A reflection from the beginning…
At the outset my vision was to work with different homeless agencies in order to research the homeless issue and collect my own primary sources to work from to create a series of portraits challenging the public’s preconceptions and confronting the truth about the causes and effects of homelessness.
Over the past three months my motives have become stronger as my understanding of the issues are much clearer. Through my exploration of the subject matter and my methods of working, my project has evolved into something much more diverse and rewarding. Initially my aim was to produce a series of contemporary portraits using traditional materials and approaches, however, as I became more connected with the homeless community I found that other approaches had something to offer.
By reflecting back to my beginning posts and then to my most recent for this project, I have found that as my understanding of the homeless community developed, my use of materials and mediums have improved. The introduction of cardboard and construction materials such as wood and cement are intended to give the viewer and myself another layer and meaning to explore.
Having spent three years studying portraiture I came to realise that the most contemporary and exciting form of portraiture could be found on the streets. After studying these methods and motivations of street artists such as Vhils, Jeff Aerosol and Ernest Zacharevic, I began to feel that the use of both traditional and contemporary approaches could be very powerful in conveying my message in the same way that it has proved for the artists mentioned above.
Some side ventures of my project have had to be shelved perhaps for a future date because of time restraints and to maintain an efficient way of working. For instance the proposal put to me of holding meaningful activities such as art classes for the clientèle. This would have proved to be too costly in terms of time and I would not have been able to give the classes my full commitment during the period of this project. I have ideas for future projects which could be much more beneficial at a later date.
I also had the intention of working from primary sources, however as I have mentioned in previous posts the use of primary sources from one agency would have given me a very narrow view of homelessness as a whole.
