Ian Gibbon MA Fine Art Module CTA1121 – 509 – 2020 (SAC 2019-20)
From the start of the course the underlying theme of my work has been the tension and balance between chaos and control, between unfathomable mystery and clear identity. I wanted to explore this by using the surface of a sculpture as a ‘canvas’. The idea being that a painting has the capacity to draw one into an imaginary world of undefined space and dreamlike mystery, whilst a sculpture, no matter how weird, presents itself by inhabiting a very specific space and time and so has a very distinct identity.
The whole of this module has been overshadowed by a period of depression, with particularly difficult periods over the summer of 2020 and late winter early spring of 2021. The effect has been a loss of motivation, a sense of disconnection from my creativity and artistic practice and a lack of structured research or proper reflection and recording of what I was doing. Things only really came alive in the last few months after going on a pottery course in April 2021. This opened up new possibilities and gave some confidence and momentum with making which enabled me to start to make some sense of what I’d been doing up to that point and how things could move forward.
I began with a proposal to make a large, (bigger than person size) 3D piece, either in plaster or canvas over a framework, then using the surface for a more complex painting. However, the covid pandemic meant no access to studios or workshop facilities, so I had to think about working on a smaller scale. I began working on two ideas; a sewn canvas form to be filled with expanding foam and a sculpture to be built and carved from black concrete and white plaster. I also began making automatic drawings with charcoal on paper.
Over the summer of 2020 I also began playing with a few unlikely materials and making small assemblages with them whilst listening to new music. I wrote some poetry for the first time and was spending a lot of time searching for and listening to new music and watching talks and listening to podcasts on philosophy and quantum physics, psychology and mental health.
With the end of the first lockdown and a return to the workshops, I was able to regain some momentum and work on the concrete and plaster piece. I decided to focus on just this piece, trying to get lost in the making more than aiming for an objective. This proved difficult, but technical difficulties and breakages actually helped as I had to go with what the materials and my skill allowed. With the input and feedback from tutors and fellow students, by the end of December I was happy to call it finished. I wasn’t certain whether it was successful, but the outcome was surprising and interesting and nothing like the original idea.
The second lockdown brought a deeper depression and a complete stop to any work. I realised I needed to do something and decided to take a pottery course; as a way of reconnecting with making without the pressure of trying to make art. I sought out the most experienced potter I could find for the best possible introduction to throwing pots and booked 4 days of one to one tuition. This changed everything. I discovered an aptitude for throwing pots, and realised the potential for using ceramics as a key part of my practice. An intense period of just working on throwing pots followed and generated ideas and material for other sculptural work, including Honky Tonk and Get Off of My Cloud.
Now at the end of the module, I think the most successful works are the ones selected for the exhibition, each of which is a consequence of allowing happy accidents and/or making assemblages from separately made elements and other materials and objects. Two other things have become apparent:
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The importance of lines, particularly sensual flowing curves: – with pots and other sculptural work the silhouette is as important as the overall form and mass of the piece, and a sensitivity to the quality of lines is particularly evident in the ‘automatic’ charcoal drawings.
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The fundamental importance of having a work space full of different materials and objects to handle and play with.
Project Proposal for the Final Major Study
I want to refine the mystery/identity theme and investigate the uncanny or unheimlich; as in the sense of something being familiar yet strange. I aim to pursue four strands of enquiry:
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Exploration of liminality through ‘Automatic drawing’; – setting up conditions for sessions of drawing within specific parameters, aimed at facilitating a meditative or ‘flow’ state. Continuing with charcoal on paper to start with, this will also be an investigation into the qualities of lines.
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Working with ceramics to investigate vessels and forms with and without openings; – wheel throwing, hand building and experimenting with glazes. This will involve working in series or multiples and will produce functional items, sculptures and other elements or ‘artefacts’ to be collected and possibly incorporated in mixed-media work.
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Experimenting with assemblages; – attempting to unlock a playful childlike approach to making by using a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar objects, materials and processes.
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Collecting objects, images and artefacts, made and found; – to inhabit my work space as a kind of ‘cabinet of curiosities’. The items themselves will provide reference / source material for other work. The process of collecting, curating, surveying and handling the items will also provide deeper insights into my interests and generate ideas and proposals for new work.
Some of the practitioners I’m interested in and will be looking at more closely are:
Judy Pfaff – multimedia sculpture and installation
Matthew Ronay – sculpture
Kate Malone – ceramics, sculpture
Edmund de Waal – ceramics, interventions, writing
Aaron Angell, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media
Ron Nagel – ceramics, sculpture
Billy Adams – ceramics
Vanessa Barragao – textiles
Sommer Roman – sculpture and drawing, textiles and multimedia
Projected Outcomes:
A collection of series’ of ‘automatic’ drawings, made in ‘single sittings’.
A collection of wheel thrown and hand built vessels and forms with experimental glazing.
Sculptures, assemblages, 3D collages, dioramas and / or installations made using a range of media.
Resources Required:
Sculpture studio space in 3D2 workshop with access to the wet working area, makers spaces and outdoor space.
Access to the ceramics workshop; wheels, glazing, kilns etc.
Access to sewing machines and tables