An ending of sorts?
Yesterday I met with fellow students to take down the Degree Show.
As discussed opportunities, residencies and open exhibitions I realised that, after six years of part time study, this is an ending.
I get my results today. Trying to calm my nerves, I’m finishing off work for the Degree Show.
Its not working- I’m still anxious but I have printed a group of photographs for the show.
My plan for installing the work is to make decisions once I’m in the gallery space. A cause for more anxiety? Maybe – but I like the buzz of making decisions on the day.
I have my final presentation and assessment on Tues 27th May. I haven’t thought about the presentation yet. However writing 500 words on wet Bank Holiday seems like a good option at the moment.
The last two weeks have passed in a frenzy of activity. I have prepared and given a Powerpoint presentation about my work and also met with gallery staff to discuss the degree show. The work has continues to evolve and my ideas about the show have moved beyond a ‘just stick it on the wall’ approach.
I am going to combine drawings, photographs and text to give my work a narrative. My spare time has been spent arranging my work randomly and then looking at connections between the various pieces. I’ve decided that I’m not going to have set plan for the layout of my degree show but will organise the various items in response to the gallery space. I’m really excited by this!
This week I stopped drawing and started taking photos around the ground floor of my house as I’d looked at Uta Barth’s photography, particuarly the Sundial series. I started by taking photos of shadows in my kitchen and lounge throughout the day. Then moved on to take pictures of my feet- walking round the house.
This was a breakthrough moment. I spent Tuesday in the studio combining drawings, photographs and text. This works well and I’ve decided that my final show will include a mixed media piece involving all these elements.
Am I drawing 24/7?
It feels like it at the moment.
This week I’ve concentrated on taking my work to the extremes of dark and light – and continuing to explore the possibilities for 3D.
I have 11 days to make decisions about pieces for my degree show. Alternatively it’s 11 days to make more work – I prefer just making to decision making.
I’ve started to explore my work in terms of process. After initially using collage to develop the ‘floor plan’ drawings, I tried scratching away at the prints to reveal the pathways created when I walk round my house. These pieces move my work away from being purely 2D -at last!
Just three weeks until I finalise the work for my Degree Show and I’m just begining to feel the pressure.
In the age of the Selfie my work challenges the conventions of self-portraiture. I make drawings that are informed by my senses - touch, sight, movement. My intention is to use my own sensory experience to create self-portraits but not to reveal a representation of my body. Instead the work is a record of my shifting perceptions. In making the work I am seeking to capture my own vulnerability on a journey of self-discovery.
