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With all this put in to context of the final major project I am spoilt for choice. I currently have such a range of ideas I would like to explore and continue with my experimentation. From using silkscreen like Rauchnberg or Cumberland, a figurative element like Saville or Bratsch, further abstraction like Bielik and Alice Browne to using with lighting like Das Institut. As I said before my work thus far has been personal in the sense I am merely experimenting to see what does or does nt work. But now I think it is time to find the bigger picture.

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Most recent work 3m by 1.5m  experimenting with scale gesture and different mediums.

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With contextual studies which impact my work I am well aware attending more contemporary galleries would be hugely beneficial. However something I really want to improve on is coming up with my own contextual studies from a piece of graffiti that interests me to a photo of a leaf. It does not matter what it is but if there is something I see which gives me an idea or I like a small part, whatever it is in my work, to record it. Something I am really aware that I am currently not doing. Returning back to Jenny Saville, she has thousands of photos, which to anyone else seem completely random around her studio space, but to her all have a specific mark or idea which she likes. This ability to come up with your own resources is certainly something I hope to progress in, not just rely on art that has already been made.

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Das institut and use of Neon Lights at the Serpentine.

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During the duration workshop a suggestion that changing coloured lights fixated on my work allowing for different colours to be brought forward was suggested. An idea I certainly had never considered. Although it seems insignificant a lot of my work is influenced by fellow students in the studio, not just ‘traditional’ or contemporary artists. Das Institut Exhibition that was in the Serpentine contained a lot of pieces that I have taken inspiration from Kirsten Brätsch and Adele Röder although many of their marks and pieces overlapped with what I am looking to achieve I found the use of lighting around the exhibition most intriguing. Some neon lights around the works, some were incorporated within the works themselves but also flashing imagery made out of lights. This manipulation of light and dark to engage the audience with different aspects is another thing I would like to add to my long list of things to explore

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Grothjan top, Murillo middle, my own attempt at a scratch layered composition with collage.

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Oscar Murillo provides a more scratchy and less ‘finished’ piece. His works seem very experimental and spontaneous. Something I try and do to stop too much thought and time to try and plan at outcome. But Murillo also combines works together to create a display allowing for a greater uncertainty and therefore draws opinions from the viewer which I think is exciting. Mark Grothjan has a similar sense of spontaneity however although this subject of violent animalistic beings his use of building up marks and his use of a wide variety of colours, in contrast to my works which I tend to stick to complementary colours, and text gives a new approach to explore abstraction.

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Stuart Cumberland.

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Chris Wool explore with transparency and opaque as he builds up layers. Something I tried to do in the my work.

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Chris Wool is certainly one of the most influential contemporary artist for me at the moment, building up layers and marks, some being translucent and others strong and opaque giving a strong contrast. Stuart Cumberland for me is not as successful as Christopher Wool despite similarly using layers of differing transparency to build the image. I would like to maybe explore Cumberland’s approach of making a more commercialised and manufactured finish with silt screen and see how that plays along side the looseness and expressiveness of artists like Chris Wool. Similarly explore how letters and text fit in to abstraction along the  lines of Chris Wool’s more text based pieces.

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Some close ups of experimental marks

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With my current work artists such as Chris Wool, Koen Lybaart, Gerhard Richter and the Das Institut show at the Serpentine to name a few, are hugely influential. Their expressive marks and use of colour gives me an ability to pick and choose aspects of works which I lie and try to combine these segments from different artists, and some of my own, to make hopefully an exciting abstract composition.

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Its clear my influences in art are not very contemporary despite trying to work within the contemporary sphere of painting. However my knowledge of artists of mid 20th century I believe to be a foundation, not something to be looked down upon but are more so the starting blocks in which to build a bank of contemporary artists on it. It is certainly true that a greater ban and knowledge of Contemporary artists is something I need to improve on to further contextualise my works. Most notably first had reattach, through visiting small contemporary galleries and not just the giant institutions like the Tate.

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Fiona Rae in front of one of her earlier works, where each mark has a meaning.

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It seems difficult for me in my practice to predict exactly what I will be doing weeks ahead. Collaboration between abstraction and figurative works is a direction I can see I might take but similarly Fiona Rae’s works in which she refers to as ‘channel hopping’ is interesting. Referring to the different sounds of different radio channels, she uses this to give her marks a meaning and purpose. This excites me as currently my works are solely experimental, each mark has no meaning other than a way to learn more about the medium. Therefore like abstraction and figuration I like the concept of associating marks with sound from producers such as Phillip Glass and Steve Reich as a means to contextualise some works.

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Lee Krasner’s ‘The eye is the first circle’