Starting the spring term...

Over the first few weeks of the Spring term, we have been asked to complete a piece of work which is influenced and inspired by the work produced by another member of our year group. My influence, Caroline Widdop, whose piece I had to look at, as well as everything else wonderful she is up to, can be seen here on her page found by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

After always always avoiding projects in which the subject is myself, and avoiding at all costs painting self portraits (not one of my great talents!), I was initially rather daunted by the thought of both of these aspects of the work. However, there are individual parts of the work which I find very intriguing – most especially the fact that the piece is named ‘Mulitple Personality Order’, instead of ‘disorder’. I decided to take this word ‘order’ in relation to personality very literally, thought about the different sides of my personality, and ordered them, into matchboxes. After messing around with trying to do some small drawings and paintings, I thought it would reflect my character more if I was to use some kind of writing. In each box is an extract from a novel, a poem, a play or an article which all relate to some kind of aspect of my personality. The fact that the matchboxes are slightly open, but you still can’t tell what is written, is something that I quite like – there is an invitation for people to perhaps open and read, but I doubt that people would in a studio exhibition. Like my own (and everyone’s personality) there are light and dark qualities which we can’t show all at the same time – so the idea of control and order, revealing and hiding all had a great part in this work. Overall I was happy with the final outcome, and found the whole process useful and very thought provoking. Can’t wait to crack on with the work I begun last term now!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkshire-Artist/323181218038#!/photo.php?fbid=10150341817813039&set=a.330871713038.126276.323181218038&type=3&theater

Light, Shadows & Glass...

Whilst looking through the photographs I took at the YSP for the previous post, I came across these three which show wonderfully the effects light creates when forming shadows. I love that there are so many shapes made - from the art on the glass balcony edge, the art hanging from the ceiling and the shadows of the shutters on the windows opposite. I especially like the bold straight edges made by the shutters and how they echo the architecture - and in contrast to the twisting smoke like curls of the hanging art. Although all this is obviously unintentional (I think), it really does show the possibilities that there are for playing around with light and shadows. Rather like the shadow of the branch on the area of frosted glass, a layer on top of the glass window - could play around with this idea myself? ...

James Turrell at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park...

At the end of last term during feedback I received a list of artists to look at who could be useful in developing my own work. The work of James Turrell came up, an artist whose work I am in fact already familiar with. During the Christmas holidays when back at home in Sheffield, on a chilly winter afternoon I took a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which as of 2006 is home to a permanent instillation of his within the parks grounds. The work is called ‘Deer Shelter’ and is a ‘calm space for relaxation’ – since 1974 Turrell has been building rooms open to the sky where visitors can sit and gaze. One of the most important aspects to these ‘skyspaces’ as they are known as, is the balance between interior and exterior light, and the effect that they have upon the space that as a viewer you enter and contemplate. The fact that he has coined the word ‘skyspace’ is something that I find very interesting in itself, is he questioning the relationship and reliability of one factor to the other, the sky to the space and vice versa? Or simply referring to the space that is cut out where the sky is visible?

Although I have been to see this work many times before, it was not until this most recent visit that I really considered this relationship between the light and the room – the incredibly stark and simple design of the room is really highlighted by the light coming in. However, after sitting in the room for a period of time I would question how many people entering and spending time in the space really look and consider the actual physicality room; most people appeared to just look up at the sky and take that in, rather than looking around at their surroundings...This relationship between the actuality of a space or room and light is directly linked to my own work, and has given me much to think about – one of the main things being how the changeability of the levels of light affects the space, something I haven’t really looked at up until now, but is something I am intrigued to experiment with. The first 6 photographs are taken when I first arrived at YSP, and the latter ones at the end just before leaving, the differences in colour of the sky, as well as the interior space hopefully visible.