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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

http://shaunprojectspace.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/sps-presents-blown/

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

Black and white.

 

Pastel on acrylic painted black board (122x80cm)

These black and white drawings have more impact and depth than the coloured abstracted versions. The colour limited palette enables the viewer to concentrate on the shape,density and direction of mark. Looking further at work of abstract expressionists and blackboard paintings/drawings of Tacita Dean.

This inspires me to look at producing some black and white digital photographs of my Hessian sculpture, aiming to produce a body of images to help me decide whether to pursue the tonal route

   

Pastel on acrylic painted black board (122x80cm)

A series of drawings using colours taken from pastel portraits. I have applied layer upon layer of paint and pastel in an attempt to create the effect that multiple trails have been made over time. The resulting pieces have a temporary quality which does promote idea that more tracks could be added to the compositions. The wide range of colours used although selected from an original source does appear on examination rather indiscriminate.

Build up colour from monotone or revert?

White/black pastel - scratches on acrylic painted black board (122x80cm)

Abstacting from portraits again in an attempt to produce a series of drawings - debating whether to follow a colour or tonal path. Layering (reapplying black acrylic paint is helping to produce a type of depth in the drawings I've not encountered before. I will continue to add to - as well as pursure 3D hessian structures which are fast developing into installation.