creativeenquirychristygibson

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

Critical Review

Research and Development

 “Emin draws on her own experience to inform her work, this ranges from her sexual history, abuse and abortion to gender and relationships. As she explained in an interview: I realised I was my work, I was the essence of my work – I always say that after I’m dead my work isn’t going to be half as good.” - Tracey Emin, The South Bank Show, 2001

(TATE, 2005)

 The theme of identity is at the core of my project, this was not my original intention however, but, during the development stage of the project, I quickly concluded that I wanted to alter my theme and what I was choosing to focus on. In the beginning, I was reflecting on my past experiences in relationships and the impact they have had on me, I felt this would connect with the audience also, as this is something that many others can relate to. This led to me creating a series of paintings and collages consisting of text and expressive mark making, these were created to help explore my emotion and thoughts when reflecting on my past.

I began researching artists who use text throughout their work such as, Jonathan Meese, who makes use of whole rooms as his space for his installation works, covering the walls in text and graffiti, also finding inspiration in his acrylic paintings and the use of bright colour and collage. I also found inspiration in artist Jason Rhaodes’ vibrant and large-scale works, as well as his use of text and neon lights in his works.

I wanted to reflect on my experiences in relationships as a teenager and young adult and the misconceptions that I had about them at the time. I wanted my work to have, bright, uplifting colours and images, representing the positive and naïve way of thinking that I had as a teenager, these images would include very stereotypical teenage imagery such as, hearts, phones, and pastel pinks and purples, but text within which conveyed the harsher reality. I liked the idea of creating a visual diary, similar to how many young people keep diaries and don’t wish to share how they feel, preferring to keep it to themselves. Inspiration for these visual diaries came from artist Dieter Roth and his visual diaries, in which he would record appointments, addresses, lists and deadlines, but also ideas, drawings and photographs. I began to draw frequently in a sketchbook with the intention that by the end of the project it would be filled with drawings, paintings and collages that documented my thoughts and emotions throughout the project.

I began to study Tracey Emins monoprint series’, “This body of work coincides with her recent series of figurative works which illustrate her shifting sensibilities of passion, love and permanence.” (Nitsch, 2015) I liked that through printmaking, pieces of work can be made in large quantities onto different surfaces and in different colours. Using lino, I created a series of lino-cut prints of an image of two, old fashioned mobile phones, connected by a string, this was to symbolise my connection with my phone and the feeling that I had to be in constant contact with the person I was with at the time. This behaviour was born from my partners repeated unfaithfulness and I became very paranoid that it was happening again without me knowing. I then created a second lino print series consisting of images of a hand mirror, this image was to represent the idea of self-reflection and how I view myself, both mentally and physically.

It was here that I began to alter my project, expanding beyond just reflecting on my past experiences in toxic, and sometimes abusive relationships, but reflecting on my identity as a woman and how I express and view myself. I wanted to reflect on my body image and self-esteem, looking at how my body has changed since I was a teenager and how I have dealt with this. I have had low self-esteem from a very young age and as a teenager this became worse, especially being around other girls my age and comparing myself to them. My view on dating and relationships was also impacted at this age, while I was at school I felt that my worth was based on others opinion of me. I was in a friend group where everyone was interested in dating much sooner than I was and I began to question why none of the boys in school wanted to date me, leading me to believe that I wasn’t pretty, or interesting, or weird. I began to become withdrawn and quiet, not wanting to speak much or show my interests out of fear that I would be ridiculed for it, I wasn’t able to be my authentic self for a long time.

Final Resolved Work

I wanted to create a large-scale blanket/textile piece, where I would sew multiple patches representing different aspects of myself. Tracey Emins’ My Bed piece was an inspiration for this, the idea of an intimate and personal space, and also her textile pieces. I wanted the piece to represent comfort, with the stitched in patches symbolising different emotions and impacts from past experiences that are forever ‘stitched’ into me. I decided to make a smaller blanker first as a sort of experimental piece to see how I took to the medium of sewing and to practice as well. The developmental blanket was created using recycled pieces of fabric, consisting of negative connotations, images, and words that I associate with myself, the blanket was not correctly measured out because it was a developmental piece and I wanted to have enough time to work on my final resolved piece.

When making my final piece I took images from my visual diary and sewn and painted onto fabric patches, the images were a mix of both positive and negatives, expressing anger and sadness from reflecting on the past and being unsatisfied with myself mentally and physically, expressing my struggles with mental health and my body image. I also reflect on the positive things in my life, the positive experiences I have in my current relationship, reflecting on memories with family and trying to think more positively of myself. I felt it was important to show both the positives and negatives together as both co-exist together. The blanket piece measures at 120cm x 150cm and required 80 patches in total, consisting of text, embroidery, paintings, and prints. The patches are brightly coloured as colour plays a significant role in my works and I love to create bold, vibrant pieces, and colour is great way for me to do this. I plan on displaying this blanket at the degree show atop a plinth, spread along the floor, with my visual diary displayed alongside it. The piece will allow the audience to have a glimpse into myself and my experiences, and hopefully some of the viewers will be able to relate to the piece.

Critical Reflection

Overall, I was very happy with the outcome of this project, I feel I created a very personal and ambitious piece, in terms of how personal it is and the scale of it. I was certain that I wanted to create something large-scale and detailed that pushed me, in terms of technical skill and time management, and while this proved to be a challenge, I’m happy with the end result. I was able to do so through a mixed vary of mediums that complimented each other well. I feel I conducted a lot of artist research that gave me a lot of inspiration for this project, and I was able to come up with a lot of ideas that I wouldn’t normally, and this was a result of observing other artists’ work. I would’ve liked to explore these other mediums more, specifically printmaking, because I may have been able to create more imagery and develop my work further. I expanded the theme of my project, and while this allowed me to explore more ideas and mediums, I wished I would’ve made the choice to widen my theme sooner to allow myself more time to experiment with more mediums and ideas. I would have liked to create some larger scale collage pieces, however I had to prioritize my final resolved piece. Overall, I am very happy with my work this year and am feeling enthusiastic about expanding my use of mediums in the future.

Bibliography

Nitsch, C., 2015. Tracey  Emin - Monotypes. [Online]  Available at: https://www.ifpdafoundation.org/carolina-nitsch-tracey-emin  [Accessed 6 May 2022].

TATE, 2005. Introduction to Tracey Emin. [Online]  Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/tracey-emin-2590/introduction  [Accessed 5 May 2022].

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

More images of the Degree Show work and methods that others have used to display their work.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

Finalised work displayed within my space for the Degree Show. I decided to hang the blanket piece because I felt it would be easier for the viewer to see the individual patches and writing on them. I kept the space quite simplistic and minimalist because the blanket piece is very bright and vibrant and I felt that by adding more work, it would make the space look too crowded.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

Layout of blanket piece and order of patches.

I decided to go with this order because, aesthetically I liked it. I thought about putting them in order of my journey or positives vs negatives, but I wanted thme to be mixed together as the journey isn't always negative into positive, both co-exist at the same time and the emotional journey isn't always linear.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

Final pages of the piece.

I'm so happy with the outcome of this piece, it really reflects me and the awkward and confusing mental journey I've been on, and am still on.

I'm glad I incorporated both positive and negative aspects of my life.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

I have been thinking recently of a loved one and the upcoming anniversary of their death, it puts into perspective that I should be focusing more on the positive relationships I have now, rather than allow the past to ruin and control the present.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

Reflecting on childhood fears and images that stick with me

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

A lot of the time others comment on how funny and jovial I am, although this is not always the case, but I try my best to not let this show, as many of of do.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

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Smaller book pieces from the beginning of the project bright forward into the final diary piece.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

Trying to move away from silent focusing on negative experiences, but thinking of the positives in my life now.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

Recently I've been struggling with the fact that my larger will be leaving to go abroad for 2 weeks, it's a new challenge for me and something that I would've struggled with immensely and I'm trying to work through that and deal with it better than I normally would.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

Taking old fashioned images and reflecting on my own experiences with them.

[creativeenquirychristygibson]

*PROGRESS OF FINAL DIARY PIECE*

Here, I created a small book piece inspired by previous work, I made the line work more cleaner and focused on colour. It was interesting to stick it into the book and have me ideas for what other things could be put into the piece.