We do this really useful (and seemingly simple) thing at college – our tutor asks us to sum up what our practice comprises of in one word – that’s actually really tricky! We were having a group crit last week and we were all asked to find one word – why is it that when faced with this task tens of words fall clumsily from my mouth? Eventually I found my word, after explaining that I felt I was in a muddy trench wading and wobbling about in ankle deep mud ( enjoyably!) – yes – I am ‘unearthing’ things; coming across fragments of ideas and picking them up and examining them; reflecting on how I transform these ideas through work and then cataloging them for reference. Its’ pretty messy in my trench and rather chaotic but I have unearthed a rich seam of finds and am examining them with scrutiny and anticipation.
Before this point, and for a few months, I struggled with my subject matter; working autobiographically with objects is far harder than with objects relating to others. Its personal. It has been difficult to get beyond the confusion of emotions that rose to the surface as I worked with the figurine (an object of personal significance and the subject of all my current work). Reading Contemporary Art and Memory by Joan Gibbons (published by Tauris) is really helping me to get beyond my emotional blocks. The book examines a few artists at a time with regard to particular aspects of ‘memory work’. In the first chapter Gibbons looked at Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin. Looking at how artists manifest their experiences and perceptions through practice has given me a freedom of expression. I am able to look at precisely how artists use physical elements of their past – furniture, clothing and personal imagery for example, to construct new re-worked versions of their experiences.
Its very useful to have these threads running through my mind when making work – they act as a source of ideas and reference and they also help me to detach from my emotional constraints. Its interesting how to fill your already busy mind with lots more ideas helps to solve problems and create clarity. So to my muddy trench I am adding a constantly flowing stream of water that cleans the fragments revealing their substance and value.
This sense of things working together to provide ideas and solutions is visible in my practice in another way too. I am making drawings on one studio wall whilst on the opposite wall I’m simultaneously playing around with photographic experiments and three dimensional responses. It feels like an ambidextrous approach to working – rather like the feeling you get when patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time ( a childhood pass-time); its quite tricky but possible with concentration and a little practice ( have just tried it and its still funny!). Perhaps this studio set up is my hypothetical trench realised in a physical space. I can go from one wall to another – examining evidence, making adjustments, taking notes ; all the time unearthing more fragments, finding new responses and building up a body of work.
