Week One | Discernment
It has been a 'good' year for my art. I am more settled at home and my studio opens up possibilities for me. My work is more consistent and I am interacting more with galleries and avenues for my work to be seen. I have made positive and difficult decisions such as enrolling on this MA course that will benefit me greatly long term but comes with sacrifices in the short term.
My ideas are crystallising and I am for the first time beginning to understand what interests me and cautiously I might add why.
In order to deepen my work and peel back the next layer of understanding I feel I need to be more discerning. I have a number of avenues that are connected but distinct and I would like to gain understanding around which ideas have legs and which ideas are extraneous. The key areas of development are:
Mortal remains
Burial sites - particularly around violence, emergent significance of an ordinary place after a violent event
How remains might be stored or remembered - vessels, urns (much more research required)
Why remains are significant at all - religious
Drawings
Scrubbed out places
Deleted layers
Personal mark making
Personal ancestry
I feel more interested in drawing than painting currently
One possibility is that painting has become 'easy' and therefore scary. Review.
Avoidance behaviour - starting something new to avoid the important things I should be doing (preparing for shows etc)
Lights and glowing
Returning theme for me
Glowing
Nocturnes, lights in the dark
Glow in the dark lights - 'Astral', 'Black and Blue' and newer series of slightly eerie forest drawings with glow in the dark almost fairy lights. Concerned it might seem gimmicky.
Very attracted to fairy lights...
Sleeping with the enemy imagery - orientation with this one knocked out street lamp
Nightswimming paintings
Religious associations feel uncomfortable
Symbolism of the night and death feels obvious yet substantial.