anything funny about it. I’m still slightly confused about all, but I think I need to listen to myself and keep doing the things that are true to me.

I wish I could see the pictures at the same time I write in here…

This object had a bit of a cross feelings on me. It has been changing with the attempt of finding the best way to make an impact on the public, to the point that I got really confused. From penis that was almost moving and jumping around like a frog, quite an annoying one, to glasses suspended from the ceiling to the public’s eye level. What it is this? I seem to make things that changes or I want to make them change, depending on the mood I feel.

Am I just taking the piss and if so, to who, to myself or to the viewer? Is it all a reflection about the irony in our daily lifes, to take the traumas and joys in life with a laugh or with a pinch of salt? or is there a bitter feeling of fustration that wants to heal through humour? Getting older in private with your own feellings and emotions shown to the public, scary… but satisfying I guess.

The cock and the hen (the next post), is meant to be a couple, there is quite a lot of narrative in here, perhaps I want the titles to help with this. But do the objects talk by themselves? My titles lately have been like maybe too long? I’m not sure if I’m loosing the point, but I think it adds to the crazyness of the whole thing. I’m a talkative person anyway, and the work comes pretty much from personal experiences so I guess I’m being true to myself? I think my work is about details, about talking, telling stories, a necessity of speaking out loudly and to be understood.

These two objects, might represent the sexual relationship between a couple after becoming parents. Specially focusing on how some women feel about their sexuality after becoming mothers, and how this affects their self-steem.

Studio space is ready now for the second part of my studio practice. Everything is clear and organised now, making everything handy and ready to go.

Pictures from Tesco have arrived so I can spend the day tomorrow in the studio working on my sketchbook making notes, observing what I have done in the last month or so and preparing for the next round of work.

I still need to go through all current art magazines and print some thoughtful art to put on the wall.

Projects that I have in mind are to:

Keep the drawings going, bigger, sculptural, colourful or not so colourful, funny and not so funny… I want to work on the idea of an on and off, black or white representing two behaviours, they depend on each other to exist.

Finish the armature and start imagining situations, locations, narrative to start planning some shooting with the camera. I’m a bit less keen on making a film with actors and all the things I was planning. I think this idea was scaring me too much as this will imply a lot of planning and organising other people, therefore I’m going to work with a simplier idea. The performance ideally will be screened in a single monitor in the degree show and together with the rest of the work will help to tie things up.

The fabrics samples are juicy and I can’t wait to see if what I have got in mind is viable or not. My plan is to divided and classify the fabrics in colours and then after having done some drawings, to sew together the squares creating patterns with the colours. Let’s say imagine a long piece of fabric, 5 meters long, 4 meters wide with a tetris kind of pattern created by joining together all the blues, oranges, pinks tones… like a large quilt really. I’m not sure if this will work but I’m positve that this plan will bring some work somewhow whether are drawings or the actual quilt.

I have also put myself forward to take the SEA LIFE Centre proposal. They were looking for students to create an Octopod (from the TV children cartoons Octonauts in Cbeebies) in their educational room for the 23rd March. Me and a second year painting student are going to work together to create an under the water atmosphere in that room, where other games and activities are going to be provided for the children. I’m so excited about this too, it will be a good opportunity to prove and to expand my making and collaborating kills, and more important to follow a brief and to achieve it. There is potential in this for my future and it is worth a go, a big one. I will get free visits too for Simon, Lola and I for a whole year in the SEA LIFE centre. Lola is so excited about this and she is planning to help designing fabric octopus and sea life creatures too. She is so creative too and she is only 3 and a half. Love it.

I’m not sure if I’m taking too much (I couldn’t sleep I’ve been thinking about how to recreate a seabed, make octopus, starfishes…!!!), because I’m already quite tired physically (but still positve and smiling) and I still have 3 more months until degree show. I think this is the year of challenges and the year to work hard for the future, so I will be able to put my feet up this Summer and drink wine in the garden…

Well, I’m already feeling the benefits of having spent the day organising myself and de-cluttering my space. I still need to do more tomorrow but it is looking good again and the most important thing, I feel like to approaching my practice with a new feel again.

The other day as I was entering the reception at university, the caretakers and the fashion administrator were unloading loads of curtains and wallpapers samples which have been donated by a local shop. OMG! the colours on those samples, the quaiity of the fabrics, the textures, the patterns… i couldn’t stop looking to them from the distance only wishing that I could have some of those book samples. I decided to ask James the fashion administrator and for my surprise he was kind of- yeah! take as many as you want!… I ended up taking around 10 sample books of fabrics and two wall papers books. I looked like an interior designer with all these books in my desk.

Today I have been getting all the staples out of the books so I can have the samples of fabric ready and handy to make. My hands and wrists are a bit sore, some of the staples were massive as they were holding like 100 pieces of fabric together so I had to use all sort of stuff to get them out there… I’m almost done and now I have a cardboard box full of beautiful and colourful fabric samples. I have already got a project in my to do with this! so exciting.

I’m also thinking to put like a clipboard on the wall and clip there images of current artists works that I like rather than covering the whole wall. I will locate just one corner to it, somewhere where I can look if I need to but without getting in the way. Having the wall empty feels like an invitation to me to display my new drawings and work and to observe, experiment or draw from there.

Just as I was packing to go and pick up my gorgeous bundle of joy Lola from nursery, I found the solution to one of my dilemmas, the legs. I broke one of the ironboards that is piling on top of my things and I was left with the iron board legs, which they had served me to try out my last object made of zinc, cardboard and mod roc. I think the scale of the object with the hammer head and now on top of this iron board legs is quite succesful and I like the feel of it. It feels like if this woman is crossing her legs and kind of posing, it is a very confident posture I think and stands on its own. I left it like that and hopefully tomorrow when I first arrive it will keep telling me,-yes yes this are the right legs. I’m going to be casting some high heels shoes with pink fiberglass and other materials such as rubber, plaster… The iron board legs has two bits in each side so it is going to be difficult to attach shoes to it…

Everything is piling at the moment, hoovering is piling, cleaning job is piling, rubbish is piling, blog writing is piling, sketchbook process is piling, even sleeping is piling…

These are some of the pictures of today’s bright and sunny day in the studio.

I also went to see the MA students this morning, had to talk and show my documentation book. I really enjoyed that.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Just a quick evaluation before I leave to the studio. It is being hard to keep up with energy levels and to mantain the rythm of making work, researching, keep things up… My space is very cluttered at the moment I feel that I haven’t got space to experiment or even to think. The walls are covered with other’s artists works but I feel I need to go through that too and get new images from other artists. I will be spending the day today trowing materials that I feel I won’t use and trying to organise myself. Hopefully clearing the space and having new inspiration to look at on the wall will make me start again motivated and inspired.

I ordered the photos from Tesco photo at last yesterday, photos of my studio practice that I use on my sketchbook for observation and development. As soon as they get here I need to update my sketchbook, hopefully this won’t take me long. It is funny but without my sketchbook where I record process and thoughts I feel a bit lost and I’m happy that I did the effort to stay up late last night and order the pics.

I have also finished and submitted my application for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries, it was also tough to find the time and to select the right work. I just need to cross my fingers for good news now. This is the second competition that I have applied to so far this year. A year ago I would terrified to apply to anything, I’m quite happy to have changed my attitude towards this and to be confident to do it.

Today I will also spend some time in the library looking at Frieze, Art Forum, etc.. and scanning new work for my studio wall, really need a change at the moment but don’t want to cut my hair!!!!

The other thing is that degree show is fast approaching, god days just fly so quick… I thought I was in control of what I wanted to do but the stress and the worrying of mantaining my pace and creating something I’m pleased with, is really making a difference in my attitude.

I urgently need to fix that so I can progress onto making new work, hopefully my new studio space, new research, new perspective, new questions and answers will help me.

Deep breath and here I go…