Course Review

I have thouroughly enjoyed the freedom that I have had within this course. I feel that I really have started to find my own art practice voice.

Assignment 2

The piece that clearly stands out is the Bodmin Prison piece. This really felt like a lightbulb moment for me, an awakening with the discovery of an exciting new way of working for me. This piece felt like a truly finished piece but with the potential for redevelopment within new ideas. This way of working properly conveyed the  sense of loss I was looking for.

The other pieces were important to the process of development of ideas but did not inspire me enough to take the ideas further.

Impressions

Over this course I feel that I have developed my ideas surrounding impressions and their use as a metaphor for death, loss and memory well, I also feel that I have only just started to touched the surface. I am very excited about other possibilities and I fully intend to continue to develop these themes and ideas within future work including my next OCA course.

I have also overcome the self doubt that I had about what textiles can be, the textile process is evident within my work but not always present within the finished piece.

I have also thoroughly enjoyed the process of taking the work further than what was necessarily required. My inclusion within the Slovak International textile exhibition in Bratislava and Prague was very exciting. It gave me a glimse of possibilities, the important experience through an application process as well as the opportunity to meet other international artists. Filming myself spinning also felt like an important addition to item 2 of my major project, adding another dimension to my work. The opportunity to use the Filament 14 space at Magdalen Road Studios was invaluable. The ability to properly see my work outside of my dinning room at home was so important with the addition of feedback from some of the artists allowed me to re-evaluate all of the pieces.

I am very excited about the future and especially excited about the next course with the opportunity to develop ideas further still.

Going back to piece 6

Unsatisfied with the outcome of the other scale sample for piece 6, I have decided to go back to it and work on a few of the problems.

The main problems for me were the shape and the smoothness of the exterior surface. I used a slightly deflated football this time as a mold. being slightly deflated meant that there was some movement which helped during the drying incase there was any shrinkage and it also aided the removal of the piece. It gave a much more satisfying uniform shape.

Books read during the course

Books read as part of research and investigation…

Following on after feedback

After recieving feedback from artists at Magdalen Road Studios I decided to consider videoing myself spinning to further enforce the paper, spinning and memory ideas in peice 2. I cosidered several different ways I could go about it.

I haven’t filmed myself before and did think about asking someone else to film me.

I considered returning to Filament 14 and filming myself there.

In the end I decided to do it in a very personal way by going to the grave of my parents and filming myself there. I felt that it was important in this instance to be alone and use the spinning as a meditative process and a way of taking time to think about death and life.

I used a selfie stick to film myself as well as proping my phone on a bench to do a distance shot. It was a very windy day and this did cause problems for me.

Overall I am relatively pleased though I do really struggle to watch myself, I may get used to it!

I envisage having a screen, showing the video as part of the installation.

I haven’t managed to spin paper by dropping the spindle, it generally doesn’t hold the spin or keep a tight yarn.

NB: Further changes after feedback from my tutor

I recieved feedback about my video from my tutor about the sound. I have now reduced the wind  and added a summer sound file to it.

Reconsidering this project

During my final preparations for assessment and working through all of the work, I have spent some time considering this piece of work. I feel that during Assignment 2 Project 10 I panicked a bit and actually in hindsight I feel I had some strong ideas that could have been taken through to a stronger final outcome.

Major project – critical feedback

After having my major project installed in Filament 14 – Magdalen Road Studios for a week, I have recieved some invaluable feedback from a few of the resident artists.

Further Life Drawing

One of a series of life drawings. Each was drawn using only a limited number of lines from the fibronaci sequence of numbers.

We had to choose 3 different coloured materials from a lucky dip bag. pink oil pastel – orange felt tip – green oil pastel

Part of a series of mark making experiments. I used black poster paint and a cheap sponge dabber.

Mark making using only the number ‘4’

Marking making using only the letter ‘P’ Also experimenting with colour combinations and mixing.

Major Project – Pieces Together

I have been given a fantastic opportunity to install my final pieces within the Magdalen Road Studios Filament 14 exhibition space. This has given me the experience of considering how to display and hang the work as well as being able to consider all the work together.

I have also emailed all studio artists and associate artists and hope to recieve some constructive critical feedback.

Extending ideas

I wanted to try and extend the ideas within this piece of work.

The vessel itself predominantly explores the end of life and the loss of memory at death, but the memories that have gone are significant.the visual element of the ‘neuron’ ink painting on the silk paper is visually lost during the spinning process.

Redevelop further

After a lot of considering both the ‘finished piece’ whilst also considering it within the major project as a whole, I felt that this was letting me down. It didn’t feel finished and also felt like a weak element to the project as a whole.