Saturday 26 January 2013

Productive Saturday

I've had a productive day, and feel really pleased with what I've got done so far. I've written some more, and feel very happy with how the book is progressing. I also spent some times yesterday reordering the texts I've written, in order to make the writing more cohesive overall.
I've also experimented with throwing and kicking a blank canvas in order to deliberately weather and damage it. This was in preparation for the next piece I'm planning, and I thought the effects were great. The canvas was very obviously damaged, and even the frame was slightly broken in some places. This is in contrast to the pieces that are naturally weathered, as the effects of this are quite subtle. I think this will make a really interesting contrast when the two are shown alongside each other.
I think I'm going to embroider onto this canvas so it's not so plain. I'm interested in using embroidery as a means of repair with the final canvas.
Further to all of this, I've also finally finished the piece I've been weathering. I'm pleased that the snow has actually had an effect, and seems to have weakened the canvas in places. There is a small patch at the bottom of the canvas that has become a bit frayed. I'm quite pleased with this, as with previous pieces they haven't physically been altered, and the surface becoming dirtied is the only effect.
I'm really happy with what I'm doing at the moment, and now we just need to look further into finding a new venue for our exhibition, which really hasn't been a smooth process unfortunately. At least the experiences we've had organising this exhibition have been a big learning experience. We're both looking into alternative options, so I hope that we'll be able to arrange something sooner rather than later.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Progression of current work

London is currently covered in snow, and as much as I dislike snow this is obviously very exciting for the work I'm weathering. From the time this idea was conceived, I've wanted some extreme conditions to come into play, and I'm glad that this has now happened.
I'm really excited to see how the piece is affected by the snow, but unfortunately there isn't any sign of the snow stopping, so I might have to wait a while.
Last night, when I came home at about 2am, the snow was melting, so I was hopeful that the piece could maybe be finished today. However, it was snowing when I woke up, and hasn't stopped all day, so I expect to be waiting a while longer. This piece might give me an idea of what to expect from weathering my work in Iceland. Although I'm a bit impatient I'll be waiting for the snow to fully melt on the canvas, as I don't want to interrupt the process at all.

I have another exciting project going on at the same time as this. I've started writing a book, based on my experiences and feelings as a young emerging artist. The book is in the format of a series of essays on a variety of themes, including art galleries, day jobs, and money, and also incorporates some elements of philosophy and art theory. I have almost 6,000 words so far, and I'm pleased with the progress I'm making. I'm aiming for a minimum of 50,000 words, so there's still a long way to go yer. I've made numerous attempts at writing books in the past, none of which have reached their end, but I do feel that this is an endeavour I can stick with.

Saturday 5 January 2013

Upcoming projects

Lots happening at the moment, both positive and negative.

Sadly our exhibition has been postponed, due to the gallery shutting down. It's really unfortunate but we've found a new location, and are expecting to hold the show in February instead. More details to come.
The much more positive, and exciting, thing is that I've now confirmed my place at Nes Artist Residency in Iceland, starting in September. The more I think about and plan this, the more exciting it becomes. I'm really pleased to be going there, and I hope that it will be very beneficial for my work and career.
In terms of my work, I'm going to experiment with a slightly new direction, and at least pushing back the exhibition gives me a chance to do so immediately. Rather than allowing my work to become weathered naturally I'm planning to experiment with throwing my canvas around and forcibly damaging it. This fits with the theme of being weathered by life experiences, but makes reference more to the effect that other individuals have upon you, and the direct impact of their behaviour and treatment to the self. I'm going to try this with my next piece, which should be exhibited alongside the two naturally weathered canvasses. As I'm planning to work with the natural weathering concept when I'm working in Iceland I think it's a positive to try other ideas out in the meantime, in order to keep this idea fresh and interesting to me.