Boyfriends are sometimes good. Often they can be troublesome. The trouble with boyfriends presents itself in the fact that they rarely remain as they are, and often have the nasty habit of turning into ex-boyfriends or… husbands.
Most troublesome of all, of course, are ex-husbands. Technically, this last metamorphosis should fall under the category of the trouble with husbands, nevertheless, it may be argued that the state of boyfriend-dom is the initial cause. Boyfriends and their alternative manifestations are also, unavoidably, my most consistent source of material for my work. The fragility of this state actually makes for some interesting work as well, but also for some interesting situations where the boyfriend’s stoicism must be tested to the limit in the face of a plethora of images of other men. My current boyfriend is not at all troublesome, and long may he remain so… he is, actually, extremely supportive and very understanding, despite being constantly bombarded by business cards and other forms of marketing bearing the images of male bodies, and having to endure conversations on my dissertation research along the subject of “the problem with the penis”. There may not have been much of an option in this, as this line of work pre-dated the relationship, and if he was even vaguely insecure it surely couldn’t have made it off the ground to begin with.
Now that I’ve started my first proper portrait of him, specifically for this project, I’ve been grilling myself just a bit. Have I become more loved-up because of starting the portrait, or did I start the portrait because of being more loved-up? Why on earth do I even come out with these kinds of questions when other people would just get on with the painting? My mother once looked at a few of my portraits and said that when I’m involved with someone, I always paint them beautifully. This was an unveiled dig at the fact that I still hadn’t done that promised painting of her. Regardless of that barb, I started to think about the relationship between my relationships and my portraits. Could it be that something does rub off into the work? I’m not sure about that any more. I’ve only got one ex-husband and one ex-boyfriend to distribute throughout my wall of men, and I’m not giving any hints as to who’s who. There are enough mates in there with interesting portraits (although I won’t tell you which ones I fancied at one point or another). Also, the portraits of the volunteered husbands of girl-friends should disprove the theory. Unless they fail miserably, in which case it’s time for some proper self-analysis.
Away from all that, and fast. I’ve got some good news to share. It’s not my news, but a that of a fellow student at Henwood. Kate Linforth is in the second year of the HND, and will be on the BA course next year. We chat a lot on campus in our capacities as student reps, and she lets me waffle on about the course and my plans for an artist’s collective after graduating. If my constant cajoling has had any effect, she’ll be joining the blogs next year and entertaining you with a slice of Henwood life in my stead.
I’m not entirely altruistic in plugging her on my blog – I’m going to be exceptionally crafty and take as much credit as I can for her future glittering career, you see. It’s been very exciting to see Kate’s ideas develop in the form of her wax accretion sculptures, and without giving too much away, there’s something very tempting about the regular-yet-irregular ridges and fissures she creates within her plaster bowls. They’ve also been featured on page 17 of the Addiction issue of HESA inprint. Back to the news – Kate’s got her first residency – at Room, which is a mobile art space in the Swale area of Kent – in April and May this year. Hooray! Of course I’ve got the scoop for an interview with Kate for the Henwood 8 blog – no fool, I – and I’m super chuffed for her. She very kindly accredited me with a push to apply for the residency when I said a few weeks ago that we have to make our own opportunities. It’s nice to know that I’ve said at least one useful thing in amongst all of the waffling.
http://www.hesainprint.com/issues
http://roomnorthkent.wordpress.com/
