The Development of my Practice – Artist Statement 

This year my work has developed in several ways; often paths pointing in opposite directions. Through material investigation I have found successful ways of overlaying paint, expanding the use of water colour, and combining elements of my practice together, which previously would have been kept separate (such as collage, sculpture, painting and jewellery making).  I have begun delving deeper into the language of my work, being more expressive in my marks and learning to allow the work to make its own mistakes. A big change for me on the course has been the shift from an inherent desire to make work that is liked by an audience, to making things out of the language of curiosity. Researching Barbara Hepworth instilled this sense of concern, and patience when exploring – not trying to get too ahead of myself and listening to the work at different times of day, situated in different environments.   

Other artists who have pushed my practice forward this year have been Eva Rothschild, Ron Nagle, Hilma af Klint, John Hoyland, Edward Gorey, Louise Nevelson, Emma Hart, and Tai Shani. 

I have explored Ron Nagle and Tai Shani in more depth above.

And I have explored John Hoyland through the ‘painting makes you lose control’ module; which is referenced in the visual language of my binoculars.  

Edward Gorey, the illustrator of the original Dracula, is a fantastical illustrator who captures emotive language through black and white mark making and storytelling – which has been an inspiration for my drawing module.  

Moving forward in my practice I am going to take further stock in artists such as Shani and Eva Rothschild, in examining the relational language of work through installation.  I am taking focal aspects of Hilma af Klint and then building them in a Nagle way, by testing, trialing small elements together.  In her 60’s Klint did a huge water colour collection of flowers, from scientific to abstract roses – these are some of her most experimental works, compared with ‘The Largest 10’ series.  

I am going to include my left hand into the making process more – as when I use both hands, I have noticed it takes the pressure off the ingrained habits of my right hand – If I alternate between hands then it is much easier to avoid over correcting or focusing on the wrong bits.  This year I developed a reputation for killing my darlings, which has been fun – however I have learned that often the pleasing elements of finished works are the simple ones, not the ones that I’ve killed.  

Working with children has been extremely important to my practice, however going forward into second year I aim to focus on the strength within my work so that I can grow as an artist, I will not be focusing on children’s art, performance or workshops.  

In our test bed, I enjoyed playing around with the roles of smaller works, placing them above the larger works, and combining them together to give them a different meaning.

While exploring ways to engage with the space for assessment, I have understood which work is complete and which is still in progress.