Reflection

What ideas am I interested in?

I am interested in figurative painting as well as the abstraction of the human figure. I am interested in combining poetry with my work either making work based off from a poem, using actual poetry/ words in my work or Ekphrastic poetry - poetry written about works of art. The ideas/ themes of numbness, disconnection and detachment interest me.

How are my ideas developing?

I started off by selecting poetry (out of Film, music and Poetry) and then I started to mind-map my ideas in my sketchbook. I wrote down artists that may inspire my work, ideas relating to the human form/figure and ideas about emotions and life as well as poets that could inspire my work. I thought about life drawing and how the drawings tend to be realistic and i thought it may be interesting to look at the figure and abstract it into more basic shapes/ forms (blur the lines between abstraction and figuration). I went to a fabric shop to buy some fabrics and then I posed in a series of photographs with fabrics such as chiffon/crepe and voile in different shades of grey. My poses along with the material separating my body from the real world/life conveyed a sense of detachment and numbness. I made some abstract drawings in charcoal based off the images, as well as a black acrylic painting, focussing on the rough shapes of the body and the poses. Then i decided to do a couple of pieces that were less abstract and more figurative so that I could compare and contrast styles and see which one was more effective. I went to a bookstore and bought a book by poet Rupi Kaur called home body where she talks about her body and its experience of life and i highlighted words/phrases that I am interested in using in my work, I made a word list in my sketchbook including a combination of some of these words and some of my own words.

What am I excited about in my work and where could this lead?

I am really excited about the poetry element of this project and finding different ways of incorporating poetry into my work. I’m excited to work with abstracting the figure as well as finding ways to convey feelings of detachment and numbness through my work. I can picture my work developing into larger pieces including text and figure.

What is going well and what isn’t going so well and why?

I liked my more abstract charcoal drawings because I was able to combine abstraction with figuration and break something so visually complex down into more basic forms. I initially wanted to paint skin and the figure in colour but in my images most of the body is covered by material so I don’t have an image source to work from to paint the body. I’m finding it very difficult to think of different ways to combine abstraction with figuration in pieces based on the body because I still want it to resemble the human form/figure but at the same time be broken down into abstract forms/shape. I haven’t yet found a way to incorporate poetry into my work which I’d like to do in my future work.

How have discussions with other people affected my work?

A classmate gave me the idea of looking through the poems I like and writing down words that stand out to me/ are meaningful to me which is helping me worth the themes of my project and i may use them to write my own poems in my future work. My tutor suggested to me that I use the printing workshop which I may use this week and it got me thinking about what types of prints I’d want to make. One tutor gave me a list of artists to look at that I intend to research and these may help inspire my work.

What have you learned in your research that inspires your own ideas or interests you?

Cy Twombly writes words across the surface of his work in a calligraphy style handwriting that looks quite poetic,I like this style of work and the way he uses the words to narrate his work and I’m interested in using this technique in my own work. Tracey Emin abstracts the figure in a very raw and visceral way, her pieces convey a lot of emotion which has inspired me to find ways to make my work more raw and emotive. I am interested in finding different ways to paint the fabric I used in my photos (which was used as a metaphor for a barrier between me and the real world/life), I have been inspired by the way Louise Giovanelli paints fabric with a large focus on the light reflecting off the folds.

Part 2: fine art painting specialism

Part 2: fine art painting specialism

Film, music, poetry project - week 1

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