Scheduled Conversations

Alexa. 19th June 2012

In order to progress into the Studio Practice project, we talked over the previous Exploratory Project and assessment results. It seems like good practice, instead of producing "more of the same" to really hear what the feedback points mean, to take them on, and to allow practice to move on and deepen.

Artists can get a little out of practice at talking to other artists, and Alexa had not had the opportunity of this for a while in between her degree and the MA. I believe, though, that rather than feeling she must speak in a completely different language about her work , what she already says about it is her authentic voice, which only has to be practiced. She talks of making paintings, and of the painting process as making. I think this is an unusual approach to painting which can unlock communication for herself and for viewers.

This conversation was almost pre new work for both of us. I am tying together new ways of layering information through new approaches with dyslexia tutor. It feels complex so far. I realise that one thing I have got so far from the MA, is that everything I have done previously seems available to me - music, sound, textiles, as well as moving image and making. It seems like a great amount to process, but there is nothing like actually making a start and resolving things through work. I have another major area I have been considering - I have written novels before the MA, and had considered that I would not have the time to write more until the MA has finished. I have recently felt a little sad about this, and realised that it was not necessarily so. The point of the MA for me is my creativity and how I apply that to various media, and so although I may never be able to submit novel writing as part of my MA, I think I am figuring out ways to build in the required time to do so. What I really want is to get my teeth into work, and spend months on a piece. In a novel you bring in everything you have to say about a thing, and I want to make visual work like that. Somehow, embarking on a novel simultaneously to visual work makes sense for me, as I want to think the long game, and borrow from novel writing what I have learned about structure, just as I borrowed from things I learned in art and applied to my writing process.

I like being engrossed in a project that brings in all aspects of myself, known and unknown; within my grasp and difficult to articulate; practical, emotional, intellectual and instinctive. Artwork I have done for the MA has not been like this for me - the Viewer exhibition pre MA (2007) was, making Moving Image pieces has been, writing novels was, making Vessels was - all recent creative things in the last few years that really were involving. Setting up and continuing theViewergallery is great for me, but it is almost a framework for work, rather than the work itself. It is essential for me to have a platform, and to create that platform and try out all different ways of making work actual, but it is not the core or heart of my art.

Alexa talked of the things the MA has made her feel challenged by, and how it has made her look at her painting more critically in order to progress - to really see them as others see them. My challenge with the MA so far is not so much about the art, but all about the framework.The reason I'm doing the MA at all is so that making my art would not just end with me, but would actualise somehow in the artworld. Assessing and reassessing everything is indeed challenging - ploughing through the restructuring and paradigm shift of the dyslexia tutorials, trying to restructure my thoughts. It doesn't feel like I am making much progress, but I somehow trust in the process.

20th June 2012

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Clare. 16th July 2012

Clare said she found it difficult to interpret my abstract drawings as she thinks so narratively in paintings. As my research bits are as yet unpublished, she found them contextless. Perhaps like winter foliage or landscape. She mentioned lots of other artists and held up to the camera many pages of drawings from a book - The Drawing Book, A survey of drawing: the primary means of expression, editor Tania Kovats, Black Dog Publishing. Also suggested connection with outsider art.

I am reminded to research as I go along, as intended. Rather than pulling in all sorts of random possible related things, or all things drawing, I am looking for relevance in approach, and may hone in on practitioners in other fields such as music or writing. I almost find it too distracting and confusing to research everything possible. That must be edited and chosen for a point - to create a case. At the moment my drawing project is about the process and where it leads me - with the moving image end in mind - I am looking to create a structure directly drawn from a more subconscious part of my mind.

Clare's paintings of the doll seem to work best when they are deliberately open to interpretation - the fur on the body makes it equally many things at once, rather than placing it next to birds, etc. The doll image is already loaded with references - in order to make it individual art there must be a true collision or merging of imagery. Playing around with and dressing up the doll may help with new references and ideas to develop.

17th July 2012

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Jo. 19th September 2012

Discussed my drawing/film project.
Jo found the drawings quite awesome and inspiring, also unnerving.
My work is never static.
Complex within bread and water limitations.
I certainly surprised myself and pushed myself further in drawing with the limited discipline.
That's all very well, but I discussed how I worry, really, that it will all be lost if it is too implied, too abstract.
I hope for meaning and power whispered rather than shouted.
Jo though it was a journey of the mind, also showing anxt.

She thought of Gerhard Richter and Turner as influences, then saw I had also mentioned those in research.
Great minds!

She thought of an artist she knows: Pete Goggins:

Pete Goggins

And also the film Never Let Me Go:

never let me go

I haven't seen that yet, but will. I like the sideways relevance and translating ideas into other genres, about time and drawing realities.

In the MA we all feel a little disconnected at the moment, with Emma leaving and other issues.
It's actually reassuring for each to hear they seem something rather than a piece of paper when looking at work, and progress and depth. Also noticed that in recent group crits and seminars - we may feel a bit more scattered, but there is progress being made.

Also discussed Gerhard Richter in relation to Jo's paintings, scratching and inking photos.
This is only adding to her painting palette, and deepening meaning and the angles she chooses.
In the past she has painted quite centralised images, but chooses really interesting angles in photography,
bringing in all sorts of unsettling layers of interpretation.

24th September 2012

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Jennifer. 5th November 2012

Interesting conversation about where we are now in the middle of the MA - strangely all at sea in some ways. It's all about time and attention management, and these are never constant, so we feel out of step in some ways.

It's good to get the chance to pause and reflect on work, to go more deeply into it, rather than churning out volume, but that can also feel unproductive.

I am somewhere else in this process-led work I am doing - searching for meaning and inspiration - I've always known what I want to make work about, and felt driven, and it is interesting but frustrating to work differently - I feel determined that I will resolve it though - I trust and believe in the creative process, that I have given myself a task - draw 60 x one hour drawings = one hour moving image piece, but that it will transcend its process. Doesn't feel like it yet.

And Jennifer feels distracted by life.
Both agreed that having time, or the space to really think deeply enough about work is what is essential and missing, or out of synch. Such head space has to fit in - we multitask - think about things while travelling, etc, but that is not always enough - and for both of us - not enough now. Commitments and life and worries are pressing, but there is no alternative. There may not be three consecutive days to take, but I am going to schedule a day to think, without being efficient and doing other things at the same time - just to think about the drawings, work the moving image, to try to grasp it. That's all I need - to gain a handle into its meaning so that I can make art from it.

5th November 2012

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Sarah. 15th November 2012

With the assessment deadline very much in sight, Sarah and I discussed the essay, statement and submission to finish. It's a good time to reflect how this year is quite different to last, and how we have come on - or not. Writing an essay doesn't actually get easier, and writing about own practice, and within 2,000 words, cramming in all research and so on, is a challenge.

We are both finding a particular challenge in writing the statement, in naming specific influences. I can see the point of focusing up a vagueness - at the moment I have said something about being influenced in my thinking by the structure of novels, but I want to find a way to be more particular, without doing that annoying thing of claiming other's work as my own, which is something I think artists statements tend to do if they list artists.

It's good to discuss and share some difficulties and see that we are all sharing parallel ups and downs. After a more prescribed couple of years, we seem to have more artistic freedom in this Studio Practice projects, and with more in the rest of the course. Personally, I feel art happening, and it seem we will be more art-led.

15th November 2012