Photograph of Wangechi Mutu, 2015, 3648mm × 2736mm. Taken from on-line Google image search.
I happened upon a very interesting artist called Wangechi Mutu. She is photographed with a mix of pattern and objects that appealed to me as a very interesting composition for a painting. The textures, patterns and contrast really stand out. I like her dark skin. Mutu works is concentrated on collages of pattern and paint to comment on her experiences of being an African female.
However, my work is concerned purely with investigating and mixing fabric, fashion, colours and the wrapping or covering of the figure. The mixing of these elements, for me, will work well and are about the use of colour within the work whilst also raising thoughts on issues of stereotypes of who, where and why we decorate our homes and wrap ourselves in what we do.
I have finally decided on my next piece of work and sketched it roughly onto the canvas. It is a mix of pattern, bold print and vibrant colours (I hope).
The fabric print is taken from an old Vogue photograph showing peacock and floral elements.
Photograph of silk fabric, 2015, taken from Google image on-line search, source unknown.
Packing from a parcel had a wonderful texture. I reminded me of coconut matting and I used it to to describe a wrapped form. Its only small but is a very tactile and interesting piece of work.
Kathryn Raffell, 2015, Untitled, Cardboard, 60cmx10cm dia.
Having re-primed the canvas I have an idea that I will paint a female figure that is “wrapped” in clothing
Re Think
I researched on the web, in magazines and books and have come up with several images that I will mix together to make my new piece of work. It will be a reclining female wearing a silk patterned kimono and the background will be an animal skin print pattern.
An artist called Yayoi Kusama makes wonderful paintings of colourful spots that gave me the idea for the background and building on this to base an idea.
This is a photograph of Yayoi Kusama with one of her pieces in the background. The image was taken from:-
http://www.pictured.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yayoi-Kusama-00.jpg
Over the summer break I decided to make and paint a large canvas (1.8×1.2m). I researched for my dissertation the work of past old masters and in particular a painting by Velasquez.
Diego Velasquez, Rokeby Venus, c. 1647–51. 122cm x 177cm (48in x 49.7in). National Gallery, London.
Jenny Saville, (2013-14), Olympia, Charcoal and oil on canvas, 217x290cm, shown at the Gagosian Gallery in July 2014.
I studied and researched the Velasquez and Saville work and then used them to make my own work.
Kathryn Raffell, 2014, Venus meets Olympia, Acrylic on canvas, 180cmx120cm.
The change of scale brought new challenges, using larger brushes and mixing bigger quantities of paint was so different to what I was used to.
I previewed the work every few days and changed parts I thought didn’t work. However, it didn’t matter how many times I repainted or changed the colours and shading I couldn’t make it work so in the end I decided to paint over it and start again with a new idea. It was not time or materials wasted as I gained a lot of experience in painting techniques that need to be used with work on a larger scale and I can take these lessons I learnt into my next piece of work.
I have wrapped this idea under a new primed layer that will be the foundation of new work.
