2 Oct – Icebreaker presentation feedback: Kerry suggested I look at Nicholas Poussin and the use of differing degrees and types of detail; and consider how this relates to a sense of depth and space. Poussin, (classical French baroque 1600’s) applied more intricacy and sharpness of detail to the elements he wanted to appear most important and to distinguish foreground from background. It gives a similar effect to playing with focus and depth of field in photography. Poussin uses this in a ‘straight forward’ way, whilst Roberto Matta, (for example ‘The Earth is a Man’ 1942) uses a mixture of sharp edges and clearly defined forms and more vague, soft outlined forms to create a shifting dreamlike sense of space and depth without an obvious foreground or background. It’s this sense of space and depth without perspective that I’m interested in.
8 Oct – Studio chat with Heather Burwell: We had an introduction to the print room with Mike Wright this afternoon, where he talked about using print as a way to quickly explore ideas, to allow for finding things by chance and to extemporise by re-working or working over pieces. Chatting with Heather afterwards, she helped me recognise that I need to develop strategies or techniques for generating ‘starting points’. I’ve been concerned about not having a subject or a ‘thing’ to paint. I have conceptual ideas, and sometimes visionary experiences in dreams /daydreams. But I don’t often have a clear sense of a thing to start with. This has been a block for me, a feeling that I’m trying to make something from nothing. So, I need to investigate this further, think about how to generate imagery or even just marks to respond to; re-visit Max Ernst’s idea of ‘liberating procedures’.
9 Oct – Studio chat with Adam: We were talking about sculpture in particular and that although we’re encouraged to experiment and develop ideas we tend to start with a fairly well formed visual idea that we then work to realise. We tend not to start with a ‘question’ from which to develop a piece through a process of enquiry. It occurred to me that the well formed visual idea might be thought of as an answer to a question that hasn’t been articulated. Thinking along the line of; if that’s the answer, what was the question? could lead back to some interesting starting points. I think the idea of a fully conceived piece being an answer to a subconscious question, [rather than just a dumb statement] is a really useful one.
18 Oct – Tutorial with Paul Johnson: This was my first meeting with Paul and was a fairly general chat about where I’ve come from and what I’m thinking. There was very little work to show so far, but we discussed previous work on my website. I explained that I want to find ways to be more directly expressive and less focused on realising preconceived ideas. I told him about being inhibited by a fear of failure and of exposure. As we discussed this, it became clearer to me that what I really want is a more direct, (visceral) connection with the ‘doing’, rather than being too conceptual; to be thinking through doing in other words. [Thinking seems to generate as many blocks as ideas; – inertia. Action generates momentum] I expressed my fear of not having much of a ‘visual vocabulary’, of always going back to the same few images/motifs. Paul suggested I have more vocabulary than I might think and not to worry. He advised: produce lots of stuff; try as many different materials and techniques as possible; set my first Work in Progress seminar as a target to have lots of work to show.
21 Oct – Initial Proposal feedback from Kerry: Kerry re-iterated the need to focus on experimentation and not worry about defined outcomes at this point.
23 Oct – tutorial with Kerry in the studio; he suggested I look at Per Kirkeby. I followed this up and his work has influenced my colour painting. We also discussed an interest in “interesting” music outside the mainstream. We discussed rhythm and composition, and whether the language of music is inherently more ‘gettable’ than that of visual art. Rhythm is definitely important to me, and how it relates to visual composition is becoming more relevant. Kerry offered to send links to some composers I might not have heard of.
5 Nov – Tutorial with Kerry; – he commented on some of my prints on the studio wall, in particular the test pull from the unfinished lino cut. Kerry pointed out the sense of space in this compared to the final pull from the finished piece. Interesting how accidents can be so successful.
26 Nov – ‘Role consultation analysis’ session with Hayley Berman. I worked with Louise and Heather. Summary of their comments: – I seem to put too much pressure on finished work; – I need to let go and let things happen. Let the making be the work [as opposed to focusing on the outcome]. Play, Play, Play; – let that speak.
26 Nov – Work in Progress seminar: I spoke about when I started to make art and was motivated to move away from making ‘functional’ things in order to focus on the purely aesthetic. Kerry pointed out that paintings have a function, (as does all art). This was an important point for me; making work is an inherently valuable thing to be doing. There is a purpose to this endeavour that isn’t contingent on any usefulness or commodity value. Paul said he thought my work, (especially my first painting) looks “weird, in a good way”, and that it looked confident. I was pleased with this as I want to make work that both attracts and and unsettles. However, I’m not sure about it looking confident, I see it as looking too clean and controlled, (inhibited). I spoke about feeling like I was building paintings rather than being painterly. Kerry said that building paintings is not a problem, many artists work that way. Paul suggested I look at American artist Forrest Bess. It was suggested by someone that ‘direction of line’ could be important, and that my work could relate to the ideas of turn of the [20th] century spiritualism. Hilma Af Klint and Max Klinger were suggested as artists to look at. There was some reference to an experience of viewing a Mark Rothko in a museum; a physical experience of work that was “beautifully aggressive”; – work that had a vibration. It was suggested that there’s some difference between my ideas and ambitions and the work I’m doing. Kerry suggested I look more at what the material does, with Rembrandt paintings as an example of the beauty in the paint when viewed close up that’s somewhat separate from the effect when viewed at a distance. There were several comments about letting go of control, or getting in the zone and letting the ‘magic’ happen. Paul suggested my work looked like it wanted to be bigger and I should think about getting loose canvas or paper to fill up a wall and working on that. The discussion went around how to ‘get into the zone’; to overcome inhibitions and “leave the place of knowing”. Kerry mentioned the Orphic Myth; the decent into and return from the underworld. There was a general theme of needing to relax, experiment and ‘let it all go’, and also at the same time to give it all and not hold back. Kerry referred to John Cage working with clearly defined rule based systems as a way of setting parameters to work within and generating unexpected outcomes; either to remove the artist from the work, or to create things to respond to.
6 Feb – Tutorial with Paul. We discussed the Creative Economies assignment how to refine the ‘issue’ that I’m investigating. We also discussed painting and surface qualities. Paul reiterated the suggestion to ‘go big’, and also suggested working in multiple or sets of canvases. He also re-iterated his point that I don’t need to be loose, wild and ‘painterly’ to be expressive. He suggested I look at how other painters use paint, [rather than the subject or style of their work].
12 Feb – Tutorial with Kerry. We discussed my practice work and Kerry advised that I acknowledge inhibitions, but try to put them to one side, follow what feels right in the making, experiment, don’t worry about not having ideas; ‘just do’. He also suggested I think about the quality of surface / paint – not in the sense of fineness necessarily, but the particularity of it; how well it supports or relates to the idea of the work. Though it may be lost in digitised facsimiles, it’s not ancillary to the work; it’s an essential element of it. We also discussed the Creative Economies assignment and he advised that I narrow down my issue and maybe focus just on the idea of how an artist manages their mental health, [in the context of current issues].
24 Mar – Work in Progress seminar. Due to the Covid 19 lock-down, this was conducted online. Much of the feedback was about finding ways to overcome inhibitions; suggestions included putting canvases to one side and getting away from expectations of what a painting is or should be; use non-precious materials; scribble – look at Louise Bourgeois’ insomnia drawings for inspiration; use print and overlaying on copies. Mike suggested trying to find quicker ways of working – processes that move at the speed of thought. Kerry suggested setting rule based structures to create spaces in which I can allow things to happen. Also, make sets; – repeat the “black and white painting” for example. Mike reiterated the suggestion of re-working ideas and creating variations on a theme. Another suggestion that I particularly like is to set out for random and then sort and organise. There were many suggestions of artists to look at: Mikey Cuddihy, Richard Deacon, Jim Dine’s prints and ‘tool peices’, John Cage’s Ryoanji Drawings, Louise Nevelson’s collages, Kenneth Martin, Alighiero Boetti. Paul said he thought the paintings and the Canvas sculpture in particular we weird, in a good way. Mike identified an obsession with structural complexity in my work. These last two comments were very re-assuring as these are things that i’m looking for in my work. The key points I took from this session are:
- rather than ‘making’ complexity I should be ‘finding’ it, then perhaps sorting and ordering it
- set up rule based systems to generate work and starting points
- think about repeating and copying work then layering and working over it
- avoid the idea of starting with a blank canvas; you can’t make something from nothing so think about what I can start with