BA1b Fine Art - Reflective Journal & Project Research

I managed to get my prints sorted for the BALLOT Print Portfolio. I wanted to take part as I felt that I needed to start to take part in something, even if my work might not get selected. I also took part as I have a strong interest in printmaking and wanted to start to make my mark within this subject. I decided to use lino for this print as I wanted to use a different printing process that I hadn't used before/in a while. I also felt that lino was more appropriate than what I wanted to use originally which was dry point etching as there were a lot of block areas which I don't think an etching could illustrate as well as a lino cut could. My design was inspired by recent events caused by votes such as the EU referendum and the American election. It illustrates how a simple vote/ballot/choice can divide the entire world, and cause cracks within society with differing opinions. I also wanted to illustrate how powerful these simple choices can be. This could be related to my ow...

I assisted with the degree show set up this week. A lot of things weren't new to me, but it was still a good experience to see what degree show set up is like and to be able to talk to 3rd year students. It is a long process to get spaces ready for exhibitions, it involves sanding down walls, filling holes, gum stripping gaps and painting over everything to get it looking right for exhibitions. These are good transferable skills to have for future careers and for own use as well.   

Exhibition Set-Up: This week was the week of the group exhibitions. My group’s theme was Equality/Diversity. We set up on Monday, this involved gathering our work together and discussing where we wanted to go and what pieces would work together best. I had originally made some pieces specifically for this presentation/exhibition, but after writing about a past piece of mine I had made earlier in the project and seeing how popular it was on my social media I decided to use this piece instead. It also seemed to fit in with the theme a lot better as well. After putting it up I felt that there needed to be something else, as there was too much white space around it. I looked through my work and found a couple more pieces that I felt had similar styles to my first piece and placed them next to it. To hang them I originally Blu -tacked some bull dog clips to the wall and hung the prints from the clips, but I decided to add some string across the wall to add a purpose to the bull dog clip...

After the advanced printing workshops, I decided to go back to my dry point etchings and combine them with my copper etchings to see how they would look. I combined them with my small hard wax and soft wax etchings, and my aqua tinted copper plate etching. They worked really well together and came out better than I thought. I think the combination with the smaller hard/soft wax plates worked the best as they were similar sizes to the dry point etchings, and the composition worked well because of this.  I think I'd like to take this further, perhaps even adding my wood cuts to them - combing three different types of print to make one print/image. Possibly even cutting them out and introducing a collage element like my other prints. Out of the three below, I think the middle one worked the least, at least not how I had imagined it would work. I wanted the aqua-tinted plate to form the background for my dry point etchings, but I didn't think the sizing through and probably could...

I saw some incredible pieces of artwork while out in Madrid, more specifically the street art. I really liked the hand holding street art the most as it fit in with what my project is about. The text in between the hands reads 'Compartir Vs. Competir' which translates to ' to share vs to compete' which I love as it speaks about unity against competition. I also love the patterns within the hands and if given the time I would definitely create some artworks based on this idea. Additionally, we went and visited small galleries on the outskirts of the city, and we saw a particular gallery of this artists work which combined text with painted abstract imagery. I really liked how the text looked as if it was coming out of the paint, like it was there originally and was painted over. I also liked the distortion of some of the text which made it difficult to read.  I also loved how some of the galleries were painted over on the outside, as it broke the boundar...

This was the main inspiration for my work and my slight change of direction within my work. I was really inspired and proud to see women around the world standing up for what they believe in and fighting for their voices to be heard in a ever changing world. It reminded me of all the struggles that women have had to overcome over the decades - sexism & representation within the media and the workplace, the right to vote, equal pay, role changes and so on. I wanted to focus on that within my own work in my own way. I was also amazed at how it started off being based in Washington, then it suddenly became this global event where most countries suddenly got involved and it was that sense of unity in an already divided world that further inspired me to start looking into this theme of female representation. I have used images of the marches within my own work as part of my collages as I wanted to link this back to my own work.

Both of these exhibitions were created with the idea to challenge the political changes happening at the time.  These were set up to effectively 'fight back' to Donald Trump and his sexist remarks towards women, and his potentially damaging administration towards women.  These exhibitions are part of what inspired me to go down the route of female representation as I was proud to see women of all backgrounds standing their ground and making their voices heard. These are good examples of how art can make a difference as the Nasty Women exhibition managed to raise $42,000 for Planned Parenthood - an organisation dedicated to helping women plan their future in regards to parenthood, and allow them safe and affordable abortion treatment. They are also good examples of female artists coming together and making their own voices heard, and showing the art world that female artists can be just as powerful and influential as male artists.  I also like the idea of ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxBQB2fUl_g <- Guerilla Girls on The Stephen Colbert Show. Feminist art. The promotion of more female artists in the art world. Similar themes to my own work, female power, strength, more representation of women in the real world, not just as objects. Confronting the issue of a male dominated art world, and advocating for more diversity within the art world to allow for a more diverse depiction of cultures. Not just focusing within the art world, but also within film and politics, using art as their way of getting their voices heard. They also highlight the problems of a male dominated art market and how they only choose specific artworks to show/buy. Raising the issue of so few female led shows in galleries such as The MET, MoMa and other massive galleries. They also target the racial divide within the art world, and how so few artists of colour get recognised or asked to do shows for certain galleries. Good example of those fighting for...

I discovered Bruce Conner at the Museo de Sofia while in Madrid. I was really interested in his assemblages, and how he layered images together to form one big image. This links to my collages and my own assemblages. I really liked how from far away they would look like one big image but if you were to look up close, you would be able to see each image layer on top of each other, and the different images which were used to make the one image. It's this kind of assemblage that I am interested in. His etchings also interest me, especially his photo etchings. The amount of detail that he gets into them is impressive, and something that I hope to aspire to. His theme is completely different to mine, as his work is very morbid, death like, whereas mine is more about social issues, but his work interests me. Surrealism, abstraction, morbid themes. Films as collages - splicing new and old footage together, much like imagery. Was doing something that no one else was;   “A lot o...

Powerful images of war, death, poverty and hunger. Really captures the pain and hardships of the people during this era. As an artist herself, she was an advocate for female artists, teaching female artists in the Berlin school of Women Artists. I find these images fascinating and eye opening, the contrast between these images and society today is mind blowing, how different things are today. I also love her drawings and how evocative and meaningful they are. How each mark made is meant. This is something that I hope to one day achieve within my own artwork. Her self portraits also seem to show her own personal hardships, the pain on her face, the exhaustion. Especially as war had become the most pressing issue within her lifetime. The struggles, the hardships, the fear of losing everything - all things that I can personally see within her self portraits. I also love how she showcases the mother and child bond, and the connection that they share. The pain of losin...

Another artist that I found as reference material and for ideas, I had looked at his work for a previous project and felt that with recent exploration into collage and distortion of faces that his work would be a good starting point for me. I love how the flowers are growing through the faces like nature reclaiming the body. Could also be read as there being more to someone that what first appears and that we’re all beautiful in our own way. Links to me 'Speak No Evil' collage/print piece with the flowers over the woman's mouth.

  Again, I looked at Rauschenberg for his collages, but also for his layering techniques as I had begun to layer images and prints together to create a new image. His writings are interesting as well, not just his work. For example he wrote what he thought the role of the artist was; ‘ART HAS NO BORDERS. SPECIALIZATION LEADS TO CULTURAL STERILIZATION. AN ARTIST IS A DIPLOMAT, A PROPHET, A HISTORIAN, A POET AND A CALENDAR OF NOURISHMENT OF MORALITY AND ENERGY.’ - this really interests me, as he is saying that there is more to being an artist than meets the eye, that our role is to create, to make sure that we keep creativity alive. This idea of a having a role inspires me to create works which try to make statements but are also expressive in their own way. Innovative - inventing a new way of printing, printing on transparent sheets and then layering them on top of each other - invoking transparency and ever changing relationships. Political elements

    Barbara Kruger interview on Race, Stereotypes, Public Art & Interviews, (1991) Although I have been looking at Kruger from the beginning due to her use of prints, now that I have slightly changed direction towards the idea of female power and also political issues, I’ve gone back to Kruger and looked at her work in more depth, more specifically the way that she protests for women and allowing women to have a voice through art. I truly admire her boldness when it comes to making statements and how she isn’t afraid to speak the truth, even if it’s a little strong. I love her composition - text and image, and how she purposefully chooses images which beautifully illustrate the points that she is making - something that I might need to explore when doing my collages. I also like, much like Bansky in a way, how she chooses art as a way of getting her messages across. The idea of it being in a public space for all to see. U...

Diana Taylor was another artist that I found on the off chance for reference material and ideas, I was really attracted to her bold prints. I really liked how she overlapped the images and is something that I have started to explore within my own work. The idea of layering, building an image from images. The colours that she uses are effective and work really well together - colour choice important. Although she mainly focuses on ruined architecture, there are some elements of her practice that interest me - ‘ These paintings explore the impermanence of all things; of infrastructures and architecture, memories and family relationships. References to the collapse of civilisations, ruined architecture, the fragmentation of the image and samples from redundant processes or dying crafts, all speak of the destruction and creativity of the human, of the passing of time and history.’ - I find this idea of trying to destroy the traditional by replacing it with the modern inter...

This was an artist I discovered on the off chance, merely for reference material and ideas. I really liked his approach to collage and mixed media. I admire how he manages to combine relief with collage and is something that I want to explore within my own project - using specific images, perhaps even symbols. I think wood cut would work really well with this approach because of the bold shapes made in the wood. The black relief images work well with the coloured mixed media in the background - idea of negative space. Expressive marks, his work has no boundaries, very similar to how I want my work to look and feel. To be expressive in an abstract way and to be free. There is so much going on in each piece, something that I look for in an artwork and within my own work.

Her work relates to my idea of being watched - introduction of the evil eye. Her work looks similar to that of security cameras, the distortion, and monochrome tones of the images show this. I find her work interesting in this way, exploring complex ideas while at the same time allowing the audience to create their own ideas of what the artwork represents. I also find how she wants she wants to explore the idea of speed and time within her work fascinating, and how she does this through traditional methods of reproduction such as woodcuts, similar mediums to what I’m using. Comparing the woodcut with digital mediums such as video also interesting. Contrasting processes. The fact that she embraces all of the inaccuracies and mistakes made within woodcutting also fascinates me as I have started to act this way about my own, making the mistakes become part of the work, and showing the roughness and hand made materiality of the work. Reflecting on the modern world a...

Political work - powerful statements Not worried about where his art is - the world is his canvas. This then relates to the idea of purpose and art - work not in a gallery so could be argued as not true artworks. Strong example of freedom of speech. My work is relating to the idea of not seeing or hearing evil and the idea of being watched and/or being censored to ‘fit in’ with society’s ideals/standards. I feel like in a way, his work also demonstrates this. But to a much more powerful effect, especially with regards to where he presents his work - to the public. The idea of anonymity also interests me, making the work the primary focus. I admire how he isn't afraid to make strong statements with his work and touch upon sensitive subjects like politics and war.

For our exhibition I have chose the theme Equality and Diversity as I felt it suited my current theme and work. I originally decided to create a piece especially for this exhibition, which was going to be a series of three prints, with the same image printed on each but in a yin/yang sort of fashion, where one would be upside down and the other right side up, and both images would be contrasting colours, in this case blue and pink to signify the differences between men and women, and how women should be treated like men. For the middle piece I added text down the centre, using words which were inspirational and what I thought were positive descriptions of women; Unique, Individual, Independent, Powerful, Strong, Diverse, Inspirational etc. Finally, to incorporate painting back into my work, I added some painted roses on the corners to add a touch of femininity to the prints. Overall I originally liked this as a piece overall, but felt conflicted about exhibiting it.  That is when...

As well as doing project we also had to focus on our Skills 3 project which involved three weeks of developing our chosen skill. I chose advanced print - etching as it is a skill that I wanted to learn more of. I had already done acid etching a couple of weeks ago so this first week was easy for me as I was just going back through the stages. However I used soft ground wax as well as hard ground this time and it was interesting to see the different type of etch that the wax gives off - it’s not as deep as the hard ground and in the printing stage I found that it was easier to wipe the ink off than the hard ground. I also learnt how to overlap prints and how to use multiple plates for one print and even brought in my plate from my induction from a couple of weeks ago. Overall, even though it is a long process, I thoroughly enjoyed doing it and am looking forward to learning more skills within this type of printmaking. The second week of the etching workshops involved learning about t...

From the acid etchings, I decided to play around with dry point etching. I used imagery inspired by my theme - feminism, strength, power and motivational/inspirational wording. I chose to use small plates as I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out and felt that for initial experiments it would be best to start off small. I was also thinking about composition as I thought that because they were small plates I could place more than one on a sheet, and mix and match the images.  The designs I went for are a fist, rose, lips with the text 'Stay You' and a flower with the text 'Stay Pretty'. As mentioned previously I was inspired by my theme of female power, and wanted to express that through these plates. I wanted a feminine look with a powerful message behind it as contrast. I chose to use bright colours which I felt suited the imagery and text quite well. For the composition I placed the acetate pieces in a grid formation first, alternating the text and image...