8th September 2018, Tabernacle, Nothing Hill, London organised by the London Study Group
The brief for the workshop said - ‘We will be focusing on ways of interpreting place, how the experience of making relates to a place and to memories of that place, and how as artists we can offer abstractions of experience and the shifts in time and space - making work that suggests a place visited, experienced or imagined’
We were asked to bring art materials and two images, one of a place we know and with which we have a connection, (for this I actually brought two images, a photo of a street scene in my hometown in Peru, and the other a railway bridge in the UK), and one of a place we haven’t been to but find intriguing (and for this I brought a photo of the Holy Land). We were also asked to bring some small objects related to a place that holds memories.
Clare talked about her artist residency in Aberystwyth and the process of creating her work, and gave bullet points around the experience of place in relation to the process of painting -
Landscape as process
Landscape paradox,
Subjectivity and reality
Abstract and the real world
Questioning the known and the unknown
I found this very interesting as I had never thought of landscape in this context. Clare asked us to try to relate the concepts to our chosen images and discuss them and it was interesting to hear everyone’s interpretation of the subject.
Clare read out a quote by Prunella Clough - “Each painting is an exploration in unknown country, or as Manet said, it is like throwing oneself into the sea in order to learn to swim” I found this useful because I find it very difficult to take risks, to explore the unknown in my work and to be spontaneous, and I think taking risks is the only way I can progress and became a contemporary artist.
Practical work set was -
To make a loose sketch of my first image, my photo outside my mum's house in Peru, which holds many memories –
My sketch -
2. To make a collage of images provided by Clare and stick tissue paper on top to create texture, then use drawing materials to suggest a landscape. Abstract painting doesn't come naturally to me and found it very difficult to get a sense of where I was going with this. I became quite anxious, and unfortunately my final piece was unfinished and not at all successful -
3. Clare demonstrated how to use Plextol D498, a strong adhesive, as a means of transferring an image onto canvas, and I replicated her process using my image of the Holy Land to transfer the image onto a canvas board provided by Clare.
I did this by coating the canvas in Plextol with a brush, pressed the image face down onto the Plextol, and left it to dry whilst we were having lunch. After lunch we rubbed the paper backing of the image off the canvas using a wet household sponge, which left the ink impression of the image in reverse on the canvas - a quite abstract image of the pinks, blues, and oranges of the image, though the original image was barely recognisable apart from the impression of the colours.
The second part of the process was to paint the second image I brought – my photo of a railway bridge – onto the canvas.
My photo -
I used charcoal and gouache to paint the bridge onto the canvas, and my result was -
Reflections - I enjoyed the workshop though I found it difficult because it made me think outside my comfort zone. I had to force myself to get away from my methodical habits and just “let it happen” to release my creativity. I definitely want to use this technique again to give my work more freedom and hopefully a contemporary edge.
I also enjoyed the opportunity to interact with fellow students, as my OCA work is primarily done alone, and found it interesting to see how others work and interpret the same instructions.