K.images

Degree Show this Week in Leeds!

2011-06-15T12:08:00.006+01:00

http://www.leedsschoolofdesign.co.uk/works/artdesign/

http://www.leedsliveitloveit.com/leedslovescreativity

Current Work - Final Year

2011-06-15T10:24:00.015+01:00

My practical concerns lie in the field of archival excavation; my imagery is taken from an album compiled by my Grandfather which forms a record of his experience in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Through re-presenting such images and documents I aim to generate my own archive which evokes a purposeful re-engagement with recent history.

Above: Fragments and Traces - Photographic Etching on Somerset Paper

My prints are formed through the process of arranging and layering multiple solar plates; the sense of layering, enhanced by the overlapped embossed edges represents a layering of discourse and the obscuring of memory over time. Formally, I wished to maintain the aged and damaged appearance of the photographs as they pragmatically imply the scars of war. Though the photographs document a trace of that which has passed, they also mark an erasure of time and memory.

Above: Idle Talk Can Sink Ships – Replica Photographs in Resin

(Part of a collection of 12)

The fragile photographs are replicated onto tracing paper and embedded within coloured resin blocks; this process transforms the photographs into tangible objects. I hope to evoke a sense of fossilisation and preservation; that these archival photographs (and thus memories) may be preserved for future generations.

2011-03-15T10:18:00.001Z

The Archive...

“Manifesting itself in the form of traces, it contains the potential to fragment and destabilise either remembrance as recorded, or history as written, as sufficient means of providing the last word in the account of what has come to pass”

(Merewether, 2006: 10)

This quote informs my practice and I borrow the terms “Fragments and Traces” for the title of my print series. My prints are derived from a culmination of archival imagery borrowed from an album compiled by my Grandfather which forms a record of his experience in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Fundamentally, I am interested in the archive and its abilities to transcend memories.

Reference: MEREWETHER, C. ed. 2006. The archive. London: Whitechapel.

Susan Hiller Exhibition

2011-02-10T09:55:00.006Z

Susan Hiller

Tate Britain 1 February – 15 May 2011

From the Tate Website: About the exhibition

Born in the United States in 1940, Susan Hiller has lived and worked in Britain for over 30 years and is one of the most influential artists of her generation. This major survey exhibition will provide a timely focus on a selection of her key works, from assembled postcard images made in the 1970s to her pioneering mixed-media installations and video projections. The exhibition will focus on Hiller's interest in the subconscious or unconscious mind, whether in the form of dreams and memories or as supernatural or visionary experiences. Highlights include the menacing video installation An Entertainment 1990 and the compelling audio-sculpture Witness 2000, alongside many other examples of her extraordinary and diverse practice

The current Hiller exhibition proved to be very influential, I was particularly keen to see "From the Freud Museum" as this epitomises the archival tendencies of arrangement and presentation that I investigate within my practice.

Susan Hiller, From the Freud Museum (1991-6)

Commissioned by Book Works and Freud Museum, London

Vitrine 220 x 1000 x 60 cm, containing 50 boxes each 25 x 32.5 and video, 15 minutes.

Tate Collection

Click Here to read more about this exhibition on the Tate Website.

Resin blocks presented on floating shelves

2011-01-12T21:23:00.002Z

Print and Resin

2011-01-12T21:02:00.001Z

I have used archival photographs to access the realms of public memory, as well as photographs from the private family album. The photographs and documents from the family album were aged and fragile, to emphasise this I copied them onto tracing paper. I encased these images in resin, which I presented alongside my prints.

Above: Screenprint, Tissue and Photographic etching on Somerset Paper

Formally, I am interested in creating a sense of surface, through the building of layers using etching plates and tissue. This generates ideas of hidden layers and questions what lays beneath the surface; this is purposeful and references memory.

Time, Place and Memory

2010-05-20T20:23:00.009+01:00

After deliberating the themes for my work, it seemed that the remembrance of the Holocaust and the memories held within buttons could form a mutual context. I therefore began working with the photographic imagery of buttons and the Holocaust survivor which I previously drew in graphite. I decided to reproduce this image onto an etching plate using the soft-ground process.

Above: Intaglio print on Somerset paper

I am concerned with “the mechanical image” and the layering of imagery is still apparent in all of my prints. To combine all of my imagery I firstly produced a double plate print of the buttons and the portrait; however, I did not register the two plates quite right, causing the button image to slightly escape the square of the print, I decided to work with this inaccuracy to add a new dimension to my print.

Above: Intaglio and photographic print on Somerset paper

Howard Hodgkin played an influential role in my decision making regarding the layering strategies involved in my 3 plate print. I was initially reluctant to cover much of the portrait image but soon realised that layering evidenced time and also documented the process. In Hodgkin’s prints “distinct patches or larger areas of the under layers are left visible, as if to disclose some of the history of the work” (Heenk & Rosenthal 2003: 8) though this is true for my work, the “distinct patches” were almost accidental, as there was no guarantee which parts the buttons (on the photo-etching plates) would cover and which parts would be left untouched. In my multi-plate prints I was keen to have a clean, embossed edge which suggested the plate’s presence and therefore the process.

Above: Intaglio and photographic print with graphite on Somerset paper

The photographic etching process has proved successful and I anticipate that I will experiment with this process further.

References

Heenk, L. & Rosenthal, N. (2003) Howard Hodgkin : the complete prints. London : Thames & Hudson. Pp 7-25, 51-59

Resin Casting

2010-03-01T19:51:00.000Z

I began to think about the buttons as objects and their element of tactility: when heaped together buttons urge the spectator to run their fingers through them, taking them back to a childlike state. I began separating the buttons into colour groups (as with my screen prints) and resulted in casting them into rectangular strips of resin to achieve an archival element: so that they may be remembered for having being used in a bygone process, trapping the buttons in resin also prevents the spectator from fulfilling their compulsive urge to touch the buttons, which sort of mirrors how memory can never quite be grasped.

Above: I firstly seperated the buttons

Above: I then made a mould and cast them in clear resin to produce these rectangular resin blocks.

Current Work - February 2010

2010-02-19T14:09:00.008Z

Graphite on paper

“The pictures and motifs used in button designs record the facts and fantasies of all ages – the inventions of each generation, historical and political events, stories and fables, economic conditions, senses of rural and city life.”

“For generations, countless housewives saved old buttons – sometimes in the expectation of using them again, sometimes out of sentiment, sometimes just because they were too pretty or too fine to throw away”

(Luscomb, 1997)

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, my work currently involves the theme of buttons, I discovered Luscomb’s book whilst researching this topic; Luscomb also says that “every button in the family button box was once a modern button”; this made particular sense to me after discovering the old tin of buttons, as it exemplified the passing of time due to the various buttons from various years. The second quote from above also discusses how most families’ tend to have some collection of buttons; I hope that because of this people can relate to my work; each person may have their own memories, triggered by the imagery of buttons.

After visiting the exhibition at Ripon it made me think about bringing a deeper meaning and cultural memory into my work; such as that of the Holocaust. The concepts I wish to employ in my current work involve the notion of memorial and survival.

Through researching buttons I learnt that some of the buttons known as ferrotypes were used as miniature picture frames by soldiers who were going away to war as reminders of their loved ones back home, this notion of the miniature and the portrait being so precious is also of interest to me.

I still feel that I have much to investigate within the notion of reusing something old and forgotten. I have used the book “Jews and Germans; Aspects of the True Self” which was published in 1985 by the photographer Mark Beghash who photographed survivors of the holocaust. I decided to draw some of these portraits which made me aware of the tonal aspects of the photograph. I felt that through drawing these images of survivors I was reiterating their presence in the modern day. These people deserve to be made aware of and admired. I feel that through recreating their image artistically it invites the viewer to take a closer look, and perhaps take a moment to stop and think about our very vulnerable existence.

I originally planned to link the survival of real people with survival of the button, however I feel that my drawings and prints may be more successful as stand alone images rather than trying to complicate them with added subject matter.

Mono-print on paper

I have found that mono-print allows for the resultant image to be strong and dark, yet still have a subtle softness as in these images, I was able to convey the harsh wrinkles which portray wisdom and perhaps a troubled past, without making the image too harsh.

References
- Berghash, M. W. (1985) Jews & Germans: aspects of the true self. California : California Museum of Photography.
- Luscomb, S. C. (1997). The collector's encyclopedia of buttons : now with values. Atglen, PA : Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

Screenprinting process

2010-02-19T14:00:00.002Z

As discussed in my earlier posts I am also currently working in the medium of screen print. These images show my two layered, two coloured screen prints; they are very vivid but I am slightly unhappy with how the reduction to two colours makes the original image less distinguishable. I am currently trying to master computer software which will allow me to separate my original photograph of buttons into four colours, CMYK which will allow for me to reproduce the image more realistically.

You may ask the question - Why reproduce a photo?

…I want to create a surface that has depth (hence the four colour layers), the pigments will also produce a glazed surface which will invite the viewer to take a closer look, yet the slightly reflective surface also denies the viewer access. I feel that this paradigm relates to memory, as it has much depth, yet it also denies access to the finer details as it becomes vaguer over time.

Object, Image, Space

2010-02-19T10:53:00.003Z

What happens when a particular object or space is represented in a totally new form? This is what I set out to investigate; I tried to take images out of their original context and make them something new.

Sarah Sze produces time based work using mass produced materials such as toilet rolls which have no sentiment or history. This concept made me think about what imagery and materials I wished to use within my own work and I decided that I wanted to use items that hold some significance to me.

I originally began screen-printing from my photographs of New York City. This a very high-tech, glamorous place; many people will have seen for themselves the scenes within my photographs, so through print I wanted to change the audiences thoughts by changing the context and making the imagery somehow more humble.

I found the concept of the “Bricoleur” extremely engaging; Levi-Strauss developed the comparison of the Bricoleur and Engineer in ‘The Savage Mind’ The universe of the Bricoleur is said to be closed, and he is often forced to make do with whatever is at hand; I am interested in combining the old with the new, so I hunted through old sewing boxes and found some off-cuts of fabrics. As Jessica Stockholder (1990) proclaims “My starting point is with real stuff in the world, whether it be raw materials or some kind of functioning object”. I decided not to be too critical about my initial choice of imagery, which helped me to make a prompt start.

I am very interested in “the mechanical image” and how images may be layered using the screen-printing process. The layering of imagery is apparent in all of my prints. I am also concerned with how the technical processes affect the resultant works; as discussed by Walter Benjamin “we must expect great innovations to transform the entire techniques of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself” (Benjamin 2005).

My screen prints were strongly influenced by Ian McKeever; his prints are all very graphic and his ‘colour etchings’ ironically, all consist of black and white. “McKeever felt it was important not to illustrate with colour, but to feel a form’s aura, to make it luminous” (McKeever 1997). He suggests form using gradations of black, and identifies negative space using varnish. My imagery is much more figurative than McKeevers’, but after experimenting with printing in colour, I decided to use black on white for my final prints, as this emphasised all of the necessary elements without taking away the impact of the imagery.

When hunting through the sewing boxes I came across some old 60’s dress patterns, the imagery on the front was of an aesthetic interest to me, the figures depicted were innocent and elegant. I somehow wanted to release these figures from the restrictions of time and give them another chance to be appreciated. The image was originally created for a purpose; to illustrate the dress patterns inside, I however, want to use the image for a completely different outcome and hope that the image can be appreciated for what it is; as the with the concept of the Bricoleur, who is said to be adept at many tasks and at putting pre-existing things together in new ways. Pattern designs are created to produce a handmade outcome- they are not mass produced, I like how the use of screen-printing contradicts this concept. The screen prints of the figures resulted in quite a faint result, though I found this quite pleasing as it represented the frail nature of the old patterns.

Due to the handmade nature of the patterns, I chose to look at Rozski Parker’s ‘The subversive stitch’ to learn about the cultural and historical context of needlework. “When women paint, their work is categorised as homogenously feminine – but it is acknowledged to be art. When women embroider, it is seen not as art, but entirely as the expression of femininity. And crucially it is categorised as craft”. This statement made me think about this separation of arts and crafts, and I began to think of the processes involved such as the planning, designing, working and reworking. To me these two art forms seem extremely similar when considering the work involved, neither is lesser than the other. I wanted to show this within my work, and so used stitch within one of my resolved pieces.

References

- Benjamin. A (ed). 2005. Walter Benjamin and art. London: Continuum. Pp. 208-225
- Jessica Stockholder interviewed by Robert Nickas – The State of Things, Questions to Three Object Conscious Artists, 1990
- Kovats, T. 2005. The drawing book: a survey of drawing: the primary means of expression. London: Black Dog. Pp. 72-73
- McKeever, I. 1997. Ian McKeever: Colour Etching. London: Alan Cristea Gallery.
- Parker, R. 1996. The subversive stitch: embroidery and the making of the feminine. London: Women's Press. Pp. 1-7, 61-67.

Ripon Cathedral: 6 million + every person counts

2010-02-06T16:00:00.007Z

Yesterday I visited Ripon Cathedral to view the “6 million + every person counts” exhibition. The artwork is comprised of six million buttons, each of which represents a victim who died in the Holocaust; the exhibition was initially created by Antonia Stowe in 2006 for Holocaust Memorial Day.

The buttons cover the floor and fill Perspex tubes designed to represent the death camp chimneys. My initial thoughts on viewing the exhibition was to consider the vast scale of it, I couldn’t comprehend that each unique button signified an individual life; the exhibition was extremely moving and evoked contemplation.

I also was aware of the fact that each button was unique; they have been collected by individuals, of whom I will never meet, yet here they were all together as one unified collection; each button had their own history and memory. The Cathedral had bowls for visitors to place buttons in, after placing my own buttons in the bowl, I felt a sense that I had somehow contributed to the memorial piece and in remember the victims.

Buttons

2010-02-06T15:39:00.003Z

“Buttons are the fossils of the sartorial world, enduring long past the garment they were designed to hold together”
Martha Stewart.

I am currently producing art based on “time, place and memory” and chose to represent this notion using buttons. After discovering an old tin of buttons I immediately had memories of wearing some of them on garments as a child. After researching the topic of buttons, I read Martha Stewart's quote which I felt summarised my justification of using buttons to represent time, place and memory perfectly.

I am currently continuing with screenprint, I have used Adobe Photoshop to convert my photographs of buttons into black and white images which I can use to screenprint. I have also inverted this image, and hope to produce two-colour screenprints.

Bleach on Fabric

2010-01-27T12:11:00.005Z

On a recent visit to a local school we set about creating patterns and textures using bleach. We used supports such as fabrics, tissues and papers and had a vast range of results as shown in the pictures. The possibilities are endless in terms of the materials used and how the bleach was applied.

A selection of the students work

Close Up: Bleach on Tissue

Close Up: Bleach on Fabric

This was a really quick and easy way of producing initial works. The bleach was applied using toothbrushes, spray bottles, cotton buds; anything to hand basically. The bleached materials offer a unique and original canvas to add to in future.

Hainsworth Mill

2009-12-15T12:51:00.004Z

I recently visited the Hainsworth Mill; I went with a school as part of my volunteering project. The mill manufactures items from the raw wool right through to the finished product.

The main use is for blankets though their latest range includes woollen coffins! The visit helped me to understand how the processes I am involved in may be used in industry. It was fascinating to see the huge screens used for screen-printing. The mill manufactured cloths for casino and snooker tables, which were then screen-printed onto. (See images below)

The stacked screens used for printing.

The printed cloths are used for gaming tables.
Many are shipped to America.

Geometry of a painting

2009-12-08T10:53:00.007Z

Nobody looks forward to assessments; I have recently been completing an assessment that involves a visual analysis of a famous artwork. I chose one of Piero della Francesca’s greatest paintings “The Flagellation of Christ”.

Piero della Francesca (1420-1492)

The Flagellation of Christ (1456-7)

Egg Tempera on board

Urbino

As I started my assignment, it became clear to me just how much thought and preperation Piero must have done to create this painting. The painting has so many geometrical elements that I had never even considered, so much so that it can actually be mapped out and measured exactly. I discovered a book by Lavin which contains diagrams of the mapped out views and floor plans. The book is so detailed and provides a fanastic analysis which really helped with my assesment. (Lavin, M.A. (1990) Piero della Francesca: The Flagellation. Chicago: Chicago Press Ltd)

I hope that this assesment will make me think more about the structure and form of my paintings!

Digital

2009-12-01T09:17:00.001Z

Wallpaper design 1.
I created this repeat pattern using Adobe Illustrator

Design 2
I used the same floral motifs in this design

Design 3
Here I have edited a photgraph I took of some roses, I waned to create impact using cold colours and strong outlines.

Digital Upload...

2009-12-01T08:35:00.000Z

I have uploaded some of my digital work from last year please have a look and let me know what you think! Should you wish to comment on my images within the slide show, simply click on the slideshow and it will take you to my Picasa web album where you can leave as many comments as you like!

Themes within my Digital work...

2009-12-01T08:32:00.000Z

In my digital work my ideas originated from circular shapes and patterns which were an integral part of my work in some of my previous prints (which I will upload soon!) I incorporated this circular theme with floral motifs.

I began to think about where my work may be viewed. Many of the art galleries I have visited all display the same white walls and very minimal decoration which seems very uniform to me. The work of Barbra Kruger fills the whole room such as “Installation View” (1991).I would love to see some of Kruger’s work in the flesh as I believe it would draw you in and make you feel part of the work.

Beatriz Milhazes’s huge floral paintings also have “linear, dotted or flatly applied circular and spiral forms…or fantasy flowers.” (1) This concept is also apparent in my stylised wallpaper designs; I have created un-naturalistic floral motifs using Adobe Illustrator.

(1) GROSENICK, U. 2008. Art Now VOL 2. Singapore: TASCHEN. Pp186-189

Ice and Paint - the making...

2009-11-23T19:05:00.000Z

Close Up: Melting cubes

Whilst browsing my pictures I came across my photographs which I used to document the process of my ice and paint images, see for yourslef the process!....

Step 1 - add water to a simple ice cube tray and then add paint straight from the tube
Step 2 - place wire in each section so that it will hold the frozen ice cube
Step 3 - remove the frozen cubes

Step 4 - hang the cubes against a piece of paper. Ensure there is another piece of paper on the ground to catch the paint and the cubes should they fall
Above: the ice cubes began to melt straight away and deposited vertical lines of coloured paint.

Above: the splattered paint also marked the paper which was only intended as protection for the carpet but actually proved to be a good design decision!

Ice and Paint

2009-11-19T22:27:00.000Z

Ice and paint, an unusual combination some may say but in fact the combination produces surprising results. The concept of using ice as an artistic medium was influenced by the land art of Andy Goldsworthy. I used a simple ice cube tray and added paint in its crudest form. I then inserted metal wire so that the cubes could hang once frozen.

I did not know what the outcome of my work was going to be, or if it all it would be successful, but it is the process of the making that I was concerned with, as this can often be just as important as the final result, as Goldsworthy proclaims “Failure is so important to my work”(1). This way of thinking enables the artist to experiment with ideas, without worrying about what the final result may be. Ian Davenport was also a strong influence upon this piece of work. Davenport uses a syringe to extract paint onto an upright canvas, which produces lines of vertical colour. Speaking of his work he explains that “the structure of the painting is formed by the paint running into itself”(2) an explanation that is also true of my own work.

(1). FRIEDMAN, T. (2000) Time – Andy Goldsworthy. London. Thames and Hudson Ltd

(2). BUTTON, V. The Turner Prize: Twenty Years. London. Tate Publishing, 2003.

Face

2009-11-18T22:36:00.000Z

I am currently in the process of creating a book which collaborates several of my portraiture pieces and expresses some of my thoughts and concepts behind my work. Here is a condensed version of my writing on my portrait series’…

My imagery focuses upon the human face. I make small scale initial preparatory drawings and paintings, though my resultant works are always of a larger scale. I base my ideas upon the effect a large-scaled work can have on the viewing audience; when a representation of the human form is enlarged to an unnatural proportion it elicits “a complex compound sensation encompassing attraction, alienation and alarm in equal measure.”(1)

I use oil paints to explore how the body and the skin are depicted in glossy magazines. I also create collages from these images and manipulate them using computer software such as Adobe Photoshop® to eliminate the over-polished appearance. I use thick black outlines in my digital pieces to create a bold contrast as does the contemporary artist Julian Opie (b1958). Opie attempts to represent the complexities of the human form by reducing it to its mere basics.(2)

The portraits I produce intrude upon the spectators’ personal space, which may mirror the overpowering affect of the media. The mass-media and fashion photography of recent times display air-brushed and perfected images of the human form. These unrealistic representations create social pressures, other contemporary artists have also drawn upon these issues such as Richard Phillips whose work performs the function of “memorialising the unattainable standards of beauty ushered in by this new era in fashion”(3). Due to the scale of my works the spectator must view my work from afar in order to take in the whole picture. This also represents the impossible distance between reality and the representational form of the airbrushed high fashion beauty images.

An influential figure that I have based many of my thoughts upon is the French literary critic Roland Barthes who “finds a new principle of order by turning not to the creator’s intentions…but to the actions of its receiver”(4). In Barthes highly renowned essay from 1967 entitled “The death of the Author” Barthes relates this idea to art; the concept of the “Interpretive text” (or artwork) states that the audience’s interpretation of a work is the most important element, not the initial intentions of the artist. I realise that different people will always consider a work of art in different ways depending on their personal situations and the connections they feel towards it, though I still maintain that it is possible to manipulate the viewing audience to some extent.

The intention of my paintings also relate to modern issues involving digital technologies. Today it is easy to manipulate and re-work an image using computer software. Though I often embrace the digital technologies and frequently paint from a photograph I wish to continue the traditional methods of paint as an artist’s medium and to celebrate its results.

As I work from photographs it was important for me to question the purpose of reproducing these images in another medium. I felt motivated after reading an inspiring extract from Bach, who writes positively about paint as a medium; in a world of ever-changing technologies it is comforting to hear that painting still holds its ability to interact with the viewer in a unique way; when comparing the viewing of a painting to a film Bach states “one doesn’t have to react to every single flash”(5). I can also relate to Bach when he declares “it is the formal properties in the painting that interest me”(5). Personally I enjoy perfecting every last detail and in today’s fast-paced society I find that painting is an escape.

Robinson, A. (2008) ‘The Analysis of Beauty’ [Online].

Kurt, D (2008) ‘Julian Opie Biography’ [Online].

PHAIDON. (2002) Vitamin P: new perspectives in painting. London: Phaidon Press Ltd. “Richard Phillips”

Heartney, E. (2008) Art & today London and New York: Phaidon Press Ltd. pp143

Hicks, A. (2001) Art Works: British and German contemporary art, 1960-2000. London: Merrell. pp. 184-185