Week Eleven | Ruination
Although my work for the MA exhibition in March is focussed on drawing I have been working on my studio, painting it and getting it cleared up for a new year of making. I have also been painting and working towards a body of work for galleries and the subject of Ruination has bled over from my drawing practice into my painting practice. I have been keeping my painting going in the studio and have been drawing at home, largely because of the Drawing Room classes I have been running but it’s showing me that there is a divide - not just physically - in how I approach the two kinds of work. I wonder if I should allow for a more fluid interaction of the work, as I think it might end up being painting for galleries in one camp and drawing plus MA in another camp. I feel it would be more natural to engineer a return to one practice and I will have to figure out how to get materials back and forth regularly.
I reflected in a previous blog post about how I feel a bit ‘up in my head’ about my practice and that a return to a process driven approach might lead to less resistance and fewer road blocks. This has been very evident as I have been exploring paint and ruination with some very beautiful textures emerging here. I am really enjoying the sensory aspects of this kind of painting and I have been leaning heavily on inspiration from Japanese boro and ruined textiles.
Process ideas for looking at Ruination
Sanding - I have been sanding my work for a long time using a small orbital sander and it was probably the tool that originally lead me down this line of enquiry. I will continue to explore hand sanding and orbital sanding
Bleaching - I haven’t resolved any bleach drawings yet but I continue to find it interesting. Alexis Soul-Gray’s use of bleach and oil paint intrigue me and her subject is grief as well. Her imagery is haunting, familiar and deeply poignant. My bleach drawings so far have been clumsy but I think there is
Washing - at CASS I experimented extensively with washing textiles from calico, muslin, canvas to jute and paper with varying degrees of success. The imagery of washed out paint and drawing looks beautiful but I wasn’t far enough along with my ideas to make it work. I will definitely continue with this.
Dyeing - obliterating previous drawings and work by drenching it all in inks or dyes such as indigo. My large indigo banner work at CASS began the idea of dyeing large pieces of fabric which can be seen here, but I am now wondering about dyeing existing drawings or work.
Painting over - this is something I do anyway and white washing is relevant but less interesting at this point.
Burying - I made a weak attempt at burying some drawings just before starting the MA but it didn’t work and I wasn’t sure why I was doing it. Possibly worth revisiting. Symbolism might be a bit obvious as well.
Burning - I would like to return to my pyrographic pen and consider burnt drawings, which I began when the Ukraine war began here and here and here. I like how these just came out spontaneously as the news of the outbreak of war unfolded. The dots and lines look like footprints in the snow as we saw images of people fleeing. This is an area I feel is greatly interesting to me and I would like to revisit it. Autodestructive art does not interest me and I covered this quite a bit with tutors at CASS.
Painted ruination - simply creating layers that create imagery that speak to ruination. I have been doing this for a long time. Images below of these explorations this week and may be seen here too.
Tasks for this week:
Complete my own Ruination essay
Continue with Ruination theme and exploring ruination processes
Start the large drawing
Continue with reading list - it has fallen behind! This essay titled Ruins of the Anthropocene: The Aesthetics of Arctic Climate Change. is key to me this week.
These images above and the video below capture details in paintings that speak to me of a Ruination aesthetic. I am reflecting on the beauty of ruined spaces, marks, walls, impermanence and endurance.