I always struggle with starting a project, I have so many ideas running around my head and a few on paper but I always find the starting point hard. I liken his process to cleaning a messy house, there is so much stuff to sort but it's what thing to start first. I started by writing a loose brief to give focus to the ideas I have floating in my head, then created some monoprints as a means of generating ideas and then started to make. I find making and working with my hands a good way to problem solve and create more ideas, I am never focusing on a final piece just ideas, or a texture or a form I can run with. I am lucky enough to be working alongside another artist Marco Carofalo during my residency at Milton Keynes College, Marco creates work that pushes the boundaries of printmaking. It is good to have someone else to bounce ideas off and discuss work with, as it helps me make sense of what I am trying to achieve. It is also a good opportunity to see how another artist works, what their processes look like and how they reach their outcomes and ideas. I began to create some clay vessels using Scarva's professional black chunky clay as a means of experimenting with the material. The clay I was working with has much larger chunks of grog than I have used before meaning I can create much larger forms. particularly
On reflection of the exhibition at the Broadway Galley, I need to produce larger pieces, so that any future piece does not get swallowed up by the vastness of the gallery. Another lesson I have learnt more recently is the need to develop patience, and allow clay work to dry long enough to allow me to build further layers and prevent sagging and collapsing vessels particularly as I want to build larger pieces.
I want to show a connection within the work, particularly the connection of myself to the material and began playing with some air-drying clay and making my own impression on it. One of my degree pieces was an artwork called 'safety hands' which consisted of lost wax cast glass, lead and plaster hands based on mine and my father's relationship. The piece not only showed a connection between self and my dad but also has served as a memory piece since my dad passed away. Meaning at one point in time my dad had a connection with the casting material, the glass hand and left an imprint in the material. I played with this concept in the piece 'Imprint' 2022, in a similar way as 'Safety Hands' 2000 which contained one of my dad's hands amongst a sea of my own hands. This piece contains one special piece, the guided imprint which stands out amongst the sea of white imprints. With the theme of connection playing in my mind, I began creating a range of sculptures using air-drying clay, with the hope to cast the pieces in slip or glass. Unfortunately, airdrying clay can melt when used with gelflex due to the high melting temperature of gelflex, so I am looking into getting some silicone instead. The pieces will have to be lost wax cast due to the shape and the many undercuts, but this is something I will look into as I relish the chance to create some cast glass pieces and multiples of the same form. The pieces just like the vessels were created in an automatic way, I allowed the pieces to take form within my hands as I manipulated the clay between my fingers.
Some of the pieces slot together whereas others do not but they share a connection with the piece next to it lie bones.
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