Further Experimentation

Here I have used acrylic to paint one of my favourite pictures. I like how this image has form. I feel like this is the closest example of replicating the aspects of the photographs so far. I have used the gloss again which is really effective at bringing out the colour and creating a reflective surface that emulates water.

I find my paint pallets interesting surfaces and I want to try an incorporate these within my paintings. I feel like this could be used as a collage as well as colour studies.

Drilling through Ceramics

I bought a simple ceramic plate to experiment with the technique I have in mind. I want to drill a series of holes through a broken plate in order to reassemble the item so it can be 'used' (in a non conventional way) again.

I ran into some problems from the beginning though. Drilling holes in ceramics is not as easy as i had hoped. I managed to melt the drill bit without achieving a hole. This means that it is going to be unlikely for me to approach the mend in the way I had originally hoped.

I now need to come up with a new idea about how I am going to be able to mend my plates back together.

I started by playing around with wrapping wire around the pieces to give a strong ground for me to attach thread to.

I liked how it meant that the plate was once again whole, but i was hoping for a stronger structure to install within a gallery space. I have a vision that I'll have all these plates fixed together sitting next to one an other as if they were on display in a house. I also don't like how this detracts from the initial idea of using the object again. I think I need to think about this in depth over the next week to find a solution.

Photoshop Experiment

Photoshop is a brilliant tool when it comes to creating abstract images. It is also useful in terms of using layers within my work. I have layered up two images of water and played around with transparencies to further abstract the image. I want to use this image as further inspiration around me when I paint.

I have tried here to use the surface of cardboard to paint upon. I like the surface but I feel as though I need to think about the medium I a using as the colours that acrylic bring is so bold and intrusive.

Gloss

My tutor recommend to me that I use a gloss on my acrylic studies to finish the paintings. Here I have experimented to see the effects of the gloss by only painting half the image with the layer. It is clear that this will be a useful medium as it gives the paint a shine that reflects the mood I want to create as well as the water. The way the light bounces off the image shows how important this finish is on the final outcomes.
I feel like it mutes the colours slightly and helps them to blend together. I love that the image in itself is becoming more like a memory and reflection.

Claude Monet Water Lillies

Monet's Water Lillies are an important contextual reference for this project. I feel as though the work draws upon the ideas of memories in a literal sense. The infamous nature of Monet's paintings becomes a memory in it self. I remember looking at these paintings when I was in junior school. 

The use of light and tone is something that I can think about when painting myself. I often over look classic art when contextualising my work, yet here this can help me to develop my practice and ideas.

Layers

In these two images I have used layers of tissue to extend the image. I like how this works as i feel it gives the image a tonal quality that reflects upon water and the movement of water. This also enhances the image to look further like a 'dream' which in turn builds upon the memory aspect to my work.

I want to keep using layers of tissue within my painting to create depth and enhance the memory aspect to the project.

Chris Langlois

Chris Langlois is a graduate from The University Of Newcastle Australia. I am thrilled to have found an artist who could of been in a similar situation and state of mind to myself painting in Newcastle. 

This stunning oil painting of seascapes are strong examples of water painting. I enjoy the flatness of the image, and the quality of brush stroke. This can help me think more carefully about my own practice in the sense that I want the image to take form. I want my paintings to look like a water landscape yet also have relevance in contemporary culture.

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hiroshi Sugimoto's body of work 'Seascapes' is a wonderful example of calm still water. These photographs create a mood that I want to come across within my work. I like how still the water looks and how the horizon dissects the images.

Belem Lett

Belem Lett is an Australian Artist whose work is uses collage as a principle mode. I love the negative space within the imagery and feel that this is something I can use within my own works.
The bold colours and layered effects first attracted me to Lett's work.
I feel like this is something I can use within my work. Layering and negative space will help my work to replicate water as well as making the work look more conceptual and abstract.

Paper Plates

Whilst I ponder over how I am going to attach my ceramic plates together, I bought some paper plates as a prototype to experiment darning and stitching with.

I really  like these results, but I am conscious that this is created with paper. I feel like what will make this project is the embroidery process of contrasting the hard surface of ceramic with the soft surface of thread. I am pleased with these experiments and I feel this has helped me visualise how I want the final outcome to look. 

I would like to produce about 8-10 final samples that I will hang on a wall as if they were china plates hanging on a wall. Using light a shadow will become very important as the surface will become distorted. This layout on the blog is helping me to visualise how I want to final outcome to look.

Finding things to Mend

I now know where my project is going; I want to explore mending everyday objects and how this can be achieved through darning.
I want my work to make a statement about 'mending' and how everyday objects don't necessarily need to be thrown away.

I started my search in a skip. Here I found a students ceramic works that had been discarded. I jumped at this opportunity to re create one mans waste.

I took a hammer to these two pieces to break them apart. I then used a drill press to put holes into them in order for me to sew them back together. I came into some difficulties here as drilling through ceramics is not an easy task. Once the piece has been glazed, the glaze creates a glass like surface which is difficult to drill through.

The brown piece wasn't thick enough and every time I tried to drill through it, it shattered into more pieces. However the blue piece, took to the drill quite well and I was able to sew it back together.

I am pleased with the outcome as it has given the piece a new direction and has recused it from the skip. I want to experiment further with using recognisable objects so that when mended, the context of the project is more clear through the objects them selves.

I also began to experiment with stitches, thread and mending further found objects.

Next I want to play around with using household ceramics such as plates and bowls as I feel like this is what the project needs to be clear about the message I want to convey.

Kader Attir - The Repair Project

“Re-appropriation is a process of repair. I understand repair as reconstruction in an extended sense, and thus as a kind of tool which can be applied to political, cultural and scientific topics to examine their various interactions.”
Kader Attir speaking in 2010


Kader Attir is a french artist who grew up around areas of conflict and uses this for inspiration. In 2010, he undertook 'The Repair Project' in which he used 'exaggerated' mending and re-appropriation in order to create sculptures that reflect upon times of war, conflict and suffering. In doing this his sculptures took on a new light of their own.

The sculptures were often paired with original inspiration images in order to contextualise the sculpture to its original meaning.

The idea of 'mending' in the sense of creating a new object is what drew me to this artist. I like how sculpture has taken a new light yet also keeping context. Attir is making something beautiful out of something that is broken.

Oil Experiments

I begun this project by experimenting with oil paints. I chose to work with water-soluble oils ('water' being the main reason) which is a medium that is new to me.

I wanted to roughly sketch out my photographs and try to make sense of the images.

I am happy with the light and tone that the oil paint gives. I feel like this is the level of abstraction that I want my work to take. Next I want to experiment with acrylics to see the benefit of both mediums.

Darning

Darning is a traditional 'mending' technique. It is a stitch that is generally used to fix holes, often in socks and jeans.

I find the techniques fascinating and feel like I can use this to exaggerate the 'mending process' as well as embellish objects.

Here I have attempted to darn over holes and on different fabrics to understand the technique. Weaving through the threads can be a laborious process but i feel that the end result is perfect for this project. It shows how traditional methods of embroidery can be used to mend and exaggerate the mending process.

Yoko Ono - Promise Project

In 2013 Yoko Ono performed a piece entitled Promise Piece. In the performance, Ono breaks a large ornate ancient vase on stage. She asks members of the audience to take a piece each on the promise that they will all return to the same place in 10 years time to reassemble the vase.

This idea of promising to fix things is something that I feel I can relate to. I have so many possessions in the back of my wardrobe that I have promised myself one day I will fix them. I don't know if i ever will, but I like to believe that one day I will. I feel like as an textile artist, I collect things and never wish to throw things away. I also love this idea of fixing ceramics, we all have had that moment of anger when we've broken a plate. The moment right after it breaks when you wish you hadn't of knocked it over but the knowledge that it is broken forever.


I like this idea and want to think about how I can explore fixing ceramics using thread. I believe that in using thread, it will encourage the notion of mending and explore in what ways things may be mended. Traditional craft methods such as darning could be a good starting point.

Kathryn Clark - Foreclosure Project

Kathryn Clark in an Australian Based Textile artist with a background in architecture and urban design. Her recent work explores global issues such as US foreclosure and global water usage. She tends to use found objects as her medium which is something that made me want to explore Kathryn Clark. 

I love that these pieces use small scale but are just as effective. I also love how Kathryn Clark uses red thread throughout her work. The symbolism of using this vivid colour and the theme that runs through works really well.

Many of Kathryn Clarks works are miniature in scale. This has given me a new perspective that sometimes smaller works can be just as effective in context and skill.

I enjoy this theme of fixing things in a non-tradtional sense - such as the government. 

In terms of practical applications, Clark uses blankets in lots of her work which emulates memory, nostalgia and mending. Blankets are something that is carried around for a long time and ends being constantly mended to improve its life span. This history and memory is something I feel I can use within my work.

Painting Concepts, Modes and Media

Another course that I am running concurrently is in painting. I am looking forward to this as it has been a long time since I have done any painting and whilst I am experiencing another country and way of life, I want to challenge myself. I have always enjoyed this discipline, and am pleased I get the opportunity to experiment with paint again.

MEMORY & IDENTITY 

Our first project spanning over 7 weeks is based upon the ideas on Memory and Identity. We are asked to complete 6 postcard size paintings over the next 7 weeks.

My initial ideas to this is my identity. I am currently 10,500 miles away from my home and loved ones, so I want to explore this idea with painting.
Before I came to Australia I went on a family holiday to Florida. There we went swimming underwater and using an underwater camera, took some wonderful photographs that became very distorted. I have never been sure what to do with these photographs, until now.
There is a large body of water in between myself and home and this memory I have of spending time with my family resonates in my mind.
The 'postcard' size has also influenced my choice, as it would be nice to send this memory on its own journey home.

I want to use these underwater images as my starting point.

I love the distortion in the images. The abstraction is a great starting point. I hope to produce some experimental paintings from this.