Studio Project

This page is where I am exploring and developing my studio project for the Advanced Diploma in Art and Design this semester.

I have to come up with my own brief for my studio project, which is quite a challenge as I have been inclined to think of myself as painter, or drawer, or maker, and these skills have been the driver of my art practice rather than the means to an end.

As I am a student I am interested in exploring ideas and  new ways of using materials.

So far I have come up with the following 'ideas' (not concepts yet!)

1. Oil pastel drawing from a photograph of myself and my sister with our great aunt. I think the donkey head reflects a sense of being a bit odd man out 'ish', less attractive and talented than everyone else. Slightly subversive portraiture attracts me too, as well as the narrative aspect of a picture like this which invites 'reading'.

Wow, just found this Paula Rego etching!

'Him' by Paula Rego (etching)

2. I took some photos of this acrobat earlier this year and they have haunted me since. The perfect stillness of the images combined with the fact that the man is 'falling through space' create a sense of both peace and tension for me.

3. Experimenting with formats and paint interests me. This was inspired by a John Wolseley work. I used a house paint catalogue as a base and applied paint with a broad palette  knife. I like the mystery of the 'window' effect of the paint swatches underneath the paint.

Continue with the idea of portraiture, this painting which I did during a workshop with John Clack produced an intriguing effect.

Our workshop with Paul Murray on making clay press molds for plaster models inspired this playful work, referencing ancient relief sculptures with 'heiroglyphics' and gods or kings.
I might pursue this, but go more in the direction of masks.

We have done some work on manipulating images with photoshop, both to explore ideas which might be painted or sculpted, but also to create works which have integrity in their own right, as digital prints.

I like the combination of carefully selected images, and processes applied to the image, with the somewhat random and unexpected effects which are achievable using photoshop. Well it's unexpected for me anyway!

Some enjoyable exploration and a hint of a path, but still no firm concept to develop for my project.