MM Proposal Part 3

MIXED MEDIA

    PROPOSAL FOR Part 3

Appropriated and displaced Image

For me the idea of using my own photographic images which may or may not have been enhanced and incorporating them in my art work is an exciting way to approach art.  I therefore propose for one of my large paintings to pursue this idea and use such images in a fairly abstract way developing the quirkiness of the image rather than its reality.  This can be achieved by enhancing, cropping, reversing etc. in order to find images that cause one to be bemused by what they are or were part of.

I shall be drawing on work by Rauschenberg, Daniel Pitin and hopefully Richard Hamilton as I intend to go to his exhibition at the Tate.

When it comes to a message I will need to continue to think about that but I suspect it will either be political or something to do with the lives we lead and the journeys we make emotionally and physically or maybe a combination of the two.  Maybe even something on my mainly negative view of conceptual art, though that may not go down well, and who knows, perhaps I will slowly be won round.  If it changed to conceptual thinking instead of conceptual art, I might feel happier. 

I am continuing my course on Philosophy and Art and am hoping conceptual art as an exhibit might be discussed.  That would be very welcome.

 The fractured image looks interesting, I have never tried anything like that so will have to see how the exercises work out but I suspect it will be nearer to my way of thinking whereas creating a shaped painting would for me is too close to craft. I might use shredded paper, which has often seemed to me to offer potential as an art material. Recycling at its best!

Alternatively the Multi-part image appeals to me as it is reminiscent of Monet’s early paintings conceiving haystacks in different lights and moods, through to Warhol’s repeated images also Jasper John, and Sol le Witt and finally conceptual art, where the photography  Bernd and Hilla Bercher, photographed series buildings. A lot to think about.

My first large painting pretty well followed the idea of using found images as collage together with some overpainting.  My intention was to keep the images simple as this was something my tutor suggested.  I wanted to use the idea of journies and incorporated a reverse negative picture of someone driving with a passenger.  The curved shape top left hints as distant space with small moons, i.e. the sky is the limit.  I did like the idea of using black and white but with just a hint of colour.  The house has a gate and someone is about to enter it on the left, suggesting an unknown journey.   I also discovered a derelict house with blackberries actually growing inside with an old fridge and felt this represented a sort of psychological journey a place where someone lived and time has advanced and started to consume the space.  On the bottom left I used the sole of my grandson’s shoe to represent walking. The grilled bottom right represents the unknown journey that we all make through life. The process worked well and I didn’t encounter any problems - if something is going to work I find this often happens. 

My first medium sized painting represents the two hanged teenagers from Pakistan.  The background is a collage of ladies in saris.  I remember being impressed by the beautiful colours worn by ladies in India despite the squalor of their surroundings.  These images represent the way women dress to look attractive, yet in this case it was a secondary cause of their demise. However, the painting did not go well, the tree was too strong initially, I toned it down but then the painting lost something, finally I emphasized some of the collage shapes.  I am not sure that it worked even then.

   

I was pleased with the mixed images i.e. with the bird on the tree which is also the hair of the woman behind, and using the eye to represent the head of the hanged girl on the right. My intention was to show their innocent downfall which was only caused because they attracted someone whom they fell in fell with, but not chosen by their families. Every woman wants to look attractive as the colourful saris infer.I also included hand painting which is done for legitimate weddings, but in this case I added the stigmata.

My second medium sized painting used multi-imaging, which I originally thought I might explore.  I liked the image I had created in Fireworks with the woman on a background of sea creatures and waves.   I felt her hair was like foam and decided to create a wave type painting.  I had been reading a book on Blue by Michel Pastoureau which featured the Wilton Diptych and I felt my women in the picture had a degree of similarity with that image.  I included the butterfly because whilst I was painting this a butterfly got trapped in the lantern roof of my studio and I felt sure it would die The following day I could see its antennae high in the roof but I couldn’t reach it;  eventually I decided to get some stepladders and fortunately was able finally to release it, so it had to appear in the painting!  It also provides a nice contrast to the blue. I did not have to struggle with this as I did with the previous painting.

I used a background of various blues in acrylic paint, applied pure alcohol to get the paint to make watery shapes, then stuck the images on the board, I tore parts of the images off then over-painted using acrylic paint and oil pastels.  I think I have captured the turbulence of the water beneath a wave and am happy with the final result. I did wonder about painting the halos of the lady gold, but decided against it as I think it would conflict the watery nature of the piece.

Sylvia Philpot 503311