750 word Evaluative Statement.

To be more efficient, I have chosen to document my research and artistic practice in a digital blog. 

Building on Level 5’s research, I have established that the anchor point of my practice is women. I have scoped my research to investigate roles, perceptions, and experiences in society and how these have been formed. I’m interested in the historical connection to the society that we live in now so have balanced historical investigations at Cresswell Crags with current contemporary sources like “Mother Tongue” an independently published bi-annual magazine. 

In September, I was surer about what I didn’t want to do, than how to reflect my research in artworks; I didn’t want to make paintings associated with capitalist Halloween merchandise.  I wanted something authentic, and sensitive to women's pluralistic experiences, to make people question “now”.  

Historical research has informed my understanding of social class and capitalism.  I’d considered these to be large subject areas that could only be explored in a separate body of work, but they’re all relevant without needing to be explained within my paintings.

 

Primary research has led me to sources of information that I wouldn’t have found online including writing by Ronald Hutton which has given me an understanding of people’s perception globally of witches. Realising how relevant academic writers are to my practice has made me more receptive also, to look at philosophical writing, by Rebecca Solnit and Simon Schama. I have a new perspective and am slowly plugging gaps in the knowledge that I had. I hadn’t realised what was missing.  The philosophical research has enabled me to consider how I might include themes of individual empowerment in my paintings.

 

I have experimented with mod roc and rabbit skin glue as new substrates on canvas, and continued to develop my oil painting practice by introducing Sansodor as a new medium.

I tested new print mediums in drypoint and collagraph workshops and produced several prints.  Surprisingly, I feel that a collagraph print is one of my most successful pieces this semester. It’s reassured me in terms of how an image can talk for itself without me having to make it literal, didactic or include iconography. It’s a manifestation of what I was exploring when I was putting the pieces together, which is how I feel I need to approach further work.  As I continue to experiment with mediums, I find that my practice is getting more refined in its application, I’m confident to be more patient between stages of processes and will continue painting to close the skill gap that I find restricts me from creating the art that I envision.  

 

In Level 4 I rejected the idea of Ray Beveridge as a muse because I didn’t agree with what she stood for, but after working on the exhibition proposal, I’ve unpicked how women and mothers have been perceived by society but also considered that they were subject to social conditions of their own time. I’m now receptive to the sculpture that she posed for again because I read it differently. 

 

I now have three pieces of work that are “resolved”.  I have placed them together to create discourse.  When I painted the girl with the witches’ hat, I wanted to play with the idea of a young girl being “dressed up” as a witch, historically the worst role for a woman in society. The irony of pretending to be something that still has negative connotations today is interesting to me.  By adding red and purple, I was thinking about the poem “Warning, when I am older, I will wear purple”.  It’s intended to turn her from a girl accepting a role to a girl deviating from a role. 

 

Research and writing are critical to my practice; I need to ensure that I refine my oil painting and printing skills by investing substantive time in testing and creating more work.  I also need to remember my collagraph print and refrain from slipping into habits of overworking context into pieces.

 

I will continue to work in series; this allows me to work with a constant image whilst exploring the approach that I take with mediums, including scale, tone, and composition. I can then assess and understand the reading and impact of the artwork.  I intend to continue working with photographs; I feel I can deconstruct these images and recreate them to read in a new way. I will consider whether to source images from old archives or personal/ found photos or from news headlines to establish a current discourse.