When set these blog tasks I was initially fine with the ones being set but however a few weeks in I started feeling a bit overwhelmed with the adjustment to university life and other projects that required my attention. But despite the feeling of being overwhelmed I feel like this format has been very useful. If I were to do a similar format next time I would appreciate the bite-sized chunks of work set. I would have to be a bit better at time management. This work has also has gotten me to think in perhaps a more academic way when interpreting art. The work set and lectures have also given me valuable information about the history and politics of art.

I feel like generally my blog is a bit chaotic with some tasks better written than others.

A reflection and interpretation of how I view the world.

I find it hard to sum up my art in so little worlds as I dabble in a few different things in this point of time. I am still trying to figure out what my art is all about but I know it’s from an emotional place.

With this particular art, I’ve chosen it’s the more illustration and painting side of things that I do. This piece was experimental using a photo I had taken near to where I was living.

I chose these words since the majority of my art is quite often interpretations of situations I’m in, facing or reflecting upon. I then give my work a narrative and quite often use the same ghostly figure give my work some life. I draw inspiration from music, anime and video games. I enjoy using various gritty surreal and abstract imagery and bold colours.

So I decided to choose a fashion editorial which I think about fairly often. There’s a girl in very regal clothing lying on the floor next to a 90’s-early 2000’s TV which has an anime girl on it. This image is a particular favourite of mine since in essence it’s a couple of my main interests – fashion and anime. Also, it’s not overly kitsch and sickly like a lot of western fashion with anime things are. I already had this image printed off for one of the drawing workshops and it never got used so I decided to use it. This was all very impulsive and I didn’t plan it at all. I used left over acrylic paint from something else I had been using and painted over the background. One I had painted over the background I placed some cutesy bear stickers near the girl. Then I decided to use some wedding stickers which I bought in the local art shop on it to make it look sparkly. I’ve really wanted to use stickers more in my work and this was a good opportunity to do so. Next I used a 6b graphite pencil to fill in the empty spaces and give shading which I’ve been using in my work recently since I like the effect of it. Once I did that I stuck some red heart stickers on the piece and tore some of them in half. After that I cut the image out and stuck it on some black paper using some “Sailor Moon” cellotape!

This was a really fun experiment for me because I try to never appropriate images since I very much like to use my own photographs, drawings etc. I’d like to try this out more in the future though.

To invent a new personal studio mode of practice I would have to take into account that I like to use lots of different mediums. At this point in time I like using the following or can see myself going to use:

Embroidery

String/Textile sculptures

Painting (acrylic/oil)

Collage

Floral/natural arranging

Illustration with markers and pencil

Digital Art

Creative Writing

Creative Makeup/Costume

Photography/Film

If I had my own ideal studio it would have to be a large-ish size but manageable. With enough wall space for hanging my own work up or taking photos. Preferably in my own house/flat or very nearby to where I live as I get most inspired during the late evenings. Ideally the studio would have to have a lot of light so I can see my work properly and take well-lit photos or film. I would have a lot of various reference/inspirational images stuck on the wall(s). I would have one desk for textile work and a shelf unit where I can easily see all my materials (as they’re currently all just in boxes where I can’t see them). I would have a desk for painting and have all my paints laid out neatly. If I could I would have the desk very near a sink so I could clean up my brushes, etc. quickly. I would have to have a big sink! If I could afford it I would have a decent sized fridge for flowers/etc. I think I would have a main desk where I keep my illustration supplies, computer and tablet. This would be either by or near where I’d keep my inspirational images. There would be a dressing table with makeup supplies and a wardrobe with costume. There would overall be lots of storage space to put various supplies in.

Ideally, I would like to have access to a lot of things to grow as an artist. That’s why I can’t suggest a specific thing.

Early this year I went to see the Queer Art Exhibition at the Tate Britain and one of the pieces they had there was Francis Bacon’s “Seated Figure”. I was aware of this piece already before attending the exhibition, however seeing it in real life was quite an experience. When I saw it I found it deeply unsettling and it is not too often that seeing an art piece makes me feel something. I won’t go into too much detail but it brings up some not so happy memories. It also remind me of some nightmares I had as a kid where there would be a mysterious silhouette of a man sitting in a chair in a shadowy room. Another interesting point to pick out is the colours of this painting are colours I gravitate to in my own work.

I think there is a huge value in seeing work in the flesh because a photo of a painting for example could miss some very important details which are essential to the piece. When I googled “Seated Figure” for this task, there was colour and quality variations which ruin the overall feel of the original piece. A photo can only capture so much!

Late last year I went with a friend to Jeff Koons’ exhibition in London. I am not particularly a fan of his work but I was interested in seeing it nonetheless (plus it was free!). When I got there one of the first things I saw was one of his balloon sculptures.

 Since it was a year ago I had to rack my brain a bit to remember everything, but I think after this there was another room with his sculptures. I get the appeal of them aesthetically but other than that I don’t really find them that interesting. In the following room I was a bit startled because I had no idea he had done pornographic art which I found was a huge contrast from his very light-hearted sculptures. I did not really stop to look at that work too much and continued on to the rest of the gallery.

My favourite piece of this exhibition was a huge play-dough like sculpture which I think was made out of something more durable. I really wanted to reach out and touch it but obviously I couldn’t.

 We went through this exhibition quite quickly and I think it was overall very nice for spending a half an hour in.

The image I have chosen for this task is Renée Cox’s photograph “Hot-en-tot Venus” 1994. In this image, the artist herself poses with a prosthetic breastplate and bottom.

The artist in an interview states that the subject of this image is based on an actual person called Saartje “Sarah” Baartman also known as Hottentot Venus. Born in South Africa but then brought to Europe at the late 1800’s and became a prostitute and was ridiculed. The artist uses this history to create this image is about the media’s portrayal of black women and how it tends to be in a negative yet sexualized way, which was and now extremely relevant. Through posing in this way with the prosthetics the artist is celebrating her own identity.

Renee Cox is a Jamaican-American artist. She explores self-love to self-empower after the what has happened to black people in the past and present. She is noted for her contributions to the Feminist Art Movement in the United States.

In this photo I feel the artist looks determined and powerful with her facial expression and stance. I feel the use of no colour makes an important statement because it gives a more serious tone.

Temple.edu. (2017). Deborah Willis: Black Venus 2010. [online] Available at: http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1440_reg.html [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

“Taste is a tender subject. What really fascinates me about the topic of aesthetic taste is that people really care.”

For this task, I’ve chosen “The Vanity of Small Differences” by the artist Grayson Perry. This book is about Grayson Perry’s series of tapestries which encapsulate British class culture and the meaning of taste.

The book starts off with a foreword about the context of the book and a bit about the artist himself. He describes his background and how his work is a social commentary about British culture. And then since the book is about some tapestry pieces he created he then proceeds to give a history and context about them and how he personally feels about them. He also describes his inspirations.

Then there’s a section by Suzanne Moore – she gives her thoughts about the subjects’ meanings from her personal point of view, recounting experiences.

The next couple of sections are snippets of information about the artist’s research and sketchbook work. After that is pictures of the final pieces themselves.

The final part of the book gives more information about how the tapestries were made and the process of it.

Steinberg, L. From other Criteria. Pg. 948-953

 Published in 1972, people were craving change culturally and politically, presumably accepting Steinberg’s writing with open arms because of this. His forward thinking, progressive tone discusses how art is changing, along with the way in which onlookers receive Modern and Contemporary art, controversially stating that the work of artists in the Renaissance period is ‘flat’.

Serra, R. From the Yale Lecture. Pg. 1124-1127

Richard Serra discusses materials and their properties in the world of sculpture. To Serra, location and materials matter. This contradicts the ideas of Steinberg regarding the way in which the audience sees the work, as opposed to what physical matter the audience sees. Common in both texts is the sense that society was not yet undisturbed by the content of the artists’ work. There was still an uncertainty from the onlookers because a level of shock was provoked.

HARRISON, C. and WOOD, P. (1992) ART IN THEORY 1900-1990 An Anthology of Changing Ideas: Blackwell Publishers