Personal Work

I Was Trying To Figure Some Stuff Out

• Thought I'd include this as a small blog post. I got an idea of this concept in my head, did some thumbnails and tried to paint it. It was way better in my head because I kept imagining the light and the shadows as really severe and blue-y and it would look really night time-y and mysterious. I'm glad I made this as an attempt and I definitely want to paint this again. It's weird because I like parts of it but I hate other parts of it. At first I was annoyed I attempted this concept and it came out so bad because 'I'd wasted a good idea' but now I'm happy because if I've painted a bad one it means I can do it again and it might be a good one next time. I'm trying to get used to repeating things and pushing things until they're how I want them. 

Interdisiplinary

there's so many things I could say here

Trying to decide what to talk about as my 'non art thing that influences my practice' was really hard because I feel like I'm interested in a lot of things but I'm not sure how any of them influence my practice. I think if I had to pick one things I'd say fantasy things probably influence me the most. I've always loved fantasy, especially when it comes to knights and swords and dragons and witches. I think it comes from the fact I used to play a lot of video games as a child and my favourite ones were always open world rpgs, anything adventure-y and explore-y. I just love to be in that world where magic is real and there's evil plots and goblins and trolls and the world is wild and there's so much of it left uninhabited and left to discover. It's also probably because fantasy worlds are so embellished. Everything looks cool and people dress crazily and monsters are weird and a wonderful. I think magic and monsters are really key, especially witches. I remember I loved Macbeth because I loved that aesthetic of these dark characters and their demise. I've watched Practical Magic about a million times because I love witches. Magical, intelligent, powerful women are my FAVOURITE THING. I think growing up and always seeing these women in fantasy games and films and books made me really aspire to be that strong willed and smart and independent, but also to appreciate making and representing these characters in my art. When I had to be a guy in a game I was mad, I always wanted to be a cool girl knight not a boy because I probably wanted to see myself in that character.

 I really like spooky stuff as well I guess. I grew up watching a lot of horror films and loving Nightmare Before Christmas and anything Halloween themed because it's around my birthday. I like eerie, spooky, witchy, grisly vibes. Twin Peaks is my FAVOURITE show ever and I think that sums up a lot of my interests as well. People are sweet and fun but also have secrets and passions and are cruel and mean. There's a horrible undertone that peaks out every now and again and reminds you that there's awful things happening because all these people are human and the show is about the darkness of men basically. Things are paranormal and also completely human and normal. I think as well, the importance of nature in fantasy (and Twin Peaks) really attracted me to them. The idea of someone lost in the woods or the monsters that come out of the mountains, it made me feel like the world was secretly magic and special. I loved nature, it always excited me and made me feel magic and hyped up to be outside on the moors or climbing a hill or on the beach. So in every game I played or film I watched my favourite bit was always when they were scavenging for berries in the forest or making a journey across some desert or something. Not the bit where they were in the boring village.

I found this task really hard to write about because I have no idea how I'd look at my practice and look at a thing I like and say 'here's how they link'. I think I need to take more time to think about this because there's definitely specifics I could pick out. I just haven't ever really thought about this, I feel like I've got a proper mental block on this so idk, I need to think about this more. 

Gallery/Curation

OUT OF ORDER SHOW

This show was really cool!! There's a lot of things I think contributed to the fact I had fun there. 

1. I knew some of the people and their work and was excited to see it actually in a show, framed and nice and for sale! 
2. I went with Meg, who is one of my fave people to go to galleries with because we can have fun but she's always down to actually talk about the work. She asks a lot of questions 'What's your favourite?' 'What do you think of the space?' which really helps me in deciding how I feel about stuff. 
3. I was looking at all this amazing work thinking about my degree and how I'd be there in a few years and what that could entail, and also what the third years are gunna do now. Will I still see them about in Leeds? Will I recognise their work around and about? I hope so.

My favourite pieces were:

Yeehaw! by Molly Fairhurst 

(what a shock, I actually am probs gunna buy a print of this)

I just love the shapes going on here. That big sausagey hand, that tiny horse under that big person, the cowboy boots, the way the tail fits in that gap perfectly, the way the whole image fits the square so nicely. The texture of her paints and the lines she makes (with brushes? I think) are lovely, I love the painterly aspect to her work. That patterned short is overbearing and amazing and busy while the hair and hands and hat are simple. The little stars or the shoes are so fun and eye catching and the horses little red feet just make me smile. idk colour, shape, line, composition I love it all tbh.

(didn't get name of piece) by Dan Gilmartin 

I didn't expect to love this because it's not my usual style, but it's really gorgeous especially in person. The use of light is, obviously, stunning. Gives a moody, romantic, sultry nighttime vibe. This is definitely emphasised by the moon, the dark doorways, the missing letters on the neon sign. It's a bit shady and sexy I guess. The couple are really nice, I think the way they're stood together looks really natural and adds into the narrative going on. The light on the back of her legs is an amazing attention to detail. Also the railing thats in the middle on the image is MASSIVE and I didn't notice it until now because the perspective is so on point. I think the simple colour palette and simple shapes all add together to make a really actually complicated, yet effortlessly gorgeous piece.

(didn't get name of piece) by Charlotte Curnick 

She's moody, she has Marg Simpson vibes because of that colour combo, I love it. The printer effect is the glasses and eyebrows is really fun. I think the simplicity of this piece is really eye catching and fun. Like look at what you can do with a few shapes and lines! I could talk about loads of the pieces but I'll be short, I think this is just bold and great. A yellow background is fab. I love that shade of blue.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. I'm not sure if the students arranged the work or CMV did but I really liked the curation of the work. Charlotte and Molly's work was on one wall and I felt this wall was really curated and chosen. It all had a similar graphic, bold, colourful quality and there were a few examples of screen printed work that really worked together. The first two pieces on this wall were fabulous as well but I couldn't find any pics of them online (the Hill Hairy Arse and the red people one). The other wall had more of a variety of work but I think it made sense to arrange the space this way. Also the table with the zines and business cards was sweet, I loved the yellow one with the apple on the front. I think Colours May Vary is a great space to host this as well, it's casual and friendly but full of gorgeous work that's fun and engaging and it's not too big or hard to navigate. It's just nice! As I walked to get in I walked past the window and it just looked homely and buzzing with chatter and nice.