“You
can not make pink with out red.”
This simplistic
yet important quotation from a fellow student stands out as a bridge from my
work last semester, concerning femininity, cartoon imagery and a heavy dose of
pink, and my work this semester, which has veered down a darker road in content
and value. This semester’s studio work was based around a single image, the chest
tube connected to my mother. I was unsure how these very personal works would
be received. The work I brought to this residency can be divided into three
main sections; photographs of experiments with bubbles, abstract works on Mylar
created with paint, ink and various non traditional art materials and third, a
collaboration between cartoon inspired drawings and abstract cut outs of Mylar.
The responses were overall very positive.
The bubble
photographs received very positive responses early in the residency. They were
described as remarkable and as having the ability to stop you in your tracks. Comparisons
included nipples, bruises, cancer cells and pubic hair. The more abstract photographs
were seen as stronger than ones easily decipherable as bubbles, which I agree
with. While some felt that the bubbles stood strongly on their own, others felt
that they did not fit in with the rest of my work. Generally it was agreed that I should continue
with these experiments as a side project, as they may become a resource or come
to inform future work.
The Second category
of work consisted of abstract works on Mylar created with paint, ink, and many
other non-traditional materials. These works were based directly off of the
image of a chest tube. My main question about these works was whether or not
they could stand on their own or if something was missing. The majority of
feedback warned of generic looking pours and a large history of female painters
involved with pours. If I am to use pours in my work they must be unique to me.
Other feed back included the installation of the pieces – that the Mylar should
be farther from the wall to create larger shadows, or that the Mylar should be
closer too the wall to make the work more substantial and less fragile. I was
also warned about making work that is purely cathartic. However the general
thought was that these pieces were a necessary step in my process.
The
third and best-received sections of work were the cartoon style drawings and
cut outs of the poured paint and ink on Mylar. These were seen as the most
interesting and to hold promise potential. It was recommended that I create a
tension between the drawing and the Mylar allowing the cartoon to enter into
the pour and the pour into the cartoon. The central placement of the image on
the white paper background was seen by some as too graphic but others felt it
worked well, Deb Todd Wheeler pegged this (white background and central image)
as my “go to move” and encouraged me to try other solutions for backgrounds.
She suggested taking photographs of textures in the outdoors and using those as
a place for drawings and paintings to take place on.
The
small and intimate scale of these pieces was seen as a reflection on intimate
relations between family members in difficult situations. Perhaps the most
poignant comment concerned the quality of my line. It was said to feel generic
and borrowed rather than my own unique line, that my work must to be more than
just well drawn. I need to personalize the formal language further. This is
something I will work on specifically this semester.
The question “why all the red” came up several
times over the residency. I explained that the work was based on blood, this
lead into many interesting conversations about blood, particularly in a
religious sense. Religion has always been a part of my life but I never thought
about it in terms of art previously. Religious relics were discussed as well as
the idea of my mother’s blood as a relic. Blood is seen at once holy and
impure. My decision to represent only
the “squishy splat” parts of the body was also discussed, as was the notion
about the body fragmented. Tony Apesos questioned my choice to represent my
mother’s body fluids rather than create a portrait of her. It does seem an odd
focus in retrospect. One person suggested creating stand
in reoccurring characters for my mother and I.
Surrealism
was suggested as an avenue of research and exploration. The gesture towards
meaning present in my current work was seen as not enough and that the work
needs to become not formally complex but complex in its meaning. I also need to
be clear about what I want to say and be able to verbalize this to a greater
degree.
Themes
and ideas that were seen in my work by others include; mortal parents, childish
wishful thinking, religious associates with blood, illness, vulnerability,
death, sexy, beauty, the grotesque, danger and intimacy, sexy and the disgusting,
violence, abjection, elegance and the unconscious.
Over
the coming semester I plan to work on the quality and nuances in my drawings
and lines. Suggestions include letting lines be blurry, dissolving lines as
well as adding scratches and marks. The addition of printmaking to the drawings
and pours was suggested, even creating rubber stamps out of linoleum. I will continue
with the bubbles as a side project, as this was the general consensus and see
if leads to something interesting. Creating scans of the bubbles was another
idea. I plan to explore different surfaces to work with other than the one
shiny Mylar I used this semester possibly mirrors, Plexiglas and frosted Mylar.
I will also experiment with different ways of installing the Mylar. Creating an
installation was a suggestion echoed many times and installations have always
been of great interest to me.
Suggested
readings for this semester include; Julia Kristeva Powers of Horror; An Essay
on Abjection, Mary Douglas’ Purity and Danger; An Analysis on Concepts of
Pollution and Taboo as well as Caroline Walker Bynum’s Wonderful Blood;
Theology and Practice in Late Medieval Northern Germany and Beyond.
Artists suggested
over the residency include; Arturo Herrera, Amy Cutler, Ken Price, Carrie Moyer, Carroll
Dunham, Morris Louis, Ghada Amer, Paul Jenkins, Kevin Bake, Jacqueline Humphries, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Ryden, Martin Wong Marilyn Minter, Maya Freelon, Kara walker, Annette Messager, Greg Thompson, Raul Gonzalez
