Monday, our first full day back at the college, saw my appointment as the Student Rep. I happened to be in the library at the moment when everyone was gathered around the table in the cafe, declaring their refusals; I only gathered something was afoot when I heard my name and saw a few shy glances towards me. I don’t mind. I think I’ve become a bit of a squeaky wheel recently, which seems to be the entire job description. There was also a near altercation involving myself over a curtain, but perhaps that should be left for another occasion, or left entirely.
After having the collective finger pointed at me for the role of mouthpiece, I could conveniently get down to discussing the end of year show with the group. It’s been on their minds as well, so it wasn’t quite the shock I had feared for them. As I’d anticipated, we are split as to our investment in and expectations of the show. There’s no clear majority either, as 40% want to exhibit off-site, 40% want to stay put, and the other 20 are blowing in the wind. Despite this, I do have a feeling that it’ll be fairly straightforward organising the rest of the show, and if we do exhibit at Henwood, we’ll make the very best of it.
Personally I came away from Monday’s tutorial with far less of a clear head than I’d have liked. I felt expected to choose between a pathway in painting and one in sculpture. That leaves no room for my plans for an elaborate screen printing fest either. Yes, I do tend to be over-ambitious.The more-is-more ethos is definitely taking me over. Secretly I’ve been squirreling away plans to end the year in a one-woman salon-hang; perhaps not so secretly seeing as I’ve started to populate my studio with the summer’s experiments in just the same way. Yet although I would find it hard to wrench myself away from my brushes, the thought of not getting to grips with some reductive sculpture in wood or stone is hideous. So far the best compromise I can come up with is to carve in the studio and paint in the living room. I don’t think I’m ready to define myself solely as one thing, but I concede that I do spread myself rather thinly at times.
Tuesday found me feeling absolutely determined to pursue both avenues equally. Having a tutor whose practice revolves around sculpting in wood is too good a resource not to use. I came away from the tutorial more informed about wood sculpture and generally more open to polychromy. Combining the two aspects of my work should be a natural process; not necessarily in terms of literally painting on sculptures, but because of the themes and approach being the same. Hopefully the work will successfully communicate the same ideas regardless of medium. The hunt for some wood blocks and/or stone for carving has begun!
The dissertation is the least of my concerns right now. I have a very clear idea of my area of research, and I have a few paragraphs of a proposal which will provide a skeleton. I was hoping that my working title, “Shrinking Parts: Will The Male Muse Be Brought In From The Cold?” would get me a few points for comedic value – it did raise a laugh when I delivered the proposal – but of course I am capable of playing it straight as well. My reading and notation have started, and I feel fairly confident that I’ll be able to keep on schedule. Fortunately the subject of the depiction of men and masculinity in art post-feminism has interested me for a while now and continues to direct my practical work as well. Apart from the dissertation there are shorter referenced essays which are to be handed in with the course modules, which I want to start fleshing out straight away.
On the other side of the academic scale, I may be entering an arrangement with my son’s primary school wherein I volunteer an hour a week to help with an art lesson. Keeping a beady eye on him and his seven-year-old cohorts should be an enlightening experience. I’ve got a few extra curricular art-related activities on the go over the weekend, but I’ll save those (and pictures!) for the next installment…
