Project Proposal

See below for my submitted proposal for my self-directed project.

 

 

Reflection on Previous Projects

In my previous projects I have found that I have a very formatted approach to the creative process; putting a lot of pressure on myself to create one singular finalised piece. I feel I’ve gotten stuck in the regiment process of Artist research > create a concept > make the finalised concept. This is the linear process I really want to change for myself in this new project. I aim to have my ideas generated solely through physical experimentation, as this is the stage I have been neglecting previously in projects, and in the end have a body of work that shows my journey through different thought processes and practices. I aim to allow myself to create a large amount of “bad” work, as apposed to one “good” piece of work, by making more regularly and freely with no pressure on the outcome.

From this project I aim to learn more about myself as an image-maker as well as further my skills in printing and mark-making processes. I aim to make regularly and produce lots of what I’m making so I have a body of work with many tangents into a range of interests, subjects, mediums and practices. I also aim to utilise every day of this project’s progression, making art for the enjoyment of it and not from pressure to succeed.

 

Techniques I Aim to Explore

Since the beginning of this semester I’ve found a surprising interest in print-making. Our most recent project, Reading the Signs, allowed me to explore lino-cut as a technique and I formed a real connection with the intricate and tactile process. This interest in printmaking was furthered in the lithography workshop and I am very eager to explore the range of mark-making and textures lithography offers. In this project I would really like to push myself further with print-making as a medium, incorporating printing onto different surfaces, with different materials and how it can be combined with other illustrative practices. 

I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed the photography project Let There be Light from semester one. I found an unexpected freedom in generating images so quickly and with little pressure on the quality of the outcome; simply playing around with the paper cut I had made and some light projections. I enjoyed allowing myself to be more abstract with the shapes and movement I was creating, as well as learning how to document my images effectively in a zine layout. Bookbinding was another workshop I feel has really progressed my work. 

I utilised my book art skills in our most recent project: binding my own fabric cover I printed on in lino and experimenting with different page layout and stitching techniques. This is another new skill I would like to bring forward in my new project as I feel it is a great way of documenting work and fits with my love of tactile illustration.

 

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Initial Observational Drawing

Just to get myself started

[left to right]: Brighton beach mirage (graphite), broken spring coil shadows (ink), west pier (ink).

 

[left to right]: tonal drawing of man alone (willow charcoal), two rocks and their shadows (ink, graphite and charcoal, paper held together by wire), industrial estate railings (graphite).

 

I wanted to start my project with some initial observational drawings, as I felt simply drawing what was in-front of me was a pressure-free way to start producing work. I planned to visit three locations and draw for 30 minutes. My first trip [top] was to Brighton beachfront; my second [above] was to Portslade, which I will not be going back to in a rush; and my third [below] was my view of the birch tree outside my bedroom window which I stare at everyday.

 

 

[Above] Birch branch triptych (Indian ink, willow charcoal and black coloured pencil).

[Below] Triptych animation

 

 

I wanted to expand on my birch tree drawings by creating some small thumbnail drawings. I used my triptych as reference and started to experiment with shape, tone and negative space; trying to make each piece more abstract than the last. Again, I was trying to work on being loose and fluid with what I was drawing, starting each thumbnail with no plan of what I wanted the outcome to be.

 

[Above] 6 thumbnail drawings in graphite of abstract branches4x8cm

 

 

I wanted to try and recreate the texture of the graphite in the negative space of my thumbnails. The small layers of line reminded me of a knitted texture and so I made a crochet tension square in cotton thread 7x14cm and tried to resemble the vein-like branches in ink on the knit. I really liked how the ink bled into the fibre of the cotton, leaving some parts darker than others, yet still showing the texture of each thread visible. It meant I couldn’t be so exact with the lines I was making.

I then experimented with making a similar branch-shape out of wire and masking tape and then crocheting around it to mimic this texture on a larger scale. I did not like the outcome of this as I just felt the shape looked a bit forced and wrong. However I reminded myself  that making imperfect work was the aim of my project.

 

Paper-Making

I took a break from my observational drawings to to try a practical process. I had made paper once before but I wanted to try make some again using torn-up pieces of old artworks that had been crowding my art folder.

I hand-made a mould and deckle, a mesh frame used to filter paper pulp, using two old picture frames I got for £3 from the charity shop.

[Above] I documented all the parts of the picture frame as I took it apart. It made me sad to bin it all as it housed two David Hockney postcards from 1973 from a husband to, I presume, his wife. I removed the disintegrating sellotape and plied all the rusty staples out the back board leaving only the wooden frame to make my mould and deckle. 

 

[Above] Paper soup

 

[Below] Hand-made paper sheets 

I plan to use my hand-made paper at some point in my project. I was considering making a zine or perhaps just for experiments.

 

Mono-type Printing

 

Above are two prints I made in a mono-printing workshop, using my thumbnail sketches as reference. I made paper cuts to use as stencils and then created a layer in blue ink and black ink on a sheet of acetate and used them to print a finalised print [left] and a ghost print [right]. 

 

 

I really liked how ink from the acetate sheet left a relief on the paper stencils from where they had been pressed down by my fingers or a roller. I kept the stencils and photographed them as a small forest. The result was what I had originally intended my crochet and wire branches to turn out like, so I’m happy I was still able to create this vision just in a different way.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       A happy accident.

 

[Above] paper cut trees with ink relief. Photographed on white and black paper and then edited. 

 

Belle Tout

I decided to take myself on another observational drawing trip mid-way through the project to try something different. I took a hour-long bus to Eastbourne and then walked a very windy and cold 45 minutes to Belle Tout lighthouse, by the Seven Sisters cliffs. The gloomy day on the cliffs reminded me of some Grimm Tale of a lonely old sailor who lived in a lighthouse. I thought about how, pre-modern medicine, doctors would prescribe sea air to sickly women who would then travel for miles to come sit on damp, misty cliffs like these. I didn’t see how that could be good for anyone really. I was thankful I didn’t have to walk the 45 minutes back to the bus in 9 layers of petticoats.

 

 

Sat on a bench in the lighthouse I drew 9 small tracing-paper slides of what I imagined the lighthouse would look like at night, with its glaring beam signalling to ships. [Below].

I scanned in each slide when I got home to create a looping onion-skin animation; inverting to colours to create a night-scape of the lighthouse. I decided to add some sound-design, expressing two opposing moods of day and night. [Below]

 

 

Onion-skin animation is something I explored in our project Let There Be Light. I love hand-drawn animation like this as there is something so appealing about the imperfection of the line boil – the wobble of hand-drawn lines when they are redrawn frame by frame.

I have more recently really enjoyed making short films or animations to document my work, incorporating sound and editing. I think adding that dynamic level to my work makes it more impactful to the viewer.

 

[Above] Belle Tout Lighthouse, 9 hand-drawn onion-skin frames.

 

Intaglio Printing

Initially in this project, I aimed to explore more printing techniques. In my last project, Reading the Signs, I really enjoyed learning the process of Lino printing and intaglio printing was something I had researched a lot about and never properly tried. I wanted to try copper drypoint etching as the final outcome reminded me of Leah Fusco’s work, and I loved how you were able to control the amount of ink on the plate to give either a dark and obscure or light and ghostly effect.

I decided to go back to my birch tree branches as reference, similarly to my mono-prints. I wanted to see how this process of printing could create a completely different outcome to a technique like monotype, despite the similar subject matter.

 

[Below] My 10x10cm plate, a copper off-cut I found on eBay, etched using a drypoint needle.

 

 

 

[Above] (from left to right), 5 of my intaglio prints ranging from darkest to lightest. I couldn’t pick a favourite. 

 

Printmaking Reflection

Experimenting with printmaking taught me a lot about mark-making. It pushed me to work more tonally with my drawings and prints, working more expressively with shapes rather than representational drawings. I wanted to focus more on mark-making for the next direction of my project.

 

Crit Reflection

My feedback from my tutor was encouraging me to try going bigger with my work. So far I hadn’t created a piece bigger than A4, and if I wanted to focus on mark-making I should work bigger and more expressively. There was something I liked abut the miniature, and as my goal was to try and create more, producing smaller pieces of work was more practical. I decided not to take my tutors advice and instead decided to go even smaller.

 

Projection Experiments

 

[Above] Acetate slides 3.5x2cm 

 

Using a mix of graphite, marker pen, ink and tape, I made 20 tiny acetate slides experimenting with mark, texture, opacity and shape. I intend to layer and project my slides onto the wall and draw over the tones in ink.

 

[Below] I made a short film documenting my projection experiments. 

 

Reflection and Evaluation

I was very happy with the results of my projections. I thought the enlarged slides worked very well for capturing different textures, especially with the ink, and I really enjoyed experimenting with layering different slides to make new patterns. As I was only able to use the slide projector for an hour, I wasn’t able to do as many drawings as I wanted. I originally planned to start with some small pastiches and then move onto larger A1 drawings where I could use mediums like charcoal to achieve a more chiaroscuro effect, however I just ran out of time. I was happy with how my smaller pastiches turned out, but if I’d had longer I would’ve tried incorporate more detail in order to replicate the different textures of the projections.

 

Doing this exercise reminded me of our projection workshops for the Let There be Light Project. Exploring projection is something I’ve unexpectedly found a real connection with, it just adds another level to my work and I found with both static imagery and animation, once they’re projected, I can so easily manipulate and distort my work to create new inspiration. If I had more time with this project, this experimentation is definitely something I would like to come back to. I wanted to keep moving forward with other ways of working however this technique I something I plan to explore more in the future.

 

 

 

Weaving Workshop

 

[Above] Natural weaving using dried flowers and plant-based yarns.

 

Before easter I took part in a natural-weaving workshop run by Megan Hack in 3rd year painting. She taught us how to incorporate foraged materials into our work in order to make organic landscapes. Weaving is something we could do either with a frame or just with sticks and Megan encouraged us to go out and find materials to try for ourselves.

Weaving, I found, was surprisingly versatile. I’d always been interested in textile processes like crochet and knitting, but weaving can take many different forms and can range from delicate and intricate stitches to large woven sceneries.

 

[Above] Megan’s woven tapestry inspired by the landscape where she walks. She dyed the fibres herself using organic dying materials. 

 

[Above] Two of my own natural weavings I did during Easter using dried flowers, cotton and wool. They reminded me of preserved human figures mummified in rectangular jumpers.  

 

Reflection and Evaluation

Throughout this project I’ve been thinking a lot about landscape and location and how where I’ve been has influenced my work. Incorporating natural materials into my work is something I would like to do a lot more of. I regret not keeping physical mementos from my trips to Portslade and Belle Tout lighthouse. If I could’ve done it again I would’ve tried to integrate the landscape into my work. Instead of just complaining about the windy and rainy walk there, I should’ve documented how it had effected me and my relationship to the land. perhaps taken a mono-print of some wet leaves or collected some bark from the wiry bushes on the cliffs and used it to make ink  andante then painted my view of the landscape with that rather than just graphite.

I loved making the paper-making portion of my project as it made me feel really fulfilled to recycle my old artworks into something new. In a similar way, it is collecting something from where I’ve been, not only to preserve it in my work but to give it new life.

 

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Exhibition

Jesse Darling, ‘No Medals, No Ribbons’

 

 

Over Easter I visited the Modern Art Oxford with my partner to view the Jesse Darling exhibition ‘No Medals, No Ribbons‘. This was the first time I had heard of Darling’s work and I was in awe of what I saw. The exhibition featured pieces from over 10 years of the artist’s career and surrounded a broad range of themes from environmental destruction, capitalism and industry, fertility and motherhood, transposing of religious iconography; as well as themes personal to Darling such as disability, sexuality and gender expression.

The exhibition was comprised of three rooms of installation, mainly focussing on sculpture but also featuring photography, illustration and printmaking. The first room centred around ‘a history of extraction and colonialism’, permeating with plastic and steel. Despite the durability, the impact of Darling’s sculptures is sourced from their ‘entropy’ – the tendency to break down over time – seen in the precariously hung ‘Saint Icarus (2018)‘ wings and ‘Embarrassed Billboards (2016)‘.

The alternate two spaces explore the relationship between the human body and politics. Medicines and cosmetics are photographed like sacred charms as an intimate portrait of the artist. By drawing attention to mundane substances and spiritual devices that keep us alive, Darling highlights how different bodies depend on technologies and beliefs. The ‘fungibility and fallibility’ of the body, the potential for living beings to adapt and change, to fail and to heal.

A common theme underpinning Darling’s work is the idea that ‘to be a body is to be inherently vulnerable’, which the artist explores by assembling their work around material forms of debility. Crutches and walking aids prop-up sculptures ‘Collapsed Cane‘ and ‘Crawling Cane 1 & 2′ (2017 / 2022), legs of chairs and cabinets are dramatically injured with kinks and bends making unstable supports. These anthropomorphic works convey injury and fragility but also resilience.

 

‘Chaise’ (2016) – Cushion, bungee cord, chair.

 

Darling’s exhibition made me consider installation as a vehicle for documenting work. Incorporating structures to suspend, balance and support work off of, as well as creating an immersive space to occupy your work and make interacting with your work an experience for the viewer.

 

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Photographing My Body of Work

 

I wanted to find a way of displaying my work so that it showed my progression along the 6 weeks of this project. In my last Crit, my tutor suggested laying out all my small pastiches and photographing them as a cohesive collection on a large piece of paper. I liked the idea of hanging my work instead; it would create more of an installation and the thread would depict a visual timeline I could pin my work to.

 

 

[Above] 5 weeks of work from beginning to end, displayed on wooden frame with thread.

Initially I had planned to hang my work in a zig-zag along the wall. However, I found a discarded wooden frame in one of the fine art studios that I wanted to experiment with as I loved the portrait aspect. I wound the thread around the frame and pinned each of my pieces to the line with paperclips in sequential order.

 

[Below] pastiches pre-strung.

 

 

 

[Below] work hung on left arm and frame rung

 

I wanted to incorporate my own figure into the photography of my work by selecting pieces to hang off my arm like a mobile and documenting the shapes they made as they spun. I felt this was a subtle play on the term ‘body of work’ and visually solidified the connection between artist and artwork. I chose small pieces with a range of materials that would hang, drape, reflect and cast shadows.