27 / Evaluation Statement
18/05/23
Overall, the key themes of my project have been reciprocity & kinship between human and non-human entities, in other words themes of Animism. This has been inspired predominantly by texts such as ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer and ‘Spell of the Sensuous’ by David Abram. Another (more subtle) theme that I found during the project was Wabi-Sabi – the ancient Japanese way of seeing and being. In very simplified terms you could say it’s a creative expression of mindfulness, that treasures nature, spiritualism, and the imperfect. The cultural relevance of these themes is one of huge urgency given our current Anthropocene epoch. However, rather than positioning my work within a political/environmental stance… My belief is that the issues of our current climate stem from our drift from the sensuous experience and indigenous epistemologies. I want my art to encourage people to slow down, engage with the animate world around them and notice what they’re already a part of.
Due to the vastness of this area of focus… I struggled initially to find my footing. My methodology is based in experimentation and I started my project making experimental pieces following my line of enquiry being:
- How can I merge natural materials with human materials?
- How can I create a dialogue between painting and sculpture?
- How can I embrace natural processes and materials as possible?
I discovered through this experimentation that using mixed media (paintings and fabrics) left too much room for thought and careful curation that essentially took the voice away from the pieces I was making. The more holistic and care-free my approach (which flourished when working with ceramics) the better I expressed/succeeded in conveying my project themes. I also discovered that using natural materials more direct to source such as dried foliage was very effective and stopped any need to create pieces that were essentially only metaphors.
In terms of documentation, I took photos of my work and forms of inspiration, like a visual diary which I could then easily incorporate into this blog. I also keep a small notebook in which I sketch, write ideas, mind-maps, and glaze calculations/recipes.
I made decisions based off how well I thought my project themes were being conveyed, and found that mixed media/abstract painting was too vague and open-ended. This is what led me focus heavily on ceramics/making my own glazes and a focus on painting that was more realist/semi-abstract. During the last two months of the project I scheduled my days by making a calendar in photoshop. I didn’t have to budget in the end due to being awarded the RFSA bursary.
I’ve learnt a huge amount from this project, the most important being:
- To be wary of over planning/creating careful compositions – instead, allow the work to speak for itself.
- That ‘blank canvas fear’ is actually nothing to worry about and in the future I will simply just make one brushstroke to get rid of the ‘perfection’ of it and I’ll feel more at ease to start the painting.
- To start any future projects with a smaller concept/aspect of my chosen interest, because the vastness of such a big topic can be overwhelming.