What an amazing summer I’ve had.
Campervan adventure via France and Germany to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and back. I managed to see several amazing exhibitions, drink in some amazing landscapes, and pick up some handy textile techniques.
If you click on the link you can see the video I have made of my notebook!
Not very professionally, and not very exciting but figured it may be useful to learn how to embed videos into my blog – had to start somewhere!
As part of planning for my summer 2015 Scandinavian adventure I was delighted to find out about the Traces of Life exhibition, a collaboration between Textile Study Group in the UK and Swedish group Textil13.
So added Dalarnas museum in Falun in Sweden to the route and was far from disappointed.There are links to a couple of articles about the exhibition that are quite descriptive with some good photos.
My first impressions, noted in my travel journal are; first the generous space -light and airy with natural light filtering through gauzy window coverings. Five rooms with different wall treatments, work wall hung, suspended, or on plinths, to optimize the presentation of the work.
The Rebozo exhibition at the Fashion and textiles museum was an eye opener. This is the first exhibition dedicated to contemporary textile artists, specifically stitched work in this case, that I have seen, and it was wonderfully exciting and inspiring.
I have the catalogue for the exhibition, it has an artist statement and one example piece of work. it was useful to have some insight whilst looking at the art. It is interesting to see which pieces were chosen for the catalogue compared to the impact the individual works had on me. It was interesting to compare what I read into the actual work before reading the statements, and also just how much more richness there is in seeing the pieces in real life compared to a book or website. I was almost as enthralled with the shadows cast, and slight movement of the fabrics as I was with the beautifully textured surfaces. I also really appreciated that there was enough trust in the general sensibleness of the public, that there were no alarmed barriers and you could peer closely at all the treasures. (I forever embarrasingly set off alarms in UK exhibitions- never with intent to touch, but just to really look closely)
In the first room on the opposite wall to the entrance I couldn’t help but be drawn to ‘Between me and the sky’ by Sian Martin. hung in front of a voile covered window with the ghost shadow of a steeple from the world beyond it hangs jewel like, moving gently with infrequent drafts. It really doesn’t compare with the photos that I had already seen
mixed media woven textile – silk organza, linen, photo slides.
This work by Kay Greenlees connects the copper mining community in Falun and the British coal mining industry, Kay investigates through her work, worker exploitation, poverty, death and political manipulation. I found it a very powerful piece, raised thoughts about the generations of miners, treasures, pillars of the earth – miners and minerals, the dark colours spoke to me of the oppressiveness of govermnents destroying communities.
I really like the book Kay produced – Creating sketchbooks – its been a real treat since coming home to look at her sketch work and that of other artists in the exhibition that she included, really puts things in context.
Gwen Hedley, what a joy to see her work , her book Drawn to Stitch is fabulous (again it has sketch and development work of several artists in the show) I love the contrast between the warmth and humour in her Casual Conversation pieces, Gwen paired up with Renee Rudebrant and they reflect some of the exchanges between the two artists, and the observation and execution of Bark Marks , and Restoring – which investigates erosion and represents patterns in old Swedish braids.
Kerstin Sapire – Beautifully observed and stitched works
Elisabeth Kalvenes Skallsjo does not use sketches!!! she prefers to work freeform, and very lovely her work is too, very calming with some incredible textures – I think she must be super observant with a remarkable memory.
Growing within the gallery this thicket of pruning celebrates the extraordinariness of being alive whilst acknowledging fragility and frailty
Burgess is interested in found materials which become objects of myth, metaphors for life and loss. wabi sabi. poetic simple beauty.
These creatures are over a meter lond and suspended so you have to look up at them, the shadows are magnificent and prolific due to multiple lights. The accompanying headphones played a soundtrack that took you from gentle buzzing insects and fairy piano to sirens and industry to bleak wind and disjointed piano, a post apocalyptic world where leached chemicals and over exploitation of nature takes its toll. The stuff of dark fairytales using reclaimed materials. Loved this. The sound made it a really imersieve experience.
This powerful piece recalls a sermon by James Black at the end of world war 1. I’ve taken a look at her website for some top tips about incorporating paper, image and stitch.
A completely different perspective, looking down really felt different, I was big like Alice for a while…
Again some really interesting colour application and stitch marks.
With the hindsight of seeing the painting Double Brown at ARos this now reminds me very much of a birch tree, though there is nothing in the artist statement to suggest that this is so..
(I am super proud of learning hyperlinks in this blog, now I will endeavour to link to my own posts- like time travel!)
I loved this work, simple in some ways, a very carefully considered less is more. I really want to investigate incisions and slash marks, my note book questions – Different implements will make different cut patterns ; blunt = ripped etc – I can start experimenting with the next project, preparing paper for stitch.
In her artist statement Kristina says ” ‘Traces of Life’ is such a broad theme, therefore, the images and works have become very diverse.”
I found all her approaches interesting in different ways and although differing in approach they still felt cohesive.
Nature Skor 2015 –
an intriguing collection of nature, I can imagine thinking about the ancient landscape, walking through Sweden like the ancestors, gathering, this feels totemic, shadows again seem an important part of the piece.
Beautifully textured felted bust. Stilla Liv? is this a husk of body with life moving on?
Lovely stitch work and interesting textures
These took me back to the ancestors, like cave paintings I saw in France.
A wonderful educational experience, a visit to Aahus museum encourages interaction and has free wifi and a free phone app with extra information about many of the art works. There are information boards around the galleries, with introductions to art movements and gallery themes that are informative, and not in the slightest bit condescending. The gallery walls have a changing colour palate with no fear of bold combinations.
Not much textile work evident but some very thought provoking works. I particularly appreciated Botanical portrait by Richard Mortensen and Forest track by Edward Weie, I have been drawing plants for assignment two and these paintings really gave a fresh perspective on marks that represent plant forms.
There is a beautiful painting of Birch trees called Double Brown
I love the patchwork of paint used to represent the tree bark and have all sorts of ideas about using paper collage, and fabric and stitches to make bark marks.
I was also delighted to find a whole gallery relating to colour.
Olafur Eliasson is a name that has cropped up several times in colour studies and experiencing his instalations was delightful.
I am working out how to make a flikr gallery to upload the rest of the ARoS photos as a future reference source I will put a link here when this is achieved!
David Hockney ipad drawings
I can’t for the life of me put Hockney images on this page but the website links work well.
David Hockney wowed the art world when he first started showing his ipad paintings. He has really embraced the technology and apparently said if Picasso and Van Gogh had the technology they would use it to!
The works that I am already familiar with are his landscapes like this one on his website and on the Annely Juda Gallery website. This New York times article is quite interesting and has a good link to some other works, I did some searching and found some really lovely flower drawings like these. I love the marks, in the wild flower drawing, they really represent the scratchyness and wildness of the meadow
The video shows how the ipad has enabled Hockney to display work in an entirely new way. This looks like an almost cinematic experience, rather than walking around the gallery, images on the screen are constantly changing. I think that this is important for ipad drawings as they are created by light, they work better viewed this way rather than prints of the image.
David Hockney uses an app called Brushes that I have installed to experiment with. I am also using an app called Paper by 53, I received a 53 Pencil for my birthday- an electronic stylus that unlocks some interesting in app features. This is an early Linda Baker iPad drawing.
My attempt at drawing on my ipad using the paper app by 53
Sonia Delauney exhibition Tate Modern
oops work in progress!
My eyes have never been as full!
The study visit was fabulous and very much a learning experience. It was really great to meet some fellow students and talk about the course and our creative journeys. The students attending were at all stages in the OCA course so it was really valuable as a newbie to hear about different experiences and have a more real idea of what to aspire to – exhibiting work for example! Gosh!
There really was such a lot of work being exhibited, and such an air of hope and expectation in the air from the students showing their work. It was quite exhausting. Lots of chatting to students about their work, most were happy, and quite keen to talk about their ideas and processes. We were given a couple of pointers of what to look out for and this was so helpful in terms of having a focus.
There was an incredible amount of digitally printed silk, a lot using digitally manipulated images -reflected, flipped, rotated snippets of landscape, plants and wildlife seemed popular. This left me a little cold if I’m honest, though I can see that it could be quite a compelling way to spend some time and may have a play myself at some point. I have seen digital prints that are really exciting I think that the sheer amount, with similar themes was just a bit overwhelming.
Timerous beasties are mentioned in one of the research points of ATV and I really like the way they have developed the ideas of William morris – clearly they were also, in turn a huge influence on some students exhibiting.
The work that I was drawn too most was the more 3D constructed textiles, involving knitting, knotting, bonding ,weaving. There was some really interesting work that incorporated traditional techniques with modern materials that I found really exciting. Also some work that referenced or reminded me of darker folkloric themes, and pieces incorporating natural elements such as reindeer antler, wood and plants.
Here is some of the work that I was particularly drawn too:
Observing and capturing – research point 2 – Fabric designs
For this research point I have started a pintrest board of fabric images.
https://uk.pinterest.com/kelsingra/fabric/
Of the suggested artists, designers, companies I was particularly drawn to the almost folkloric designs of Timorous Beasties. It is immediately obvious that their work is influenced by William morris designs so it was no surprise to find that they have a range dedicated to him. I have sent for a couple of samples.
NB after visiting the New designers exhibition in London it is clear just how currently popular Timerous Beasties are, their influence was evident everywhere. An excellent example of the wheel of fashion turning.
I plan to work more in a sketch book for this task to experiment with ease of communicating my thoughts. I feel that it needs illustrating but am worried about image coptright.
I have started to look at the work of recommended artists and will continue to add to this post as I work through the course. Although it is overwhelming to discover the many many ways in which people produce drawings , clearly this is an excellent way of moving forward with finding ideas to experiment with new techniques and approaches. I will also use my general sense of inquisitiveness to develop my own ideas ( I wonder if I will find unique techniques? I suspect that I will “invent” new techniques only to discover that they have indeed been used before- ‘though never before with my eyes!)
Louise Bourgeois
www.moma.org/explore/collection/lb/index
I really like Bourgeois’ drawing style, I particularly liked looking at the themes section of the website, it is really interesting how she quite simply but effectively represents the form of trees with really quite few lines. The way some of her drawings are quite simple is really encouraging, to me this looks quite brave, I always want my drawings to be very representational, I realise this is not the only right way to draw but it seems a bit ingrained to try to make things look as realistic as possible. I will try to address this and experiment with capturing different more emotional aspects of objects. Looking at the techniques page I ws very attracted by the quality of line of the drypoint drawings/prints so will experiment with this process.
Alison Carlier
www.alisoncarlier.com
Observing and capturing research point 1
What do I understand about the term Wabi Sabi?
I love the concept of wabi-sabi, I first came across the term quite a few years ago and my understanding, is that, in short, it is appreciating the beauty of imperfection.
This sits well with my general philosophy of things, and permeates through my daily life. I appreciate the beauty of imperfection a lot! To me a run in the glaze and slight unevenness of a hand made earthenware mug is way way preferable to mass produced fine china with a transfer design for example. I like to see an element of humanity in products, to sense a connection with the maker and materials. I feel uncomfortable with perfection (excepting particularly well designed, functional gadgets, and the correct pitching of tents- there is nothing wabi-sabi about a badly placed guy peg!) things that are perfect and clinical give me the shivers generally, I have an element of non conformist about me that embraces wabi-sabi. to be on the safe side ( how conventional) I have looked up the definition.
I don’t feel like I am far of the mark here, I can now add acceptance of transience, asperity, modesty, ingenious integrity.
I found a lot of reference to Leonard Koren, he seems to be accepted as the person to
I also discovered some more Japanese philosophy about making that pleased me and some that didn’t – like the new fondness for super sickly cute things , is a trend, with the name of Kawaii
I got very very absorbed in the research of my chosen garments, the people that made them and, the social and political context.
It surprised me, that actually the internet was not the best source of information.
These are the books that were my main resource for this project.
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Dell, Elizabeth, and Sandra H. Dudley. Textiles from Burma: Featuring the James Henry Green Collection. London: Philip Wilson in Association with James Green Centre for World Art, 2003.
Gillow, John, and Bryan Sentance. World Textiles: A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006.
Lewis, Paul W., and Elaine Lewis. Peoples of the Golden Triangle: Six Tribes in Thailand. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998
Wilson, Verity, Jennifer Wearden, and Rosemary Crill. World Dress: Fashion in Detail. V & A, 2012. Print.
