Paintingtheinnate: 2015

Response - Reflect - Review

Getting to grips with the intuitive process and understanding the limitations of understanding.

The journey continues, the need to create, record, document and then the need to understand, are ever present. The act itself is intuitive, process led, direct responses to the way that the marks /colour rest on the canvas /paper but, its purpose? value? relevance? Can of mental worms? Absolutely.

There is a sense of discovery in the new work, a cathartic experience, reflective of where I find myself at this stage of my life. Personal events that have occurred that naturally seep into the work, not as literal narrative but in the concept of editing; things that were and are, no more. As much as I try, I can no longer hear my parents' voices, what I have is an imagined archive; layers cover up time, creating new time, old memories, new memories, it's all part of the process of change. Exterior / Interior. It's still an edited version of it, a hybrid; part perceived and part, faithfully recounted. The truth is in there somewhere. I genuinely want to make work that attempts to express deeper unspoken emotions and for it to reveal only what is necessary at any given moment of time. Shifts in the pattern of time, both literal and metaphorical.

The large etching continues to reveal new memories, literally by scratching the surface:

Smaller investigations:

I am still approaching the work with a genuine desire for 'surprise' - discovering the 'magic' that can sometimes evolve through the act of 'what if' - it is only natural that the work can be hit and miss but too much control can lead to repetition; the beauty of etching is its ability to repeat and this offers enormous freedom. You are safe in the knowledge that you can take risks and the original print is 'safe', the excitement of pulling back the paper to reveal what has turned out, this for me, has never gone away. The interaction between the press and paper, it is sheer magic!

The painting is evolving, I am continuing to use the textile screens and other media. The random/ haphazard placement still at the core of the start of any image. I want to work things out, to put myself in a place where I am not entirely certain about the outcome, to discover a passage of paint that determines the painting's direction. Space within the image is becoming important, subtle shadows & light that play with the picture frame and its surface.

Beginnings :

Endings:

The work is on the move, I am on the move, at the moment it feels like a good place to be - then again...

Surface, Memories and Suggestion.

Expectations, Dilution and Hidden History.

The rambling nature of this blog is reflective of the internal thought processes of my mind. As part of my quest for understanding my desire to communicate inevitably there is a lot of ....... stuff; stuff that leads to new understanding and new dilemmas. A multitude of stuff that is incredibly exciting e.g. a section of an image that has an element of magic about it, things fall into place - shape, colour, translucency, mark, size, relationship etc... at the same time as all of this happens I am all too aware of the opposite of all of these things, as it usually occurs somewhere else in the same image. This is about expectations and the realisation that it can be a weighty reminder of the complexities involved in creativity; a mass of forces that can appear to gather as one, only to scatter in opposite directions!

The open ended nature of this exploration demands that there is no formula and no, dilution. Herein lies part of the dilemma, just how to do you avoid these two things? For instance, something is working, do you: a) repeat it knowing its harmonious outcome or b) deliberately not repeat it because you don't want it to become formulaic. It's an internal dilemma, one whose rules are set by an unknown charter; albeit a very multi layered charter that I don't fully comprehend despite being its author. No wonder its a rollercoaster ride!
The studio extension has greatly improved things in all sorts of ways, the light naturally is an important factor but I think the extra air volume caused by the high ceiling is a contributor to a new sense of purpose.

The Inverleith etching press is now up and running, oh, the joy of using such an old beast with all its gravitas. It's early days, but so far, so good - there are minor workspace details still to sort out, but the moveable workbenches is proving a good idea. The screen print bench (able to print A0) is now fully installed, there is sense of things finally coming together. Still need electricity installed and heating solution but hey, it's light till 10pm and I'm feeling positive about the whole thing - naturally this will be offset further down the line, but for now.

The work is beginning to reveal itself, in that I am starting to understand its context. Hidden History + Hidden Meanings - the use of textile pattern suggesting interior (decoration) space and the expression "if walls could talk" alluding to the passage of time; it comes down to layers, the passing of time, the act of editing internal space both physical and mental - scars, erosion,revelation - ultimately, the trapping of time. This is in both, the actual image and the artist, intrinsically intertwined, an exchange that continuously presents new questions, new answers, but not necessarily in a straight line. I am my work and my work is, me - it's all there, laid bare on the canvas, all of my shortcomings, mistakes, assumptions; all staring back at me ..... still, so are all the positives and, despite the obvious angst that raises its head, I feel that the work is moving in the right direction.

105 x 105 cm water based pigment/ oil/ screen print/ graphite on canvas

105 x 105 cm water based pigment/ screen print/ gold leaf on canvas

210 x 105 cm water based pigment/ screen print on canvas

105 x 105 cm water based pigment/ screen print/ crayon on canvas

50 x 70 cm water based pigment/ screen print on canvas

70 x 70 cm water based pigment/ enamel/ screen print on canvas

70 x 70 cm water based pigment/ screen print on canvas

Recently I have been working on a series of drypoint etchings including a large plate (70 x 52 cm), the plate originally had a hard ground covering on it and had been in storage; looking at the marks made by the roller reminding me of a plastered wall and its surface affected by hidden history became its starting point,, maintaining the line of enquiry in the paintings. As well as using the textile screens on the canvasses I have also been applying them onto the etchings using very translucent mixes, allowing for an unknown interaction between the two formats, playing with the idea of layers of domestic interior decor, its unknown past revealing itself.