Exhibition opening this weekend

The new exhibition, celebrating the first birthday of Camden Image Gallery, opens at the weekend, and above is one of the new pieces I'll be exhibiting. It's been a few months since I last exhibited, as I've had a lot of other things to focus on, so I'm looking forward to showing work again.

Camden Image Gallery has been very significant for me over the past year. The managing director is one of my close friends, and I've made many new friends through the gallery too. I remember, over a year ago, the first time I saw it before it was open to the public, and the way that it has grown over the last year is inspiring. Elena works extraordinarily hard, and I'm very proud to be associated with this gallery.

I'm really excited about the new pieces - I was intending to keep these drawings in charcoal only until I was asked to be part of this exhibition, but I feel that using colour has also been really effective. I love how streaks of vibrant colour come through in certain places, and I love the build up of layers, as in my paintings. One thing I'm really enjoying is the freedom to make mistakes and blur them again, and being flexible with how I build up layers. I'm really thinking of this body of work as experimentation, and maybe that is aiding my process.

Something I've really picked up on in these drawings is the texture that can be developed from constantly screwing up paper and drawing more layers. In the image above in particular, the final layers of pastel look like tracings of texture, and this is something I'm very keen on. I'm now even more enthusiastic about working on paper for a while, and drawing rather than painting. I have an idea for a large and intricate piece of work, totally different to previous pieces, that I plan to work on when I get back to Sweden next month, and now plan to incorporate colour into this piece, as well as monochrome charcoal drawings. 

My recent work, as well as being pieces in their own right, has also been serving as preparatory work for the new idea, and it has really inspired me. I've learned a lot about which types of paper work best, and the different results that different papers can yield. I've now been working with the theme of weathering for just over two years, and it's amazing how the idea has grown and developed in that time. Using paper allows for lots of new possibilities, and I want to keep working with this.

This exhibition is also significant, because it is likely to be my last exhibition in London for a while. On 2nd January I am going back to Sweden, and this time should be staying for the foreseeable future. I'm looking forward to producing more work, and exhibiting in a new country.

Upcoming exhibition

I've been working on new drawings, and I'm happy to say that I'll be exhibiting some of my new work at Camden Image Gallery next month as part of the gallery's first birthday exhibition. It's really nice that my work was included in the very first exhibition at this gallery, and will now be part of a show exactly one year later.

The theme for this new show is colour, which suits my work perfectly. I'm not really keen to exhibit older work, so I'm starting some similar drawings of body parts in coloured chalk. I plan to build up layers using a variety of colours, to create rich and vibrant pieces. Using a number of colours rather than working exclusively with black charcoal will hopefully create a broad range of effects. I really love smudging and building up layers with charcoal, and I hope that this proves as effective as it has with charcoal. I'm excited to exhibit my new work as it's been a change in direction for me, and one that I find I'm really enjoying working with. 

I've been experimenting with a number of different papers, and I've enjoyed seeing the strengths and weaknesses with each. Currently I'm particularly enjoying working with a thick handmade textured paper. The pieces become textured anyway in the process of weathering, and using a surface that already has some texture adds to this effect. 

The Camden Image Gallery show is open to the public between 7th and 11th December, 12-7pm daily.

Exciting new work

After a bit of a hiatus I'm getting back into really focusing on producing work, and there's been a bit of a change of direction for me too, which is very refreshing. I've been distracted by other things in my life over the past few months, but this work feels really fresh to me, and has really helped to rejuvenate my motivation.

Recently I've become more interested in drawing than in painting, and this is what I want to concentrate on for now - to the point that I left my paint and brushes in storage in Stockholm! A few months ago I worked on some smudged and layered charcoal drawings, really enjoyed this, and felt that this was something I'd like to take further. As I'm currently between England and Sweden as well, it seems logical to make work that can be moved around more easily than large canvasses. Further to this, rather than concentrating on images of faces, I'm experimenting with drawing body parts, just to bring something new into my work.

Weathering is still of interest to me, and using paper rather than canvas allows me to explore this theme in a new way. I've been weathering the drawings using various combinations of screwing up the paper, and getting it wet, building up layers of charcoal. I particular like screwing up the paper before drawing, as the textured surface guides the drawing in some ways. I really enjoy working with charcoal and getting quite messy - I see the smudges and shadows in these drawings as a positive, something to build up texture and layering within the drawing. Fixing the images at different stages also contributes to the effect. 

I'm planning to experiment with different types of paper, and keen to also try scratching or scrubbing the image once I have some stronger paper or thin card. I'd also like to experiment with drawing and sewing whilst the paper is still a bit damp - this isn't really possible with the brown paper I'm currently using because it's very thin and fragile, especially when wet.

Embroidery is still important in the work, and I've been using embroidery as a means of repair, not using it to embellish the imagery in these pieces. To contrast with the smudged, dark charcoal, I'm intentionally using embroidery thread in bright, vibrant colours. I'm full of enthusiasm about this new body of work - it's a departure from my previous work, and feels like it's something a bit new for me. 

Although these pieces can stand up for themselves, they're also preparation for a new work I have in mind, which is very different to anything I've produced before, and which I also feel very excited about. I'm still thinking it through now, but I feel like it could be something quite special. 

I've received a really positive response to these pieces so far, and I'm really in the right frame of mind to keep working on these ideas. I think I needed something new to really grab me and make me throw myself back into my work, and this idea is really working for me now. I think this body of work has relevance to work I've produced previously, but is still bringing in a new angle.

Current Works in Progress

 I'm really happy with how the fibre piece is developing. It's been outside for about a week now and is quickly becoming stained. I really wasn't sure what to expect from this piece, as it's brand new for me, but I'm liking the progress so far. I wasn't expecting the pigment from the thread to bleed onto the fabric in some places, as the embroidery has always come after the weathering process, so this is really interesting.
The fabric has become stained quickly, and as this piece has so  much negative space I really want to push this as far as possible, and make the surface as discoloured as it can be. I think this piece could

potentially be really impressive, so although I initially hoped that this piece would be finished quite quickly, I'm happy to wait to make sure this piece really makes an impact.
Today I've also completed a new shredded piece. I was really happy with the small scale experiment I made in this way before going to Iceland, so I've been keen to re purpose larger canvasses that I was unhappy with. This piece had already been embroidered, and the loose embroidery threads look great with the shredded strips on canvas, it makes the work much more intense. I have another canvas I want to alter in this way, and I love reworking something I was unhappy with into something I'm pleased to show.

Two more finished pieces and an exhibition!

 I'm pleased to say that yesterday was a really productive day for me, and I completed two pieces. The first is a new experiment on paper, which was placed outside whilst the paint was still wet, and I love how gravel has stuck onto the paper as a result. This piece weathered quickly, and needed to be fixed up with embroidery, and I'm very pleased with the outcome.
The director of my residency has invited residents to participate in an exchange exhibition with some artists in New York, the theme being the idea of a faraway place, and the work being a letter to the viewer. I think this piece would be ideal, as it literally contains a small part of Skagastrond, so I plan to leave it with her before I go back to London on 29th September. This particular exhibition is still a work in progress, so more details to follow.
Yesterday I also finished the second canvas I was working on, the same one I needed to retrieve from the cliffs in the morning. When I looked at it more closely it had become scratched from being dragged along the rocks, and the paint also has some fine cracks

in it. The weathering in this particular piece is more subtle than in the first canvas I completed, but I'm still happy with it. I wanted to the outcomes to be different for each canvas, and I think the subtle effects in this piece contrast well with the bolder first canvas.
This means that I have one canvas left to work on, and I hope to work on that tomorrow. At least by now I'm much more aware of the problems that working in this manner can bring, and I'm more prepared. I feel optimistic.
I'm also still working on some small experiments on paper, wood and foam board, to see if and how the results differ from my work on canvas.
I'm also happy to confirm an upcoming exhibition at Vibe Gallery in London from 25th - 29th October. Details can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/events/1416556288571477/?fref=ts

Pre-residency Experiment

Prior to my residency, I've tried out natural weathering on paper, as I hoped that paper might react to the elements more than canvas did. This piece has been on my balcony for quite some time now, and I'm impressed with the result. There was a massive downpour yesterday, and the paper was completely soaked. Over the past couple of months the paper has been rained on and dried out on several occasions, which has affected the shape of the sheet, I'm pleased with this result. As it rained quite soon after I first put the piece outside, some yellow ink has spread slightly.
Unfortunately the results have still not been overwhelming, as the weather conditions in London just art extreme enough. I'm hoping this will be the fundamental difference that will make my work on this theme more successful in Iceland. The first thing I intend to do is to place several abstract pieces on paper, very similar to this one, in various locations around the village I'll be staying in. It's a good starting point, which will allow me to gauge both where the best locations are for weathering the work, and also to ascertain quite quickly how the weather is going to affect my work, and how successful I'm likely to be in my endeavours.
I'm really ready to go now, and can't wait to start working. I've been writing a lot more recently, plus it's difficult to paint when I've sent my paintbrushes to Iceland, so I'm really excited to get back to painting and drawing.

New experimental work

I was really inspired yesterday by some work I saw by Rosy Keyser at Zabludowicz Collection, and was really keen to work as soon as I got back home. This piece is completely different to anything I've done previously, and it was very refreshing to experiment with something new.
I was also inspired by other work I saw in the show, of contemporary, progressive painting, and started off with a small canvas that hadn't quite worked out previously. It's just been sitting around, so it was really good to re-purpose it. I built up a lot of layers of blue, black, and white ink, and once it had dried started with my usual approach of deliberately weathering the canvas.
I wanted the canvas to be really shredded, and my usual method just wasn't harsh enough on the surface, so I took to ripping and splitting the surface in as many places as possible, and then putting it back together in a new way.
Since I started working with the idea of damaging the canvas, I've become more and more interested in affecting the shape and physicality of the canvas. I don't think this particular idea would work for a portrait, as the image would end up completely unreadable, but this was a really fun experiment for an abstract piece, and is something I'd definitely be keen to try again.

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.

Finished weathered work

 

The weathered piece is finally finished!
It's been a frustrating process at times, but I'm happy to have finally finished it, and I'm happy with the results. I'm planning a similar piece, and I think it's likely to get done more quickly seeing as it's now autumn and the weather should be more tempestuous than it was in early September when I started this.
In this piece I've also used embroidery to pick out some of the background colour blocks, as I like some of the strong shapes there. I'm also really happy with the intensity coming from the hanging threads being concentrated in a particular area.
This concept is definitely something I want to push further and experiment more with. I'm hoping to exhibit this, and others works made in this way, early next year.

Today I'm planning to get started on a second piece in this style. However, there will be a couple of differences. To push the idea of being weathered and damaged by life experiences a bit further, the next piece will be a portrait of myself as a child. My mother has kindly sent me some photos to work with.
Additionally I'm going to move away from using continuous line drawings. Instead I'm planning to use drawings inspired by Frank Auerbach. I saw his show at Marlborough on Friday, and found it really inspirational. Since then I've been experimenting with some sketches in his style. I'm planning to build layering up in the work with sketches in charcoal and chalk, and I'm interested to see how this will be affected by natural weathering, even after being fixed.

New work to end this

I'm getting started on a new piece, which will be the final part of my body of work on my time in Finland. I've really enjoyed making this body of work, and I'm proud of what I've done, but I feel like it's time to move on. When I started this work the experience was really fresh for me, but now six months have passed and other concerns have come up for me which I'd like to work with.
Recently my work has become concerned with human experience, not just relationships, and I think the new piece is more reflective of this. I'm very interested in language, and whilst I was away I was very keen to learn and speak as much Finnish as possible. Even now I still try to keep practising with it. In London it's very normal to hear foreign languages around you, so I didn't find it too daunting to be surrounded by the Finnish language. Finnish is such a minority language that few people are familiar with it, so I thought it would be really interesting to confront my audience with it, allowing them to share my experience of being surrounded by it. I think it will be easy for an audience to relate to this piece, as viewers have likely had the same experience whilst on holiday abroad, or may have lived abroad themselves.
I've chosen to embroider a variety of stereotypical English phrases and concepts, translated into Finnish. The image is of a trial piece I did yesterday, reading "cup of tea". I'll provide a handwritten board with translations, otherwise no one will get the joke of the two cultures being mashed together, unless a Finnish speaker happens to see the work.
For this piece I'm using a style more reflective of handwriting than the block capitals I used previously. This adds to the human element.
I think my exhibition will provide a strong feel of my Finnish experience, and I'm very glad that I'm able to share this with others.
Additionally, I'm currently applying for an artist's residency in Turku for Autumn 2013. I might be back sooner than I think!

Pushing it

I realise that my work could be considered to be formulaic, as I have quite a systematical approach to the work I'm currently doing. I don't want things to get boring, or have all the pieces looking too similar, so I'm trying to push one element each time I work, meaning that each painting has more individuality.
In the piece I was working on last week, I used more embroidery than I have in others. In my next piece I'm thinking of adding a continuous line drawing made with wool, as an extra layer between the background and the painted face. Today I was painting a new work, and rather than layering one drawing and one block of text over the painted motif, I repeated each layer twice. Below is a photo of the piece so far. I still need to embroider the canvas to bring the face back through, as the marker pen layers dominate it.


That being said, I'm happy with this so far. I'm actually quite impressed with what I accomplished today. I really wasn't feeling in the mood, but one of my friends suggested that I just get started and see how it goes. I ended up finishing the bulk of the painting. The background was the only part I'd already done, and all that's left now is the embroidery layer.