Development Writing

‘Figure in Space’ workshop

This workshop presented an important opportunity to experiment with new media and engage in drawing, collaging, photography and 3D exercises. The first of these exercises involved randomly splattering blobs of ink onto a blank white page; the effect of this was to make us see shapes in a different way as after creating the amorphous pattern with ink, we were told to link the dots together to create stick figures. I enjoyed this exercise and extended my exploration of amorphous shapes and forms by creating another series of ink experiments but this time on watercolour paper; due to the textured quality of the paper, the patterns created differed from the first exercise. I also noticed the visual similarities between the Chapman brothers, who subvert dot to dot colouring book exercises to create more sinister images, and my own experimentation with amorphous shapes to create forms, I developed my own dot to dot images using pages from children’s colouring books to emphasise my interest in their work. Although I found this exercise beneficial, I found the use of materials limiting so the next exercise, which involved using match sticks to created rubbings, was more enjoyable. This next stage of the workshop was intended to encourage use to see the human figure in its most essential form so to start us off, we collected images of footballers in motion and then quickly traced the basic structure of their body using only straight lines. Still using straight lines to replicate the human form, we began experimenting with fragments of matchsticks to create basic stick men. With these 3D models we then created rubbings using thin paper and graphite sticks; the subsequent images we successful as they captured the basic structure of each matchstick model while also lending the figures movement and energy. I was eager to continue working in 3D so after the exercise I went home and created a stop motion animation and thereby added another dimension to the exploration of the figure in space as I depicted a matchstick figure in action. While this experiment was successful, it was my first stop motion animation so the transition between each frame was not as smooth as it could have been had I been more experienced.

After using straight lines to depict the figure, I changed my sketching technique and began drawing using curved lines. After creating a brief 30-second sketch of a friend of mine sitting and then standing with her leg and arm at an angle, I furthered my use of curved line and used white string on black paper to depict tow body forms in motion. The effect of this was to create a negative image of the original sketches. Seeing the visual similarities between my own experiments and Matisse’s line drawings, especially his lino cuts of nude figures, I was inspired to extend the exercise further by using tracing paper, white gouache and black pen to create a layered black and white response to the original sketches. As I enjoyed experimenting with curved lines, I also began playing with thin malleable wire to create curved line shapes, which I then preserved between two sheets of adhesive plastic. From these wire models I then created rubbings using graphite and developed the second of these images to abstract the shapes of the original wire model further and create a black and white graphic response. This third experiment was also highly evocative of Matisses work especially his later collages; in particular I noticed similarities between my sketch and his series of blue nudes from the early 1940s. Overall I was surprised at the extent to which I could extend the simple notion of line drawing to create such a wide variety of responses. Furthermore, I was also pleased with my discovery of the visual connections between my own sketches and Matisse’s work as this gave me greater direction in my experimentation.

On the next two pages I continued working with wire to explore the body form and was eager to extend my lie drawing technique to 3D work. Consequently using thin wire again, I created a small 3D model of a human like form and took several photos of the experiment, each showing the model in different positions. To emphasise the continuation of my interest in curved line, I used white paint and biro to highlight the contours of the model’s frame. Although creating the model gave me greater confidence in experimenting with 3D materials, working with wire inspired me to create another set of line drawings but this time using the idea of the contours of the wire model. This five-minute exercise was the most successful so far in the project as it gave the figures I was studying body volume and greater shape and sense of proportion. As a result of this exercise, I also discovered the relevance of performance art to my exploration of the figure in space; a series of photos from the Triadic Ballet by Oscar Schlemmer, which depict dancers in strange, voluptuous costumes, related directly to my exploration of curved lines. Moreover while Anthony Gormley’s 3D wire sculptures tied in with my experiments with wire to created small models, the images of his models were also visually similar to my pencil drawings.

Unlike in previous exercises where we were require to focus on the linear outline of a figure, in the next workshop my art class were encouraged to experiment with depicting body mass and solid form. Therefore using white paper, each person created a 2D small-scale replica of a human figure and we placed these against a black backdrop to create an interesting and entertaining image. Working in paper and positioning the figures separately in a space created a sense of scale and depth in the subsequent photos we took; I then tried to capture this engaging and playful scene in an observational pencil drawing of the set up and overlapped the paper cut outs to lend the image energy and create an interesting composition. However I think the photos of the paper figures against the black backdrop were the most successful as they effectively contrasted the paper cut outs with their surroundings, thereby evoking the theme of the figure in space. Keen to continue working with paper, I created a replica paper figure cut out which I then used a knife to cut geometric shapes into. This image was intended to create a more interesting image when placed against a black background but it was actually the paper model’s shadow that made the photo’s I took of the cut out the most visually captivating. This set of photos was also successful as the images clearly reflected my experimentation with paper; not only did I manipulate the paper models into different positions but the photos showed the extent to which I had cut into the paper. The photos also drew upon the monochrome colour pallet of the previous exercises (particularly the original experiment using paper figures). After using the paper models to create abstract shapes and indistinguishable forms, I also decided to play with positioning the paper model amongst household objects and documented this experiment on my art blog. Although the photos I took of the paper model positioned on top of a peanut butter jar and standing next to a cabbage in the fridge were not visually convincing, they did communicate the purpose of the exercise, which was to give the 2D figure animation and personality.

The next exercise explored abstracting the figure even more but also focused on the figure’s relationship with it’s surrounding environment. Although I had explore the alliance between the figure and space in my experiments with the paper model, especially when I placed it alongside different household objects, these exercises did not sufficiently show the figure engaging with it’s environment and lacked narrative. Thus in the next exercise I used burnt matchsticks – they reflected more personality than unused matchsticks – as characters in a freeze. Using a cardboard box as a tower block, I positioned a group of matchsticks at the bottom of the block and had them looking up to a lone matchstick figure at the top of the structure; the scene clearly illustrated a suicide and the lone shadows of the matchsticks appropriately added to the mis en scene of the photographs I took. While the exercise revolved primarily around creating the scene and constructing a clear narrative, I was eager to explore the other properties of matchsticks; using a charcoal head, I created a sketch from one of the photos and also burnt small circular holes in the paper, which I then used to create another response to the photos.

After a week of experimenting with different line drawing techniques and methods of depicting the figure in space, I then began to look more closely at the work of artist Anthony Gormley. His work in 3D directly related to my previous exercises using 3D materials such as wire and paper, however more importantly his sculptures resonated with my exploration of the figure in space. I was initially drawn to his ‘Event Horizon’ project after seeing his cast iron figures firsthand on the rooftops near my house. Yet it was his ‘Another Place’ installation, in which Gormley placed dozens of solitary iron figures along the coast in Norfolk, that most inspired me to create my own small-scale 3D replicas of the human form. Using tea towels, I manipulate the fabric using plastic bands to create five abstracted figures, which I then hung up on the washing line to evoke the singularity of Gormley’s iron sculptures. I also intended to draw upon the soft sea blues in the photographs of ‘Another Place’ so I shot the photos of the installation as the sun was going down in order to achieve a similar colour composition. Having documented this process on my blog, I explored different ways of extending this exercise; firstly I experimented with different ways of depicting the fabric models using biro line drawing. The resultant image was successful and the line quality of the biro drawings evoked Gormley’s wire framed sculptures, which I referenced beside this experiment. Eager to continue working in 3D after my fabric models, I also created a brief response to the photos using thin wire; this image was successful as it effectively demonstrated the differences in shape and form for each of the fabric models but also further abstracted the shapes from the original photos. As I gave the image a quick watercolour wash in similar shades (blues and purples) to the photos and the Gormely shots, the experiment clearly linked in with my artist research and showed a creative progression of ideas.

Landscapes

As I had focused entirely on depicting the figure in space up until this point in the project, I then chose to explore different types of spaces and environments. It made sense to respond to the task with photography as this offered the best assessment of an environment, so during my Christmas holidays I took several wide-angle photos of the Suffolk countryside. I also picked out defining features of each environment and posted the most successful image – a photo of a hillside with starkly contrasted landscape features on the horizon – in my book. Continuing experimenting with different materials and working in 3D, I decided to respond to the photographs by recreating the hilly countryside landscape using scrap fabric and materials. I was also inspired to work with material and recreate a miniature landscape after discovering Slinkachu’s ‘Little People’ series, which documented the artist’s installation of miniature people interacting with urban landscapes and objects. I particularly liked the playfulness and humour of his work and sought to replicate this aspect of his installations in my own work.

Slinkachu’s work also inspired me to explore the ways in which different artists create installations that engage with a specific environment. Discovering art interventions such as Christo and Jean-Claude’s ‘Wrapped Reichstag’ was pivotal for my exploration of landscape and space as I realised that in order to create a successful artwork concerning the figure in space, the figure must engage or interact with it’s surrounding environment. I was also drawn to the Skyline project in New York and began to explore the impact of introducing nature into an urban environment; this conflict between the urban and the natural intrigued me and using my online blog, I documented my own small-scale responses to organic intervention. Using two boxes of cress, I strategically placed the plant in distinctly urban spaces, such as roads or between pavement cracks, in order to document the effect of introducing greenery to a monotonous grey environment. My efforts were also inspired somewhat by the actions of the guerrilla gardeners, who plant in city environments to utilise unused spaces for flowers and vegetable gardens, and Austrian architect Hunderwasser’s, whose building’s encourage people to live alongside nature and incorporate organic features into their structural appearance.

Art Intervention

After exploring different types of landscapes and the importance of engaging with the surrounding environment when creating an art installation, my art class were then set a challenge: we had to draw up plans for and create our own art intervention in selected areas around the school. As I was allotted the art room, I set about evaluating the space – I took photos of different features in and around the room – in order to get a sense of what kind of project would be viable.  After physically assessing the space, my project partner and I also discussed the connotations of the art room: to many people it represented work and thus projected a serious, formal atmosphere. Therefore taking this and the limitations of the space into account, we decided to subvert the idea of the art room as a workspace and instead change it into a space to relax and be entertained. The most obvious transformation was to turn it into a restaurant and so we began planning the room’s layout and deciding what physical alterations – such as rearranging the tables and changing the light - we would have to make to achieve our goal. We also drew up a list of props (a blackboard, table cloths, napkins, place mats and paper plates) we needed to create an authentic restaurant experience. Overall our execution of the intervention was successful as not only was our transformation of the art room complete in that we changed the purpose of the space from a work space to an entertainment space, our intervention also encouraged audience participation and engagement with their surroundings.

Brainstorm – Combinations and Alliances

After exploring different artistic techniques such as the ability to work in 3D and exploring the relationship between the figure and space, our art class focused in on the exam board’s brief by creating a room-sized brainstorm of all our different ideas. As the theme for this project was ‘Combinations and Alliances’, my classmates came up with some key buzzwords: cultures, community, marriage, protest, politics and war. Within marriage, politics and community, I was particularly interested in exploring the idea of alliances between different or hostile parties. I was also engaged by the idea of protest as a means of creating or destroying alliances and this theme proved a popular one amongst my classmates. In order to clarify the links between themes and visually illustrate our thought process, we used arrows, post-it notes and coloured string to link our ideas together in a giant complex web. To generate more ideas, we also all drew personal responses to each of the buzz words we had come up with and this was especially helpful as we were able to see the already different directions many people were heading in from the same concept.

Blue-tac figure

After the workshop with the matches, I was inspired to continue exploring the idea of the figure in space in a narrative context. Much like the story I created in the match stick set up, I decided to use stop motion animation to lend an inanimate object personality and energy. As I experimented with stop motion animation earlier in the project (I created a short film using matchsticks) I tried to be more ambitious with this attempt. As the blue tac was a lot easier to handle than the match sticks and much easier to manipulate, I found that I could create a longer animation which depicted a moving object with a lot more energy. I was pleased with this attempt and thought that the film successfully displayed a narrative, albeit a very simple and fairly one dimensional narrative (the blue tac man rises out of a ball of clay, does a somersault and then descends back into an amorphous ball). 

Evaluation

At the start of my project, I was fascinated by the relationship between art and madness and pursued this line of thought by visiting the Beyond the Moulin Rouge exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery. This exhibition was vital to the development of my project as seeing Lautrec’s energetic paintings and his depiction of movement and the human form I became interested in the idea of distortion. Inspired by Lautrec’s fascination with the Moulin Rouge dancer, Jane Avril (her frenzied, jerky movements were a result of her treatment at the Salpetriere Hospital for the insane) I also became increasingly interested in exploring the contrast between appearances and unsettling reality. Visiting the exhibition and being inspired by Lautrec’s work and life, I realised the importance of making visual connections with artists and visually demonstrating how their work has influenced my project. This is why I took a series of photographs which channelled the aesthetic of the photographs of medical examinations I had seen in the exhibition and then worked into them with white acrylic paint and black ink in order to evoke the sketchy, energetic nature of Lautrec’s brush strokes. Noticing the visual similarities between Avril’s contorted poses and the work of Robert Longo I used tracing paper to emphasise the aspect of the painting that interested me, which was the figures contorted, tensed pose. Using tracing paper, black ink, pen and white paint I also experimented with using a new layering technique to visually respond to a photograph of women at the Salpetriere Hospital; I was initially attracted to the image because of the ghostly quality of the women’s faces and used this layering technique to exaggerate this aspect of the photograph. This experiment and others in response to the exhibition were of crucial importance as they generated ideas which subsequently dictated the direction of my project. Furthermore my research on Lautrec directly inspired my subsequent exploration of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele; the sketchy nature of both artist’ work evoked Lautrec’s energetic brushstrokes and Schiele’s unsettling, disturbing self-portraits particularly related to the theme of distortion. When researching these two artists I demonstrated the visual connections between Klimt and Schiele’s work with that of Lautrec’s in order to clarify my artistic journey. Furthermore as with my previous artist page, I used a camera as a means of documenting my responses to Klimt and Schiele’s works; as well as taking several self portraits in the style of Schiele’s, I also took photographs of my family which I then collaged together in response to Klimt’s paintings.

This double page was also critical to the direction of my project as following on from my research on Schiele I became increasingly interested in portraiture and attended the Taylor Wessing photographic exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in order to extend my exploration of this theme. Although the photography exhibition and with its eclectic range of portraits failed to ignite my interest as much as previous exhibitions had, it proved important as it showed I had looked at the work of photographers working in the 21^st century as opposed to European painters of turn of the century Europe.  Moreover, the exhibition was an important stepping stone for further colour experimentation as I took a series of portrait photos in response and then created a colour study from one of these images. In fact, this exhibition also fuelled my interest in portrait photography and I attended Don McCullin’s ‘Shaped by War’ exhibition at the Imperial War Museum to extend my exploration of high contrast portraiture. McCullin’s grainy black and white photographs inspired me to work into my last set of portrait photographs, which I photocopied and worked into with ink in order to evoke the dramatic quality of McCullin’s images. I also experimented with using white gouache paint on black paper and created an observational response to one of my photographs using this technique which was inspired by McCullin’s work. As a result of these experiments as well as several sketches I made of paintings that were particularly relevant to the theme of distortion and appearances contrasted with reality, I think that my artist research pages successfully present a clear visual journey and demonstrate my fascination with distortion, portraiture and the contrast between appearances and reality.

In the next stage of my project I began developing my exploration of distortion took several photos of bones as I thought they were visually evocative of Schiele’s skeletal, disturbing depictions of the human form. After creating an observational drawing from one of these photos, I photocopied an image of bones on a plate and used tracing paper and black ink to combine the two images to create a completely new composition. As I had worked in paint up until this point, I also began experimenting with line drawing and still using the image of the bone, I created a two minute line drawing in biro. To extend my experimentation further I then used a photocopy of the image to create a continuous line drawing on the sewing machine; this exercise encouraged me to continue experimenting with working in different media as the image on the sewing machine was successfully channelled my interest in line and form. As a result I also created a continuous line drawing using thin wire; this experiment was also successful and was equally visually evocative of Schiele’s sketches. Inspired to continue using different media, I looked at Picasso’s light drawings and replicated his use of light to create continuous line drawings. In order to ensure that my project remained consistent and showed a clear development of ideas, I used the light drawing technique to distort and obscure my face, thereby creating self-portraits which reflected my interest in portraiture and also my experimentation with line drawing.

After playing with different ways of depicting form and using line to distort the face, I created a focused pencil drawing of a bone to show I was capable of using a more focused technique as well as a looser style. However as I was eager to continue playing with new materials, I used paper folding techniques to distort the pencil image and create an entirely new composition. I also flattened the model out and used the geometric folding pattern as a template for a small colour study in neutral tones. Finding this paper folding technique produced interesting results I continued exploring different ways of distorting images using geometric patterns; George Condo’s exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, which featured portraits in which the subjects face appears contorted and angular, further fuelled my interest in distortion and I was able to apply the paper folding techniques I had learnt in the previous exercise to my responses to Condo’s work. 

After exploring several different avenues within the themes of distortion and portraiture, I began developing ideas for a final piece. In order to progress my ideas further and make sure I produced a final piece that was both consistent with my project so far and that was interesting compositionally, I looked at the work of artist Sarah Van Beek. Her unique 3D collage technique inspired me to create my own collage of images; by setting up a web of thread across my staircase and then attaching images to the structure I was able to replicate Van Beek’s technique as the images appeared to be floating in mid air and thus created a foreground, middle ground and background. To extend my visual response to Van Beek’s work I also collaged together sections of the photographs I had taken of my installation; these two collage experiments were compositionally successful and enabled me to explore themes of portraiture and distortion alongside each other. Thus Van Beek’s work significantly contributed to the development of my final piece as it was from the 3D collage installation that I began developing my thumbnails. From the three collages I made in response to her work, I continued to use tracing paper, fine liner and paint to refine the images in order to stimulate ideas for a visually exciting and relevant final piece.  As I enjoyed the collage exercise so much, I also took another set of photographs in which I played around with the idea of collages, however instead of creating a paper collage, I stuck the end section of an image of a bone to my mum’s face. In these photos, I intended the bone to appear as though it was part of the face, however due to the quality of the paper, it is clear in the photos that the bone is a separate object to the face. Despite this, these experiments generated more ideas and I was inspired to use the concept of a bone emerging from beneath the skin as an image for my final piece. Developing on from this idea, I photocopied the observational drawing of the bone I created earlier in the project and stuck sections of this image onto black and white photocopies of some of my photographic portraits. The effect was visually interesting and achieved the effect I was hoping for – the skin appeared to be stripped away to expose the bone – and these experiments also combined techniques I had learnt previously in the project such as sewing into images in order to emphasise facial features. I also continued using the collage technique to arrive at an interesting composition and looked at some of Andy Warhol’s screen prints, which enabled me to incorporate continuous line drawing into my final piece. In fact, because I enjoyed the continuous line drawing exercises so much, I created a small scale etching of a bone to print on top of these collages; this etching was particularly evocative of the line drawing techniques (such as using thread and wire to depict the form of a bone) I explored earlier in my project.

As a result of my collage experiments, I arrived at a thumbnail image I was happy to develop into a final piece. The composition of this image combined all of the themes I had been looking at so far in my project; not only did my observational drawing of a bone feature as the central anchor of the image, the thumbnail also included four prominent faces around the edge of the bone. Therefore the image successfully united my interests in portraiture as well as themes of ugliness and distortion. After creating a colour thumbnail from the brief collage I had created, the image also evoked the artists I had looked at earlier in my project, especially Klimt and Schiele although the image also strongly resonated with Sarah Van Beek’s 3D collage work. 

Development writing

Beyond the Moulin Rouge


At the start of my project, I was eager to explore the relationship between art and madness. I developed this interest further by going to see the ‘Beyond the Moulin Rouge’ exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, which displayed several of Toulouse Lautrec’s most well known paintings. I was particularly drawn to Lautrec’s depictions of dancers and the energy of the brush strokes used to capture their movements. I used the quick sketches I had made of some of my favourite paintings – notably ‘Jane Avril’ (1892), ‘Jane Avril Dancing’ (1892) and ‘Jane Avril Dancing’ (1893) - to help me produce my first double page in response to the exhibition. However after studying the body of his work, I became increasingly interested in his muse, Jane Avril. As a dancer at the Moulin Rouge, she was a frequent subject of his paintings, however what set her apart from the rest of the dancers and most attracted Lautrec’s attention was her medical history; as an adolescent, Avril had spent several years at the Salpetriere hospital and had been treated for the movement disorder, colloquially called the ‘St Vitus dance’. It was this medical condition which was the cause of Avril’s jerky movements and sudden contortions and which earned her the nickname La Mélinite. After coming across several photos of medical examinations from the Salpetriere hospital, depicting contorted and twisted limbs, I responded by taking a series of photos of my own hands and feet, in which I tensed and flexed my limbs in order to make them appear distorted and unnatural. I then painted over these photos in order to emphasise the movement and exaggerate the tension in the limbs just as Lautrec heightened the movement of his paintings using thick brush strokes. I believe these photos successfully responded to aspects of the exhibition that had most fascinated me as they were consistent in subject and composition to the medical examinations featured in the exhibition. In response to the exhibition and my research on Avril, I also enhanced a photocopy of an image of ‘La Bal des Folles’, or the ball of the madwomen, an event held at the Salpetriere hospital every year; this photo initially engaged me due to the ghost like appearance of the women’s faces and the haunting quality of their stares so I used tracing paper, black ink, white gouache and pen to enhance this aspect of the image. 

Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt at the Leopold Museum


After going to the exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, I became increasingly interested in distortion, body movement and appearances vs. reality. Therefore as I was in Vienna this summer, I decided to look at the works of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. While Klimt’s paintings with their rounded, fluid and sensuous quality share many similarities with Lauatrec’s works, Schiele’s sketches, which depict painfully distorted and exposed naked figures, directly relate to Avril and her history of movement disorder. In response to some of my favourite works of Klimt’s, such as ‘The Virgin’ and ‘Judith’, I worked into the image and extended the shapes and forms to emphasise an aspect of the painting. For example, with ‘The Virgin’, I used tracing paper to exaggerate the soft, sensuous shapes of the image and extended these lines outwards to combine with another image, a response to Schiele’s ‘Mother and Daughter’, in order to create an entirely new and original image. I was also drawn to both artists’ distinctive use of line and their ability to evoke a human body with minimal markings. In response to Klimt’s sketches, I experimented with the sewing machine and created loose, amorphous shapes in the style of Klimt’s sketches. Having studied Schiele’s use of more energetic, sharp line, I took a photo of a friend and used this image as a template for creating a more figurative representation of the human form. As this was my first time using the sewing machine, I was pleased with the outcome of my experiments and their visual similarities with Klimt and Schiele’s work. I was also fascinated by Schiele’s self portraits and took several close-up photos of myself from different angles to evoke the intense quality of Schiele’s stare. Using these photos and other images of my sister and mum, I created a collage of many different faces and used tracing paper and then acrylic paint to work on top of these images. The overall composition of the work was also visually similar to Klimt’s paintings and was thus successfully combined the two artists’ work. To emphasise the direction of my journey and my interest with self portraiture and Schiele’s use of line, I collaged together a larger self-portrait photo of myself with elements of Klimt’s painting ‘Judith’ and then used trace the outline of Schiele’s ‘Self portrait with Chinese Lantern’ (1912) to create a multi-media image. This experiment combined Klimt’s use of ornate pattern and with Schiele’s exploration of identity and self-image. The research I collected at the Leopold Museum was critical in informing my project; I was particularly fascinated by Schiele’s sketches and the way in which he challenged assumptions about beauty through his depiction of skeletal, disturbing yet intriguing human forms. Similarly to Lautrec and Klimt, Schiele’s work is frank and depicts taboo subject; this uniting theme formed the basis for my critical studies essay, in which I debated the extent to which Schiele was the most provocative artist in fin de siècle Europe. I was also inspired by my essay and research on Schiele to go on to explore bones and bone structure alongside revealing and shocking self-portraiture.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize

This exhibition at the National Gallery was an important opportunity to inform my research as previous to this, I had only looked at a limited range of artists working in a similar media (Lautrec, Klimt and Schiele all painted at the end of the 19^th century). However I attended the exhibition due to the relevance of portraiture to my project and my research on Schiele. Like Schiele’s work, portraits such as ‘Of Lili’ by Jil Wooster also depict subjects in conflict with their mental and biological identity and were thus unsettling and to a certain extent shocking. Attending the exhibition also fuelled my interest in identity and in order to respond to these ideas, I took a set of photographs of subjects in strong light to visually and metaphorically ‘expose’ their identity and took a self portrait to show my continued interest in self-exploration. From one of the photos of my mum, I also developed a colour study, first with watercolour paint and white gouache, and then with acrylic paint to strengthen the line. Before responding to these photos, I also made sure to create a small colour sample of the tones which reoccurred throughout my series of photos and the portraits in the Taylor Wessing exhibition. Overall this extra research and development further influenced the direction of my project and strengthened my interest in portraiture and self-portraiture.

Shaped by War: Photographs by Don McCullin at the Imperial War Museum

To develop my research and extend my exploration of portraiture, I went to the ‘Shaped by War: Photographs by Don McCullin’ exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. McCullin’s high contrast black and white photographs are similar to the Taylor Wessing portraits as they probe identity. Images such as ‘Shell Shocked’ also evoke Schiele’s disturbing, unsettling portraits as they challenge the viewer’s assumptions of beauty and expose ugliness and chaos. I also extended this research by photocopying the photo portraits from the previous page to heighten their contrast and to turn them into black and white images. I then worked into these images using a rubber and black pen. Using black paper, ink and white gouache, I also create a high contrast black and white response to one of the photos in order to experiment with different media and discover if I could replicate McCullin’s style through a medium other than photography. After the exhibition I continued to explore the theme of identity however more importantly I realised that portraiture could be used to express other ideas and themes as well, for example, the effects of war.

Direction after essay

After presenting and annotating my essay research on a double page, I then drafted and re-drafted my essay titled ‘To what extent was Egon Schiele the most provocative artist in fin de siècle Europe. Alongside my final essay, I also presented several brief observational sketches of Schiele’s work to emphasise the centrality of Schiele to my project and ensure that my book expressed a clear visual journey, especially as these sketches led on to the next double page on which I explore the structure and form of bones. In Schiele’s ‘Self portrait’ (1912) I was drawn to the body’s skeletal appearance and took several photos of bones in response; I experimented with these by photocopying and enlarging one image of the bones and working into it with white acrylic paint, biro and black ink. I also used tracing paper to combine a Schiele sketch with the image of a bone in order to make clear the visual connection between the two images and make explicit the development of my ideas. As I was initially drawn to Schiele and Klimt’s use of energetic, bold line to depict the human form, I also began experimenting with line drawing. Still using the image of the bone, I created a two minute line drawing in biro and then used a photocopy of the image to create a continuous line drawing on the sewing machine. I also created a continuous line drawing of the bone using malleable wire and discovered the advantages of working in this media – using the wire I was able to simplify the shape and strip the image down to its essential form. I then went onto create several quick continuous line drawings of objects around my house (a sock, a shoe, a bag and a set of keys) to loosen my drawing style and strengthen my confidence in working in this new medium.

Picasso Light Drawing


Continuing on from my exploration of line, I immediately saw the relevance of Picasso’s light drawings to my project; captured by Life magazine photographer Gjon Mili in 1949 the photos show Picasso’s use of a small torch to create loose, amorphous shapes. I replicated this technique in my own light drawings by setting my camera to a long exposure and then capturing the light trail of a small LED light; the results were a collection of fascinating, frenzied white on black light drawings. As I was still interested in portraiture, I created a light drawing using my face as the focal point of the photo; this created a set of photos in which my face appears obscured and distorted and was therefore extremely successful. On top of these photos I used a compass to cut into and peel away the surface of the photo paper to distort the image further and used a white paint pen to emphasise the trail of light. I also worked into two of the photos with white thread (this colour was consistent with the colour of the light from the LEDS) in order to pick out different shapes within the photos. 

Grid lines and Paper Folding


After experimenting with different media (thread, wire, light drawing), I returned to a more focused and constrained drawing technique for my observational drawing of a bone. However after being introduced to the work of New York born artist Ben Mahmoud, I was eager to use his technique of grid lines for improving the proportion of my drawing. Although he used grid lines to distort and disfigure, my experiment, which used black strips of paper to elongate the bone, was largely inspired by Mahmoud. Although this experiment reflected many aspects of Mahmoud's sketch work, I extended my exploration of the theme of distortion by using a photocopy of the pencil drawing to create a small paper model which also distorted and foreshortened the image of the bone. After taking photos of this model, I then cut into the paper model to continue the distortion theme and then painted on top of this image using neutral tones (cream, brown, light green, grey) which occurred in the original photo of the bone. Working with paper models, I was attracted to the geometric patterns of the folded paper, thus for my next page of research I elaborated on this idea. Seeing George Condo's exhibition the Hayward Gallery allowed me to develop my exploration of geometric shapes as the subjects of Condo's paintings are characterised by their angular, distorted faces. Thus in response to these portraits, I used strong, angular shapes to divide my face into segments and then painted these in with flesh tones to evoke Condo's portraits. While this portrait successfully distorted and disfigured my face, I decided to create a paper model using another self portrait photo as I thought this would create a more abstract and disproportionate image. Using the same pattern as I had on the previous page, I created the paper model, taking photos of it in different stages of compression, and then cut back into the image in order to distort the image further.


Next steps


Carrying on from my exploration of distortion, I will bring all my ideas together to create several possible thumbnails for a final piece. In order to do this I will look at the work of Sarah Van Beek, who create having mobiles with a number of different images and thus plays with proportion and depth. Responding to her work will give me an opportunity to amalgamate all the pieces I have created together and help me to a thumbnail that successfully related all the ideas I have looked at in my project so far. 

George Condo: Mental States - The Hayward Gallery

George Condo: Mental States presents the artists work over the past thirty years and charts the development of his distinctively provocative and slightly unnerving portraiture style. The exhibition, which is divided into three main thematic sections (portraiture, abstract-figuration and mania and melancholy) related directly to my exploration of distortion, especially facial distortion and abstraction. In fact, from the beginning of his career, Condo's work has focused on redefining our basic ideas of portraiture; in paintings such as 'Red Antipodular', 1996, we see that Condo's technique derives from Classical and modernist painting, yet the characters like the one shown in this image are entirely his own creation, meaning his paintings take on a playful, fantasy quality. Condo regularly features these misfit characters in his works; while the before mentioned painting features Big Red, a character Condo describes as 'a being that was ushered in from the periphery of my consciousness and brought forward to be painted', other paintings depict Jean-Louis, an imaginary butler and Rodrigo, a low life type.

Although I was entertained by paintings featuring Condo's fantasy characters, such as 'The Butler', 2000, I was most attracted to the more figurative portraits depicting identifiable characters from popular culture. For example Condo's 2009 portrait 'Skinny Jim' does not evoke one particular clown but rather draws upon the theme of the circus. Yet Condo subverts this establishment by placing a cigarette in the clown's limp left hand, thereby challenging the role of the clown as a children's entertainer and alluding to more sinister associations. Yet above all it is the face - the focal point of the image - which most surprises and disturbs our viewing experience. While the clown's eyes are unsymmetrical and out of proportion, Condo's character is painted with several different mouths - three to be exact - stretched in  a broken line across his face. These distorted features have the immediate effect of disorientating and confusing the viewer. However I found these portraits the most intriguing and humorous and came away from the exhibition wanting to apply Condo's wit and playfulness to my own paintings.

For many of the same reasons stated above, I was also drawn to 'Dreams and Nightmares of the Queen', 2006, although due to the iconic value of the paintings subject (the queen), I enjoyed this painting even more as it was a clear mockery of the British establishment. Like 'Skinny Jim', here Condo has rendered the queen's features strange and alien by contorting and introverting her mouth. In fact, by corrupting her image, Condo has created a caricature of the queen and satirised the entire monarchy. It was this aspect of Condo's paintings which I was most eager to channel into my own work. After observing the facial disfigurations in many of Condo's portraits, I became drawn to collage as a medium through which I could play and experiment with facial composition and create an image reminiscent of Condo's work.

I was also drawn to the geometric facial composition of the subject in Condo's 'The Cracked Cardinal', 2004, and was inspired to pick out distinctive facial features using lines and geometric shapes in my own portrait experiments. I also decided to pursue the paper folding technique I had experiment with earlier in the project and use it to create a geometric, cubic portrait evocative of Condo's. Overall the exhibition inspired my project greatly as now I have narrowed the focus of my project to look at facial distortion and embellishment using geometric patterns.

Art Intervention

Leading on from exploring the figure in space and setting up scenes using the model paper man, I began to look more into art interventions. By definition an art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience or space so by placing my paper man in the fridge for example, I was in effect, and without knowing it, creating an intervention as I was subverting the purpose of the environment and engaging with the space. In recent years, this form of conceptual and performance art has become particularly popular. Commonly associated with the Dada movement and the Neo-Dadaists, art interventions have an inherent playfulness about them as they encourage viewers or the audience to interact with the work and with those around them experiencing the intervention. When learning about art interventions in class, what particularly captured my attention was the ability of these art installations to alter the physical environment and make people see things in a new way.

One such example of this was the wrapped Reichstag building by Christo and Jeanne Claude - the wrapping begun in 1977 and wasn't finished until 1995!

The Wrapped Reichstag building, Christo& Jeanne-Claude, Berlin, 1995

Plans for the intervention by Christo & Jeanne-Claude

Living in a city, I was also really interested by the prospect of altering an urban space and reintegrating nature and organic matter into a concrete, city environment.  An intervention which achieves exactly this is the recently built 'High Line' in New York city. Built on a section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad, the High Line project has organised the redesign of the space and has planted an arial greenway. The High Line park runs from West 12th Street in the meatpacking district all the way up to 30th Street, so it runs through a considerable part of the city.

The High Line before and after

People on the High Line

Plan of the High Line

I was so inspired by the idea of the High Line and recreating a natural environment in an urban setting that I went about trying to re-create (on a much smaller scale) the high line garden on the street outside my house! Using a small bundle of cress, I went onto the road outside my house and place the cress on the pavement, in between cracks and on ground hole covers in order to recreate a natural, organic environment in amongst a city landscape.

Cress placed over a ground hole cover

Cress inserted in a crack in the pavement

Placing the cress on a boulder and playing with perspective

Using only one small box of cress, it was difficult to completely transform an urban environment into a green garden space, however, by using perspective and focusing on subverting small aspects of the environment, I think I successfully managed to recreate some of the aims of the New York High Line gardeners. As I became more interested in using organic forms as intervention materials, I discovered a really amazing recent movement that's kick off in cities all around the world in the past couple of years. Its called guerilla gardening and it involves small teams of people collaborating together to plant small gardens or allotments in abandoned areas of the city. Sometimes they even take up pavement blocks to plant flowers and grass. 

Guerilla gardening in Spain

Paper sculptures

For this exercise, everyone in my art class was told to create small paper models of figures. Because there was no template to follow, everyone's paper figures ended up looking completely different - some had huge heads, others had arms twice the length of their legs - but for this exercise, proportion and scale did not matter at all. In fact, I think the best thing about the exercise and creating a scenario with our different paper figures was the way in which everyone was forced to disregard proportion and scale due to our time limitations.

Because I  enjoyed the exercise so much, I continued to play around with the paper model I had made. My instinct was to place my little paper man in different situations around the house and photograph his interaction with different objects. I couldn't think of many places to put him so I stuck him in the fridge and had him sit on top of a peanut butter jar!

Then I began thinking about how I could alter the paper man himself. Paper is a great material because it's so versatile  - you can cut it, fold it, eat it - so I decided that I would cut into my paper sculpture in order to create a more interesting subject to photograph.