Tricia’s Art Blog

 

Fabric and sewing have been an important and ever present source of creativity throughout my life. My mum was always making and mending and going to choose and buy fabrics with her was always a great adventure. I want to make another work using fabric and sewing and combining that with my affinity with words.

Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin are two of the artists that featured in my dissertation, both made use of fabric and sewing in some of their art works.

Here are some examples from Louise Bourgeois:

Louise Bourgeois: Untitled  (2003)

Media: Fabric

Dimensions: 28.6 x 37.5cm

Location: Fondazione Vedova, Venice

Louise Bourgeois: Untitled: (2006)

Media: Fabric with ink and fabric collage

Dimensions: 56.1 x 66.6cm

Location: Fondazione Vedova, Venice

 

Louise Bourgeois: Untitled: (2002)

Media: Woven fabric

Dimensions: 27.3 x 21.6cm

Location: Fondazione Vedova, Venice

Louise Bourgeois: Untitled: (2006)

Media: Fabric

Dimensions: 38.7 x 48.6cm

Location: Fondazione Vedova, Venice

 

Louise Bourgeois: Untitled: ( 2005)

Media: Fabric

Dimensions: 27.9 x 36.8cm

Location: Fondazione Vedova, Venice

 

These designs remind me of quilts  and spiders webs.

Louise Bourgeois was a life-long hoarder of fabrics, as am I. She collected clothes, tablecloths napkins and bed linen which she would cut up and re-use. Having been a seamstress and quilt maker for many years, I can truly identify with this process. Louise Bourgeois had this to say about her sewing:

“I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep thing together and make things whole.” ( Louise Bourgeois as quoted on the Hauser & Wirth website)

Available at:

http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/743/louise-bourgeois-the-fabric-works/view/

 

And from Tracey Emin:

Tracey Emin: Automatic Orgasm:  (2001)

Media: Appliqued blanket

Dimensions: 263 x 214cm

Location: White Cube

Image courtesy of White Cube

Photo taken by Stephen White

Image available at:

http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/tracey_emin.htm

 

Tracey Emin: I Do not Expect: ( 2002)

Media: Appliqued blanket

Dimensions: 264.16 x 184.8cm

Location: Private Collection

Image courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia

Image available at:

http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/files/2011/05/27/img-tracey-emin-1_104927538529.jpg_x_325x433_c.jpg

 

Tracey Emin: Contamination of the Soul: (2008)

Media: Appliqued Blanket

Dimensions: 98.62 x 78.35

Location: Unknown

Image available at:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0d24ee26-da7d-11e2-8062-00144feab7de.html#axzz3TgIiZICx

 

Emin takes a traditional craft and elevates it to the status of  Fine Art.

Like the late Louise Bourgeois – with whom she worked to create 16 prints that will be shown in New York this September – Emin employs the lightness of traditional “women’s crafts”, like sewing, to explore what Bourgeois classed as the volcanic unconscious which we only ever encounter in parts:

“That’s why I use a lot of embroidery,” Emin explains. “I take this craft but I don’t treat it like a craft, but like high art. I didn’t know who Louise Bourgeois was until 1996. I had started on my own trajectory and I was so amazed when I came across her.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/tracey-emin-craft-work-2004036.html

 

I am currently working around the hidden aspect of child abuse. In the vast majority of cases that are only now coming to light the victims have kept silent about what happened to them for many years, through reasons of guilt, shame, or fear of not being believed.

I started by making the arms, measuring the length of my own arms to give an approximation of size.

Construction of the Fabric Sculpture (2014)

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

 

Next the legs.

Construction of the Fabric Sculpture (2014)

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

 

The finished figure.

Tricia Cottrell: Untitled (2014)

Media: Fabric Thread, Plasters

Dimensions: 45cm wide x 60.5cm high x 56cm deep

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

 

I changed my mind about putting the words on the plasters, It seemed too obvious. I decided after all to stitch the plasters on to the figure. The stitches are important, they represent all the hurt and pain being held inside and not being apparent to anyone else. Many victims of abuse admit to keeping silent about their experiences because of feelings of guilt and shame.

Tricia Cottrell: Untitled (2014)

Media: Fabric Thread, Plasters

Dimensions: 45cm wide x 60.5cm high x 56cm deep

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

 

Stitch by stitch.

 

 

I have a couple of ideas for art pieces that will use words. When I first conceived the idea of working with text, I looked at other text artists, Jenny Holzer and Barbara Kruger, some of these images definitely struck a chord with me.

Barbara Kruger: You are a Prisoner of Your Ghosts

Media: No Details

Dimensions: No Details

Location: No Details

Image available at:

https://www.pinterest.com/anayerbua/barbara-kruger/

 

Barbara Kruger: Your Body is a Battleground (1989)

Media: Silk Screen on Vinyl

Dimensions: 112 x 112inches

Location: Broad Art Foundation

Image available at:

http://oseculoprodigioso.blogspot.co.uk/2007/04/kruger-barbara-arte-conceptual.html

 

Barbara Kruger: Your Comfort is my Silence: (1981)

Media: Photowork

Dimensions: 56 x 40 inches

Location: Daros Exhibitions, Zurich, Switzerland

 

Barbara Kruger is renowned for her collages made from found images taken from magazines, and layered with often aggressive messages. The magazines she uses are often selling the very messages that she is disputing.

Jenny Holzer: Truisms: (1984)

Media: Metal light emitting diode units and plastic

Dimensions: 16.9 x 153,9 x 16.2cm

Location: Tate Collection

Image available at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/holzer-truisms-t03959

Jenny Holzer: I Can’t Tell You: (2007)

Media: Art: Black, grey, photography. Typography, White

 

Jenny Holzer: I Feel You (2007)

Media: Art: Black, grey, photography. Typography, White

 

Jenny Holzer: I See You: (2007)

Media: Art: Black, grey, photography. Typography, White

Images  of the preceding three projections, which were shown in San Diego in 2007 are:

Available at:

http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2009/02/24/jenny-holzer-projections/

 

 

Jenny Holzer’s texts are often  projected  on the walls of buildings. I’m not planning anything quite as elaborate as that but a projection of some kind is a definite possibility.

I am going to make a life sized figure and cover it with plasters that will have all the words that seemed to encapsulate my thoughts about sexual abuse written or painted on. Or maybe I will project the words onto the figure and scroll them across the body.

Tricia Cottrell: Preparatory Sketch: (2014)

Media: Pencil on Paper

Dimensions: 11.5cm x 20cm

Location: Artists Sketchbook

Scanned Image

 

Words on Plasters ?

 

Tricia Cottrell: Preparatory Sketch: (2014)

Media: Pencil on Paper

Dimensions: 11.5cm x 20cm

Location: Artists Sketchbook

Scanned Image

 

Words on Body ?

 

After a tutorial with Robin, and at his suggestion, I added a light switch to the wall and narrowed the bedroom doorway. This narrowing had the effect of obscuring part of the crucifix and thereby creating some tension in the composition.

Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence in progress: (2014)

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions: 119.5cm x 63cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

He also pointed out that the painting looked very flat and recommended that I look at some paintings by Vermeer and some of Hammershoi’s interiors to see how they used light and shade.
These are some of the images I looked at by Johannes Vermeer:

Johannes Vermeer:  A Young Woman Seated at the Virginal: (1670-72)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 25.1 x 20cm

Location: Private Collection, New York

Image available at:

http://news.artnet.com/art-world/johannes-vermeer-the-36th-painting-30525/

 

Johannes Vermeer: The Geographer: 1668-1669

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 51.6 x 45.4cm

Location: Staedel Museum, Frankfurt

Image available at:

http://www.staedelmuseum.de/en/collection-highlights

 

Johannes Vermeer: The Girl with the Wine Glass: (1659-1660)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 78 x 63cm

Location: Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig

Image available at:

https://vermeer0708.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/the-girl-with-the-wine-glass/

 

These are some of the images I looked at by Vilhelm Hammershoi:

 

Wilhelm Hammershoi: Interior: (1899)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 64.5 x 58.1cm

Location: Tate Collection

Image available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/interior-199114

 

Wilhelm Hammershoi: Interior, Sunlight on the Floor (1906)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 51.8 x 44cm

Location: Tate Collection

 

Wilhelm Hammershoi: Woman in an Interior: (1909)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 57.1 x 62.2cm

Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Image available at:

These images can be found online at:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/woman-in-an-interior-34742

 

After studying these images, I decided that the light source would come from above and behind the figures in the doorway and painted the shadows accordingly. The painting no longer looks flat and I feel that it is much improved.

Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence in progress: (2014)

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions: 119.5cm x 63cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014

 

I spent some time debating whether or not to leave the figures with a ghostly appearance. In the end I decided that I would paint the man but leave the child so that she could be seen through, like a ghost, as if she is not really there. This represents the childhood that was stolen from me.

Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence : (2014)

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions: 119.5cm x 63cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell (2014)

 

Up close and personal…

http://youtu.be/KONRaP8urPA

Video: Taken by Tricia Cottrell (2015)

I wanted to paint a picture that would highlight the hidden nature of child abuse. Victims often keep silent about what is happening to them, so life goes on in a seemingly normal way but under the surface damage is being done and no one else is aware.

Tricia Cottrell: Preparatory Sketch: (2014)

Media: Pencil on Paper

Dimensions: 9cm x 19cm

Location: Artists Sketchbook

Scanned Image (2015)

This is the preparatory sketch for my painting. I have included elements which remind me of my childhood home. The crucifix on the wall, a must have item for any good Catholic home. The painting of Jesus with three small children is a memory from my grandmother’s house. The cross stitch sampler is a reference to my mother’s sewing skills, and her love of making things, which I inherited and she encouraged. The ‘Home sweet Home’ sentiment signifies the feeling that home should be a place of love, comfort and safety.

I started by painting the walls.

Tricia Cottrell: Drawing for sketchbook: (2015)

Media: Graphite pencil, Coloured pencil

Dimensions: 5cm x 13cm

Location: Artists sketchbook

Scanned Image

 

I chose to paint them blue, for two reasons. Firstly, the colour blue often indicates sadness, such as the paintings made by Pablo Picasso, during his blue period. This followed the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemus in Paris.

Pablo Picasso: Woman With Crossed Arms: (1901-1902)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 81.3 x 58.4 cm

Location: Private Collection of Christopher Burge

Image available at:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/9176723/After-Woman-with-Folded-Arms

Pablo Picasso: Camille Pissaro: (1880)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 64.2 x 80cm

Location: The Baltimore Museum of Art

Image available at:

http://nasher.duke.edu/matisse/mobile/art.html

 

The other reason I chose blue, was because it also reminds me of summer. When I think back to when I was a small child, I remember that time seemed to be measured by days of blue skies and warm sun.

 

The following images are by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet respectively.

Vincent Van Gogh: Almond Blossom: (1890)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 73.3 x 92.4cm

Location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Image available at:

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/blossoming-almond-tree.html

Claude Monet: Blue Water Lilies: (1916-1919)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 200 x 200cm

Location: Musee d’Orsay, Paris

Image available at:

http://historylists.org/art/list-of-10-claude-monets-water-lilies.html

These images make me think of summer.

 

My next task was to paint the miniature paintings.

Tricia Cottrell: Suffer the Little Children: (2014)

Painting within: Loss of Innocence: (2014)

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions of Board:119.5cm x 63cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell: (2014)

I really enjoyed the process of painting in miniature, using small brushes and fine detail, but it took much longer to complete than I had anticipated.

 

TriciaCottrell: Home Sweet Home: (2014)

Painting within: Loss of Innocence: (2014)

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions of Board: 119.5cm x 63cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell: (2014)

 

When I first painted the sampler, Robin pointed out that I had put HOHE SWEET HOME instead of HOME SWEET HOME. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I hadn’t even noticed. I quickly rectified my mistake.

 

Next, I painted the bedroom detail and the crucifix.

Tricia Cottrell: Loss of Innocence: (2014)

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions of Board: 119.5cm x 63cm

Location: Artists Collection

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell: (2014)

 

Tricia Cottrell: Crucifix (2014)

Painting within Loss of Innocence (2014

Media: Acrylic on Hardboard

Dimensions of Board: 119.5cm x 63cm

Photograph: Tricia Cottrell: (2014)

Close-up Detail

It felt very strange to me when I came to paint the crucifix, an icon which was such an integral part of my childhood years and one that I am so far removed from now. It stirred up a conflict of emotions and beliefs.