Assignment 2

Reflective Account:

My starting point for Assignment 2 was the ambiguity of colour and the materiality of objects under paint.

I decided to treat my painting as Katherina Grosse might an ‘in situ’ painting. So I’m not going to use colour for shape of form, or as matter, but as a value in itself.

The table is a flat rectangular canvas, so it further nudges this towards being a painting.

My method of working will be like Katherina Grosse’s…making instantaneous decisions in response to the surfaces and then standing back.

Given my lack of woodworking and sculptural skills I’m going to place the wood on the table (I also really like the way the paper underneath the wood works and will add to this).

My idea is to use oil on some of the wood and leave it unpainted to emphasise it’s natural ‘colouring’, and to write the names of the wood to emphasise their materiality.

Firstly, I arranged my 3D canvas:

I then painted my surfaces with thinned oil paints, thinned acrylics and finally a little tube oil and acrylic.

The watered down paints showed the natural patterns underneath but the wood colour de-saturated the pigments. Also the wood is dark and subdued all the colours.

The rippled sycamore veneer was lovely as you could see the colours much better, and it was thin so the light passed through it to backlight the paint.

I think I achieved my aim of making a 3D painting rather than a sculpture, this is not an ‘entity’ it is a painting with many interrelated parts. And even though its surfaces are sculptural you read it like a painting.

I like the use of words as it makes the point that once something’s painted you don’t know what it is. And the naming of the woods also gives them an individual identity and makes us think of the tree.

It has an internal language which gives the painting an edge, even if it is a bit surreal.

The painting needs bright light to activate the colour so the sunshine switches it on and then it begins to explore the ambiguity of colour in an ever changing light display.

I think I could repeat the painting with different materials but next time I’d attach them (to the table or each other) rather than have them resting on the surface.

And I’d put little lights in the painting… white and coloured to bring out my theme about the ambiguity of colour.

Review of work in relation to the assessment criteria:

Technical and visual skills:

I think natural wood was an interesting material to use and I transformed it successfully into a 3D canvas.

My techniques were an exercise in lateral thinking because of my lack of woodworking skills and the strangeness of the surfaces.

This was an conceptual/abstract painting so there were no direct figurative or observational skills as it did not relate to anything we might see in the real world.

However, in pulling together new surfaces, multiple 3D surfaces and working within the constraints of my skills I used all my visual awareness, design and compositional skills. I made this assignment work as a single painting both visually (as a piece of art) and conceptually, in examining the nature of materials and paint in the modern world.

Quality of outcome:

As this is primarily a conceptual piece about surfaces and materials I feel the work was presented in a coherent manner and the ideas were communicated clearly.

It was less effective as an examination of the ambiguity of colour but there is an element in that colour is changed by association to nearby colours and the material it is painted on etc.

Demonstration of creativity:

I think I experimented ‘in the moment’ like Katherina Grosse and found a way through to create a meaningful painting.

It shows a personal voice in the concerns of the piece and choice of materials… I love trees, and the fact wood was a living thing… and the concept of functionality, sameness, materiality and the nature of colour in modern society… as well as packaging (the covering of paint) and content (the wood inside).

Which also relates to message delivery and content in our fast moving visual culture.

I think I showed creativity in using paint to give the painting an internal abstract cohesion (the lines) as well as fulfil its conceptual purpose to examine the materiality of our modern world.

Context:

I think I have done masses of research and critical thinking… perhaps too much?

But this improves and informs my work as much as the act of painting. Painting improves my skills (like a pianist practising scales) but reflection allows me to paint what’s inside me… it writes the songs and gives me the vocal nuances in my painterly voice.

In that way painting becomes a balance between craft skill and understanding.

I feel that when I finish the course I’ll have the rest of my life to build craft skills and will have to paint for money, but now is the time to build concepts and experiment.