Saturday 19 May 2012

Hessian Installation - "Adrift".

   

  Adrift is a sculptural installation created in the Shaun Project Space on the15th May 2012. Following on from Go with the flow, 2012, this springs from my interest in the actions, thoughts and objects which have been left behind – the lasting results of movement. I was aiming to create a series of works which took the viewer on a journey to experience a path not encountered before.
    I have documented the art work in a series of video slide shows made up of still and moving digital photographic images. After listening to an Artist Talk given by Kate Liston last week at the University, it made me reaffirm the importance of documenting "temporary" or "transient" art works using video. The work was only exhibited for a few hours"in the flesh" but lives on in the photographic record. In the future the work maybe solely a video presentation.
     I responded to the space and features available in the room. The position of the hessian pieces was influenced by the position of the available holes in the walls I found to screw hooks into. The fabric was suspended above the floor, some pieces touched the floor. I had no formal plan and hung the hessian forms as I went along, hanging them in response to the position and height of the previously placed pieces. A process very akin to drawing - drawing in 3D. The whole space in the room is occupied, either by the hessian forms themselves or the equally important negative space in between the material pieces and their fishing line supports. I constructed this piece so the viewer could get in amongst  and all around the edges, to interact with the work.         
      Unlike Go with the Flow  this can be classified as an sculptural installation rather than an individual sculpture. As the work fills the room, it is impossible to take a photograph of the whole piece in one go, nothing can be viewed from a long distance giving the work a greater degree of intimacy. 


     The following series of photographs were taken in reduced natural light ,highlighted with a single spotlight.The resulting accompanying shadows do add an extra dimension to the work. The colours and tones of the fabric can be perceived differently when lit this way.There appear to be a greater range of tones used. The room feels more populated, almost overfilled. I think I prefer the warmer tones produced in florescent light, which can be seen in the second video published on this post.


Adrift. (2012). Hessian fabric, scrim, coffee sacking, twine, rope, paste, suspended by fishing line.



Still Adrift. (2012). Hessian fabric, scrim, coffee sacking, twine, rope, paste, suspended by fishing line.


Most of these photographs we taken under fluorescent light, some of them with  the addition of a single spotlight. In the latter shots some subtle shadows can be observed. In this warmer lighting the separate forms appear more connected and suggest a flow of movement.


Moving Adrift. (2012). Hessian fabric, scrim, coffee sacking, twine, rope, paste, suspended by fishing line.

In this third video, I have used a short piece of moving image of the installation to see it recording it "in movement" increases the effectiveness. I have also added a electro - house soundtrack  (Good this News - J. Williams 2012). However, after comparing all versions I would put forward the videos of still images at this stage.
    I look forward developing and refining this method of exhibiting my work. I also plan to build this sculptural work again but place it in alternative settings. During this project I have further expanded on my use of the found object but as an confirmed "maker", I find I enjoy the challenge of modifying it's original form,  ever in the hope the result will suprise and excite.

Friday 18 May 2012

Growing Hessian.

Hessian  floor mix. 2012.

Hessian family group. 2012.

I tried to create a sculptural piece using the hessian forms from the floor upwards, but could not achieve any significant height over the length of one coffee sack. These works remained floor sculptures. Some interesting forms evolved .

From the ashes.

This hanging sculptural work was composed from the pieces of hessian material, tape, scrim and rope ripped "carefully" from the 2 Ripped Off canvases. They work better than on the canvases. The shapes and forms created a far more dynamic and effective.  The3D aspect brings back the movement and life!


From the Ashes  (hessian fabric, scrim, rope, coffee sacks) 2012.


From the Ashes  (hessian fabric, scrim, rope, coffee sacks) 2012.



Adding spot lighting creates an extra dimension to the sculptural piece - shadowing. Also gives the form a stronger figurative reference, which was not planned or expected.




Thursday 17 May 2012

Curtains!

Took the opportunity to re hang my  re-modelled curtains in the Shaun Project Space. Photographed using spotlight to highlight and accentuate the folds and creased forms.


Velvet Crush  ( velvet curtains, paste, hand made wire hooks) 2012.



Wednesday 16 May 2012

Canvases stripped and revealed.



I decided to rip the hessian off the canvas works.What is left - minimal ,abstract marks - traces of what was once there. I'm preferring these compositions to their previous incarnations.This construct and de-construct process is worth consideration for creation of future works.

Ripped off , Acrylic paint, ink,hessian residue on canvas 228x107cm   

Ripped off 1 , Acrylic paint, ink,hessian residue on canvas 228x107cm  

These canvases do work better than their previous relief editions..The paint, ink and torn pieces of fabric left behind on the canvas surface are intriguing. I like their random appearance and  the minimal application of shapes and forms leaving much of the canvas visible. 

Monday 14 May 2012

Shaun Project Space interrupted.....

Hanging of the 2 canvases with hessian relief  and ink drawings in the Shaun Project Space.








The  canvases and drawings work well together in the white cube space, however they lack the impact made by the 3D pieces, they are "stuck" on the wall and don't travel  far enough.



 



Tuesday 1 May 2012

Hessian canvases in close up.


I have taken a series of digital photographs of both my Hessian based canvases. These close up images, on the whole, are more successful than the complete canvases. The abstracted forms created provide simplified effective compositions - with possibilities to rework and reconstruct ?

This video is best viewed on YouTube - the definition is much better.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Hiding away from the light






An old pair of velvet curtains, they used to hang in my son James' room, before he left home. They have been given the same treatment at the hessian material and sacks ( soaked in wallpaper paste, moulded over household objects, left to dry.) and hung as if on a washing line or at a window. Using this alternative, more opaque fabric has adds different quality and effect to my previous hanging sculptural pieces. The viewer cannot see through to "the other side" giving the work a more mysterious, almost sinister feel. I like the shapes and forms created, they can be observed here more clearly than  on the hessian pieces. Hung together the curtains an absorbing sequence. I need to exhibit this piece in a larger white cube space and possibly try different  background settings.

Friday 23 March 2012

Working on Hessian Canvases.


Further developing the Hessian relief canvases with application of acrylic paints and inks. Picking up colours and tones in hessian scrim and sack pieces to extend the impact of the composition. I want the fabric to become part of the canvas and appear it's moving in and out of the space it occupies. I am producing a very different way of working with the hessian and ending up with flowing abstract forms which are pinned down to the wall rather than free hanging in open space.  

Wednesday 21 March 2012

The Hessian Forms travel further afield.


Seeing my Hessian Forms considered by other artists e.g;    
http://shaggymodernism.wordpress.com/2012/03/ helps inspire me to continue pursuing the creation of these structures but also think seriously about the universal availability of my work. When examining the following images it makes me question how much human interaction I want to promote in each art piece.









Saturday 17 March 2012

Hessian landscapes -relief on canvas.







Adding paint/ink marks to canvas and hessian forms. Picking up colours / tones found on coffee sacks used on the canvas and making similar marks created in previous ink drawings. More work needed to resolve composition.

More Hessian Ink Drawings on Bread and Butter.



More "hessian" drawings. Starting to increase colour palette.

Monday 5 March 2012

Hessian Landscape Canvases.








2 stretchers,228x107cm -Hessian on canvas. Fabric soaked in paste and composed in various depths of relief. I wanted to take the hessian used in my sculptures and develop into  wall based works, still with elements of 3D left intact. At this stage, not as dynamic as sculptures.

Monday 27 February 2012

Hessian ink drawings.








A1 ink drawings (sepia and black) inspired by Go with the flow.2012.

These drawings work in conveying the transitory process of movement. Portraying hessian in sepia ink is effective and evokes the nature of hessian.

Saturday 18 February 2012

"Blown"- Shaun Project Space 8/9th February 2012.




Go with the flow, 2012, evolves from my interest in the actions, thoughts and objects which have been left behind – the lasting results of movement. I wanted to create a sculptural/installation work which took the viewer on a journey to experience a path not encountered before. I chose to use hessian, new fabric and found coffee bean sacks. I was drawn to the natural tones and the fact I could source a number of different weaves within a small tonal range to concentrate on shape and form. It also made successful casts when moulded and stiffened with paste over and around various made and found constructs. Most of the individually shaped pieces of hessian, hung from a grid of fishing line, are physically separated, unconnected, but when viewing the work as a whole, along with the negative shapes created, it just flows.


Monday 23 January 2012

Pioneer of Modernism workshop 11.04.2012.


http://county.durham.gov.uk/sites/dli/SiteCollectionDocuments/DLI%20Half-term%20and%20Easter%20Workshops%20February-March%202012.pdf



I will need to prepare for this! The preview was good. Interesting talk from curator giving insight into what the exhibition set out to explore - mainly the 2D work of the formal abstract years of Stephenson's art. Some of his later paintings are more in line with my abstract elements of my work. However experimenting with these more tight forms may well inform my practice and help me understand why I create the forms I do. 




Saturday 21 January 2012

Creating more paths - floor and wall pieces.


 It came from the wall.

And take to the floor.

 Shrouded 1 .
 All that's left I and II.


 Spreading wavelengths.
Centred Trail.












    After dismantling my sculpture piece, Blown onto a new path , created for the White Room critique yesterday, I took the opportunity to use the empty space to further explore each piece of my "landscaped"  hessian. I wanted to consider the effects achieved by placing the shaped material on the wall and the floor - individually and jointly displayed. 
    All the newly created works didn't have as much depth and impression of fleeting movement as the original composite sculpture, where the hanging of the separate pieces on different planes and at varying heights gave it a full three dimensional quality, suggesting it was the result of many more objects and people having passed by and it being subjected to a bigger range of environmental conditions and changes. Some of the individual pieces did exist well on their own and presented as works in relief. With the longer lengths of hessian I was able to form some interesting pathways on the floor and the walls. The smaller pieces, including the stiffened coffee bags, appeared as vessels blown or forced in a particular direction. 

Wednesday 18 January 2012

White Room. Hessian Hanging Sculpture.







This is a three dimensional piece of work made from various weaves of Hessian - new and found. It consists of various separate pieces hung from above with fishing line, occupying approximately half the space available in the White Room in the Sculpture Department at Ashburne House, University of Sunderland. This work emerges from the initial aim of creating a physical expression of movement and the imprints of trails it leaves behind in it's wake. Some of the appearance of the forms are reminiscent of Turner prize nominee Karla Black's recent installation work but the intent is more suited to the tonal "soft sculpture" realised by Eva Hesse. 

Each piece of material was prepared prior to hanging, shaped by being soaked in wallpaper paste and left to dry moulded around a variety of items found around the home and studio. Before construction I had no set room/floor plan. I worked with the fabric to position the forms, hanging each piece where I assessed it was best placed in relation to the others,referencing my own memories and encounters of how movement effects and reacts with objects and different environments. Following my desire to create something new but still reflective of known events,experiences, sensations and everyday objects .

The forms created are largely abstract with some figurative references, in particular shapes found in the landscape.

I chose hessian, as after trialling other materials, when saturated with glue, it provided me with the most lasting stiff forms along the length of the fabric. Also, I could access a variety of different sized weave, which comes in a small tonal range. This choice of materials and the tones of brown give the piece a natural feel, there are few hard edges as it is dominated by sweeping curves. The inclusion and manipulation of "found" coffee sacks has opened up the suggestion  that the sculpture has had a former life or journey or trail. I do like this idea, which I hadn't considered as important before. It widens it's appeal and makes me think I should try working with a greater range of fabric, whilst still using the same processes I continue to develop. This may help me decide whether how I deal with and react to the material I'm using is more important than the original subject matter,

This evolution I believe remains a sculpture rather than an installation, as one can view its entire form from a distance and although it can be seen from all around the "edges", the viewer cannot get completely involved with it, travel through it, experience being within it. Maybe next step is to make an installation, using my forms, to consider the space of an entire room. Think about making a work based  just along the floor or up near the ceiling, using more obvious material (e.g. twine) to hang sections.


I can see this sculptural piece in other white cube gallery settings but may need to consider other places / situations to display this and any installation which further develops. 




Tuesday 17 January 2012

White Room preview








Spent all  afternoon installing this sculpture in White Room for critique tomorrow. All the separate pieces were pre-prepared, glued and moulded around a variety of items from around the house and studio. This is a progression from original Hessian work "What's left behind". This time  I used a variety of types / sources of  Hessian, including coffee sacks given to me by my local green waste collectors - "Rotters" - a left over from their coffee fuelled car exploits.Using the scrim was a revelation.