Chequered History at the Edwardian Cloakroom November 2015 - A Reflection

Bristol Post Diverts

Chequered History @ Edwardian Cloakroom, Bristol

November 2015

A spontaneous suggestion of a toilet block being available free of charge for us to exhibit in, this could be treated as a practice run for our booked exhibition in March 2016. It seemed like a good idea at the time but in hindsight I think the preparation and organising distracted us from what we should have been concentrating on, which was developing our art practice. If I was offered this opportunity again I would graciously decline so I could focus on my studio work. However having put this down to experience we did have numerous positives that came out of it. Due to our marketing we had over 350 visitors over 4 days, most were walk ins, passers by who noticed our exhibition sign. The cloakroom itself was an interesting and quirky space and we agreed to make our work site specific. I chose to blackout a room - the learning I take away from this is that it was incredibly difficult and took me ages to do - if I chose to do this again I would research how best to make it look professional ( it did look rather amateurish with tape everywhere) maybe theatre blackout curtains - anyway more thought required and perhaps I will  look for a gallery that has a blacked out room already! The lighting source I used was also rather basic and almost caught on fire at one point - I believe I managed to probably 50% succeed in creating the coloured impact in the room there was a lot that could have been improved - it did look pretty amateurish!

On reflection the exhibition wasn't curated as a group even though we convinced ourselves it was. Everyone really did their own thing and we just helped each other set up. We also didn't actively seek feedback from each other or hold a critique of our work before or after the exhibition - I think we missed a trick there as we could potentially have improved the exhibition - I believe we were all rather caught up in just making it happen. The exhibition space was interesting and quirky which I did love but I didn't like the fact it was divided into 2 very separate spaces (men and women toilets) this I believe interrupted the flow for the viewers and on the women side had several spots that became bottlenecks. 

Key learnings to take to Centrespace would be to sort out the curation and make sure we appoint people to take that role and apply some rigor. Even though we did target and focus heavily on the media for marketing we could do more next time and we know where to target now. The private view we need to invite a wider audience such as gallery owners, university courses, arthouse directors, press etc just a little more thought required. We also collectively agreed that we should appoint specific people to specific roles to avoid the same few people in the group ending up doing much of the work.

In all a successful exhibition in that we had a lot of visitors and we learnt a lot - recommendation to next years 2nd years don't put on 2 shows!

Final Piece 'Life' - Rationale for selection, method of selection and conceptual background

The Private View

Four weeks of intense experimentation with colour, light and various surfaces resulted in my final piece on perspex. 'Life' is about how I feel at the moment, inspired by my visit to New Zealand I wanted to capture the bright colours of summer, the freedom I felt out on the beaches and the way light plays such an important part in how one visualises imagery. The complexity of the mark making and application of the paint was spontaneous, although I did experiment beforehand with layering of colours and which colour combinations created a vibrancy when sitting next to each other. It was important for me to create a painting which provided something different to observe each time the viewer looked at it,triggering their imagination to tell stories about each element they looked at. There could be much debate on which side is the front and back of the painting - in my view I have created 2 different paintings using just one surface although the relationship between the two in my view is anchored by the blue curved line stretching from one edge to the opposite side of the image. 

   

Unpainted side

Painted side

Initially I was going to mount the perspex directly to the wall using 5cm spacers at each corner.  My plan was to flood light from behind using the white wall to reflect and illuminate the piece. I soon realised that achieving sufficient illumination across the whole picture was an impossible task unless the light was housed within a lightbox because of its sheer size. Instinct told me it didn't feel right for the piece to be boxed in, it needed to hang free so it could be viewed from both sides. I spotted that the gallery had a scaffolding pole running centrally along the length of the gallery at ceiling height. A perfect position to suspend 'Life' from as it didn't block the flow of people walking through the gallery, acting almost like a partition down the centre of the room allowing people to view almost separately the two sides of the perspex. Suspension of the work needed to be simple and unobtrusive - it needed to appear effortless and not detract in anyway from the painting. Steel wire, strong, contemporary and fixed with simple, uncomplicated small clips avoiding distraction from the painting itself. An added bonus were the spot lights positioned at ceiling height on either side of the painting enabling me to position them to illuminate the fluorescent colours, allow light to penetrate through the paint free(transparent) areas of perspex and pick out the contrasting colours and mark making. I have to admit I exceeded my initial expectations with presenting this painting I think the steel wire and positioning worked really well in the space. As the painting itself was loud and dramatic I didn't want it to clash / fight with perhaps softer more delicate works such as Jo's photographs so positioning was key. By hanging it lengthways down the gallery one didn't notice it until you were at right angle to the painting and as such didn't dominate the visual space.

Whats next?

Continue to develop and experiment with perspex. Research further into working with colour combinations and mark making.  Investigate light as a source, how I could use coloured lighting to interact with perspex in different interesting ways and whether there is an opportunity to sculpt with light.

Ideas to Form VIIII - Glass - Fusing and slumping

An opportunity to work with glass arose and I decided I wanted to explore it as a potential material to work with in the future. Could I combine glass with other mediums I have been experimenting with?
1. Fusing glass  

Using materials such as copper wire, oxides and coloured glass sandwiched between two compatible layers of clear glass - the heating process melts the glass fusing everything sandwiched between but the heat also reacts with the materials and creates interesting and unexpected marks and imagery. It definitely played to my abstract approach to imagery - It felt quite playful placing various objects between glass and waiting to see the outcome of the heat and fusing process. I did enjoy learning about this process but couldn't see myself developing further along this line as for me its not gestural enough, I enjoy the physicality of creating art and this was a bit small scale and fiddly. An interesting exercise but not for me moving forward.

2. Glass slumping

Biscuit fired
white clay moulds

This was an unexpected turn of events and came about by thinking about ideas for end of year show. I wanted to bridge the gap between the stone carving I had been developing outside of the studio into my Uni work - I would deconstruct sections of the 'Drift' stone sculpture - recreating these sections by slumping glass over pre prepared clay and alginate moulds.  Not as easy as it looks, at the first attempt the kiln was too hot and the glass melted creating overhangs and subsequently most of the pieces cracked and broke on cooling  -  lots of learnings but I will have another go.
I enjoyed the physicality of making the clay moulds and the concept of deconstructing a piece of my work to create smaller, it could be argued, more meaningful and interesting work.

Alginate applied
to surface of sculpture

The question I need to answer is what am I really trying to achieve over and above learning a new technique - is it to create a 'final piece' for the end of year show, something that the audience will consider 'beautiful '(whatever that means) or is it really about experimentation and my exploration of glass and how I might be able to use it in my future work. Will I be able to combine it with other mediums to create something quite extraordinary as my practice develops.

Strips of glass 

1 sheet of glass

Again I seem to keep coming back to colour and light and how the two interplay to create a sense of space - will glass play a role in my work next year - as yet I can't answer that question, maybe. What will the end of year show look like for me? well I have decided Im not aiming to produce something beautiful for the audience. The point of me working with glass is to experiment, so what I exhibit will be a snapshot, just one part of my experimentation from this year  - this is not straight forward, if it was easy everyone would be doing it!

Slumped blue glass
over plaster mould.

Ideas to Form VIII - Stone Carving

Having been selected to receive an Arts bursary last summer I decided to take the opportunity to try my hand at stone carving under Kate Semple - stone mason and sculptor based in Charlton, Somerset. A studio perched on the top of an extremely wild, windswept hill is where I disappear to chip away at stone and get creative!

In the studio

The planning is so important working with stone as theres little flexibility to make mistakes - this is something I always struggle with as I generally just want to get on and do it - but I have to say I made myself take the time to plan and make to scale maquettes, even completing drawings before I picked up a chisel! Unheard of!!

Visualising in 3D is quite a challenge having mainly focussed on painting large canvas or perspex. I find myself having to consider what the end will look like and almost mentally work back from this - something I never typically practice with painting. 

Building on the landscape theme I wanted to create organic pieces that spoke of nature. I also wanted the work to be tactile, for people to want to follow the curved surface and feel the different textures - I want people to feel involved with the end work.

'Drift'
Bath stone

My first piece 'Drift' has been a great training, learning about the process of how to carve and why one uses the different tools for specific results. I certainly believe I have created a tactile piece of sculpture with its natural smooth flow of curves and then in contrast the textured areas. I wanted to be able to see through the solidity of the stone so replicating the concept of the hole in the driftwood I carved a small hole so you can glimpse through to the other side. Im please with this first piece, theres lots to learn and improve on but its given me a taste of what is possible.

Second piece 'unfinished' I wanted to build on the techniques used in 'Drift' and start to be more self led. I did in-fact spend more time planning (yes I'm learning!) and created a maquette, templates and drawings - spoke to other sculptors at the studio and generally gave more thought to this next piece. Im thrilled because its in a sense more geometrical, I've had to use the templates and concentrate on keeping form and shape, ('Drift' was a little more free form in hindsight!) Creating energy and flow in the stone and contrasting smooth and texture important. The hole was interesting as I wanted to do something slightly different with it, so I decided to replicate the shape of the overall piece but then create a concave dish on either side to frame the hole. The large flat surfaces polished smooth the concave dish lightly textured. The piece is not quite finished as yet but I have found a lovely old gnarled sleeper and lump of concrete which it will stand on - elevated off the ground.

Im very excited about continuing my sculpting in stone - I would like to think about how I might be able to combine perhaps the use of light and stone together to create interesting sculptural pieces ..... something to think about and work on next year.

Bath Society of Artists 111th Open Exhibition - Experience...

I felt it was time to stop talking about the possibility of entering exhibitions and just get on with it. Having reviewed a number of exhibitions I decided to test the water with the Bath Open. Close to home, not too expensive and I knew a couple of artists who had exhibited before there, they were contemporary artists so hopefully my work may fit. This exhibition did however have a 'feel' of traditional, having to physically take your artwork to Bath for the 1st round, as opposed to the commonplace approach of sending a PDF and the bureaucracy of applying was to me old fashioned. Blimey what a hassle, it took me half a day to work out and prepare the 1001 bits of card labelled with exacting instructions, sting and labels that had to hang exactly 15cm down from the top of your painting. No perspex, no metal frames, had to attach mirror plates.. and on it went...  This is all part of the learning I kept reminding myself! I submitted 'Floating Horizon' because it has had a lot of positive feedback from friends and I felt it was probably the least controversial of my paintings, not wanting to upset the traditionalists.  Submitted on the Saturday and notified of success, or not, 3 days later - very impressed by the turnaround. I had steeled myself for a rejection as after all it was my first open exhibition entry. I wasn't wrong.. a big cross and please come and pick up your artwork - oh well first rejection of many Im sure!

Floating Horizon
2015
150cm x 50cm
Acrylic on canvas

I collected my work and had a look around the exhibition. On reflection I can understand why Floating Horizon was unsuccessful, the works were typically quite figurative and traditional - Floating Horizon I felt would have stood out because of its strong blocks of colour, it would also have been one of the largest paintings there - too large. As a curator I would have struggled to find a suitable collection of work to place it with as the colours dominated the eye. The learning for me is to understand and research the exhibitions more thoroughly before entering, research who the judges are and look at what they typically hang - in hindsight this was not an exhibition suitable for this style of painting but a good learning and I have now officially started the world of open exhibitions ! watch this space....

'Life' - final piece in situ in the gallery

Im really delighted with my final piece, suspended from a scaffolding pole by 2mm steel wire adding a simplicity and uncomplicated feel to the work. Less is more...

'Life'
Acrylic and spray paint on perspex

View from painted
side of perspex

       

View from non painted
side of perspex

 Viewers approach both sides
The dog feigned interest!

The buzz of the Private View

A very private view with my mum!

Ideas to Form VII - Let the final piece begin

Unwrapping the 
1000 x 1000mm perspex

Faced with a meter square piece of clear pristine perspex I needed to place the first mark.... bit nerve wracking but getting into the zone, music filling the studio I went for it! It was important the paint flowed freely and reflected the energy I let loose. It has been interesting building the colour working backwards as what the viewer will see will be the image from the other side of the perspex. 

I soon realised that my research and practicing were a great investment of time as I knew which colours I wanted to layer next to each other to achieve the impact I was after. What was most satisfying was my Jackson Pollock splattering - I have to own up to hitting the computer in the room and some of the walls needed a wipe down!

I wanted to make sure there was plenty of interesting areas across the image so I made marks wth the end of my paintbrush that could then be over painted with a contrasting colour. Spray paint has added a further dimension allowing me to add depth to the colour and allowing me to block light (achieved specifically with the silver spray paint). 

I loved the sessions working on this piece, fun and liberating.. thats what I adore about abstract - your instinct and mind take over and things just happen. Almost finished but you have only viewed the painting from the painted side so far.......

'Movement' - Exhibition at Centrespace, Bristol, UK.

 MOVEMENT

Title of show: Movement
Dates of show: 18th-22nd March 2016

Opening times: Sat 19th 11-8pm, Sun 20th 12-5pm, Mon 21-Tues 22nd 12-6pm

Private view date & time: Friday18th 5-9pm 

Artists exhibiting: Sally Coulden, Jiang Dai, Robyn Frances, Jonathan Hooper, Sofia Mesa Giner, Seema Schrenk, Jane Speedy, Kim Sullivan, Jo Williams. 

Description of show/press release:

'Movement' is an exhibition by the Post-Diverts Student Art Collective. We are a collaborative group of nine fine artists at Bristol School of Art that share diverse histories, cultures and senses of humour. 

'Movement' implies motion through space, the passing of time, as well as socio-political and cultural changes. The multi-media work emerged out of a shared interest in the possibilities of movement.

Ideas to Form VI - 'to be, or not to be. 'Experimentation' - painting on perspex

Red acrylic, green spray paint behind

The decision to paint on perspex has come from wanting to experiment with paint effects on different surfaces. The objective for me is playing with colour and light. By using the transparency of perspex I can play with layering the colours and also vary thickness of paint which allows light to permeate the colours in different intensities giving an amazingly spontaneous, interesting and sometimes quirky effect.







Its been huge fun experimenting and fundimentally playing with mark making. Varying sized brushes with different thickness of paint. Sgraffitto with the end of my brush, adding acyilic medium to thin the paint so I can do drips and dob paint on. Flicking white spirit onto the paint disperses the it leaving room to overpaint in a different colour making the imagery more dynamic. 

 

Im loving the spray paint and its effect on wet acrylic - crackling the surfaces  - the technique of effectively painting backwards on a surface is fab, the painted side of the perspex in theory is the back of the artwork if its to be hung on the wall - alternatively what I find interesting is being able to see the work from both sides, they are both standalone art works.


This work forms the basis of my research for the upcoming 'Movement' exhibition at Centrespace Gallery in Bristol. 
Time is running short so time to get on with the show piece!!!

Ideas to Form V - Impact of light

Printing onto acetate to experiment on the influence of changing light on the image.
Suspended across the front of the light-box set to transitional coloured lighting (fibre optic) I have made this short film to demonstrate the visual illusion and how colour can transform and change what we see. 

'present tense'
James Turrell

'a retrospective'
James Turrell 

Playing with light, colour and visual perception is fascinating, my inspiration comes from studying the light sculpture works of James Turrell, yes I love to set my sights and ambition high!!!!!  (see exhibitions). 

'the wolfsberg project'
James Turrell

His mastery of the scientific theory of how colour and intensity of light interacts with our rods and cones. The interplay between both plays with our powers of perception result - breathtaking. His ability to sculpt with light takes his work to such a high level of genius, Im in awe!.

What I need to decide is how good can I been at this lighting ? Is this something I want to pursue further - if I do it I need to do it well......




With an exhibition looming I need to concentrate on developing and exploring imagery - strip things back a bit, and not try to over complicate my work. Decision made that unless the lighting can be seamless and uber professional Im not going down that path at the moment but its most definitely something Im going to pick up later.