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Artist Statement

Conceptual visual art and how we perceive it through the use of installations/sculpture to performance to painting. I like to work with a variety of mediums as new discoveries are what excite me about making art - using found/random objects with an experimental approach in my practice, I’m finding new ways of working and showing a visual insight into our distorted lives and reality, overcoming negative emotions and putting them into something positive - creating. I like to challenge stereotypes regarding gender norms and mental health as well as traditional processes and find new and exciting ways to find what really makes me tick when producing work. The venture is still on going and I’m trying to better myself everyday through exploration , discovery and experimentation, which I feel can sometimes lead to the most interesting works without us truly realising.

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FINAL 10 IMAGES

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As part of the module submission I attended an online talk in America to hear artist Celina Eceiza and Klaire Lockheart speak about their work, installations, methods and working process which I took notes from. It was a great experience to be united from all over the world on zoom.

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Time-based Video Edit Final Outcome.

For this video edit I wanted to use the opportunity to use the skills and knowledge learned from Dougie's sound/audio performance workshop, everyday noises and some unusual, layering every sound on top of one another using the software suggested to us (Audacity & BAE) to create an unsettling atmosphere, perhaps a video that would make the viewer feel uncomfortable, matching the emotions reflected in the piece by myself. A stark clash of noises giving an eerie, atonal sounding track - to a chaotic series of time-lapses. No melody or rhythm, just random and left to chance once the audio clips were merged together. I again wanted to emphasise this constant recurring theme of life being interrupted by colour and therefore I edited the video to display various different forms and sizes of a circle - concealing and revealing parts of the hanging 3D circle sculpture that I included within the video as they carry a similar message and thought it would be interesting to see how I can manipulate the way in which the installation looked.

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Looking at Glasgow artist Gregor Wright for inspiration, his work revolves around recurring themes such as of chance, fantasy and philosophy of the mind. He focuses on experimentation, as do I, and uses this to explore the relation between objects and the colour relationship. His work also usually consists of abstract marks combined with their colour and space. I feel that I can relate to him as I work in a very similar way and was instantly attracted to his work and process. Using luck and chance to determine the look of an artwork - a concept I too explored and would like to explore further.

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Digital manipulations made from drawings, inspiration for video.

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Another final 3D outcome. Using scrap materials (cables ties, rubber bands, bubble wrap, pens, duct tape and embroidery thread) to make a hanging circle that symbolises the idea of a constant loop, a life cycle, a world of no reality, a world of confusion. A spiral metal structure formed into a circle and distorted bubble wrap faces attached uses cable ties. I always want to convey the feelings and emotions that I feel at the time into the piece that I'm making. Reflecting how I feel in my work is a great opportunity to not get to in my head about how I want something to look and simply create, portraying my insecurities, alienation, being trapped in the unknown. Exploring the isolation and alienation of constant repetition and how our emotions are unpredictable, having the same daily routine day in and out and turning this into something positive through my extensive research and processes throughout P&E.

Close Ups

one of my favourite faces from the bunch.

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Bubblewrap before manipulation

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Process photographs taken between stages of making. Drawing on bubble wrap proved incredibly difficult - these drawings were done blind because I wanted to continue to develop this idea of feeling left in the dark, the movement of the bubble wrap when drawing only added to the distortion I wanted to create within the faces which I was pleased with.

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Time-lapse of making pieces for another 3D outcome - reinitiating the previous concept from my bubble wrap prints, when working with it I knew that I wanted to take it forward as a material to use for my final outcome and I wanted to use materials already available to me. Manipulating it's form using coloured rubber bands and cable ties to recreate face-like structures, warped and distorted, like the reality that I have been enduring through visualising surroundings in a new perspective, focusing on architectural structures, lines, forms, patterns. An affinity for repetition, is this because I'm finding something familiar in the unfamiliar?

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I used this piece as an opportunity to leave it's fate up to the unpredictability of the outdoors, (sneak preview of the next part of the 3D outcome) this being the reason for them being photographed outside as I wanted to leave them over the period of a few days and see what changes occurred, has it added anything to the piece? some of the ceramic pieces eventually gave way from the foam tape and fell to the concrete below, breaking them. Taking one object and turning it into multiples through chance and unpredictability, could the shattered clay convey this alienated feeling of chaos and confusion that I've been trying to develop all along?

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Part 1 of final 3D outcomes, pained and 'installed' onto brick wall uses double sided foam tape (not very sturdy right? That's the point) . I wanted to be able to create a stark contrast here between the bold lines of the wall in the background against the bold, vivid spherical shapes. Emphasising this distorted reality viewed from the alienated stranger, comparing reality and fantasy - interrupted by colour. This is something that has fascinated me through this whole process, the idea of layering over and over, focusing on distortion and uses colour to interrupt spaces, in this case, the space being the 'mundane' brick wall.

Playing with exposure.

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Circular clay mould structures for part of my 3D final installation/outcome. Improvising on original plans of firing and glazing due to Covid restrictions by using air drying clay. I left the shapes to dry until leather-hard and proceeded to leave impressions of parts of the body: nose, teeth, lips, hand etc on the clay and experimenting with their placement/composition and then they will be painted using acrylics. I enjoy the challenge of adapting to new circumstances - not everything goes to plan so it's always good to have a plan B!

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FINAL 2D OUTCOME - mixed media collage with acrylics on canvas and varnished.

I wanted to create an 'immersive space' within a painting. Again continuing the idea of the body being a precious material, repetitive prints to create a variety of marks - mark making and experimentation helped me to convey the idea of randomness and chaos through the layering of various elements in the design. Using solid and transparent circles as a main focus of the piece to emphasise this idea of me being a stranger 'trapped' in this unknown world (the way I have been with Visual Language, but looking at evolution and unpredictability through the eyes of a stranger for Process & Enquiry. As well as the face and body prints, looking at myself through a distorted lens, who am I? I wanted the piece to be explored, it is intentional that all these layers (taking it back to palimpsest) are hard to read, I wanted to convey the confusion that I felt as this stranger.

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More body prints, using the body as a material - personal touch, personal space. Exploring how the body evolves, unpredictability of prints made by the body.

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Developing ideas and images for my final 2D submission. Using the body as a material to make marks with, capturing the essence of what we recognise to be body parts, experimenting with quantity and composition to turn what we already know upside down. Connotations of entrapment, isolation, alienation, confusion and chaos. What are the words you'd use to describe a place you don't even know? something that has stuck with me since the beginning, intertwining both modules.

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Using Styrofoam sheets to use as a base for a series of monoprints. Power of multiples and similarities, linked and disconnected. Running theme through P&E + VL. With these prints I really wanted to convey this sense of the unknown, through the continued exploration of circular forms and their colour.

Ghost prints from remaining ink on the styrofoam.