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Artist Research: Berlinde de Bruyckere

Berlinde de Bruyckere is a Belgian contemporary artist known for her haunting sculptures and distortions of organic forms. Her sculptures are said to be an embodiment of death, life, passion and vulnerability.

In terms of my own project, I have been studying de Beuyckere’s work in terms of the organic textures created within her sculptures. Often appearing as distorted human forms, the supposed “skin” of the sculptures appear with this fleshy texture that I hope resonates within my own work.

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Artist Statement:

In relation to the project title and concept movement, I have been looking at skin in terms of its treatment on the human form. I am interested in how it reacts to movement, the way it folds, wrinkles, freckles and scars along with the textures that are formed as a result.

With the body in mind, I sighted spirals at the core of many forms of movements. It has always been a popular ornament and have been seen through all stages of cultural development.

I have been exploring how spirals can interact with the flesh as an organic motif and how that might be portrayed through painting, print and sculpture.

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Display set up. I am happy with it overall. Found it a challenge hanging them up as there was wooden boards and latex and glue rack would not handle either. Eventually managed to nail them into the wall and they’re now ready for assessment!

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I could not decide what spirals to do on the prints in the end so decided to do individual ones on each print. They are far from perfect as they weee done intuitively but I sort of enjoy the idea of that process of moving my arm to create those marks on a whim.

In terms of presenting and displaying my work I think I want to use all six prints. They are all unique in their own way (spirals aside).

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I had intended to draw spirals along the body of the prints I had done earlier this week. Using acetate I was trying to see what sort of contour would be most effective. I quite like the results of layering the acetate with different spirals as it sort of portrays what feels like movement.

I will be hand drawing the spirals using a paint marker instead of printing them.

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Results!

Here are the finished results of my spiral stitching on latex. Pictures shown were taken with light causing the stitching to appear darker. I was interested with how light interacted with the latex and the sort of atmosphere it created as it bounces of the latex and stitching.

To me, it went from something organic and flowing to something that felt more sinister.

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Progress!

I have not got much to note at the moment during this phase in the stitching. It is still challenging but I am starting to see progress. I was originally going to stitch the entire sheet of latex like this but have decided to leave the spiral for the centre only.

I have to delegate time effectively and stitching the entire sheet would be too consuming during this phase of the project.

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Stitching into Latex:

Stitching into latex has proven a challenge but I am happy with how it is turning out. The latex resists the needle quite a bit making it difficult to sew. I drew out a stencil using a posca marker as the latex was also resistant to other materials.

It has been quite time consuming but I am enjoying the process. After looking at the stitches I realised I visually prefer the messiness of the stitches on back of the latex:

The only issue is this side of the latex is quite smooth and lacks texture. However, when held up to light visually you can see a similar texture to skin. When displaying it I need to see if there is a window available to allow me to display it with light in order to do it justice. Otherwise it may be more effective to use the front which alludes to the texture of pores and scar tissue.

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Printing!

Here are some of the results from my lino print. This was very much a home job although I am happy with how they turned out. I wanted them messy and organic. There is a sense of energy that comes from the lines printed that I enjoy. I like to think I achieved a sense of movement here.

In some of the prints I placed ink over the background and added extra pressure to see what markings would be created as a result.

These are still very much works in progress. I am not finished with the composition. I did 7 prints in total and am eager to see what I can create from them.

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Progress!

I am fascinated with the contours and lines defined by the light shining through the lino! It almost looked like muscles and skin tissues!

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Progression of Lino Print:

I have the stencil drawn out and traced onto the lino sheet. I have made the decision to exclude the spirals from the lino itself but intend to add it to the print with a different form of media. Maybe I will stitch it or paint it. Maybe I’ll make a separate spiral stencil and print it on top of the lino. I will have to see.

One thing I don’t enjoy about this is how clean cut the stencil needs to be. I like my drawings to be expressive and messy like the studies I did before. I will try achieve that quality in the print as it is something I find much more visually appealing than a neat print.

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I am moving onto print this week. Unfortunately as a result of being a bED student my education timetable clashes with my other modules and I am unable to attend the workshops available. I have print materials at home and will be working on that discipline from there.

I have progressed with my project and am interested in identifying the spirals that can be drawn along the contours of the body/skin. I am eager to explore this through print. I did some studies of Jenny Saville’s and Lucian Freud’s nudes to further explore the composition of the body, in particular feminine.

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Artist Research: Lucian Freud

Lucian Freud was a German painter known for his portraiture and nudes. I’ve known about and appreciated his work for quite some time now even though he himself as an artist really unsettles me. His early career as a painter was greatly influenced by surrealism but by the early 1950’s his alienated and greatly detailed paintings tended towards realism.

How Freud treats the values of the skin is what really appeals to me in terms of this project. I’ve often studied his paintings to achieve more improvement in my own. He is prone to layering and blocking colour of colour rather than blending which really appeals to me.

I’ve seen his work in person and it is fantastic. The only thing is often, the nudes he has painted, specifically of women have disturbed me. There was one in the IMMA last February that was of his daughter in similar, clearly sexual poses. I would question how ethical the dynamic he has with the models when painting is. Often it appears that there is some sort of power displacement.

Freud was known for asking for extended and punishing sittings from his models and has also painted children in similar positions.

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Finished painting:

With influence from Jenny Saville and Lucian Freud I composed this painting. I was interested in exploring the colours and textures of skin on the feminine body.

The spiral again was included to insinuate the idea of flow and movement.

It is a mix of acrylic and gouache on a wooden board.

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Finished painting:

With combined research on Jenny Saville and Louise Bourgeois and my own exploration on the idea movement, I finished this painting. It is acrylic on canvas with oil pastel layered over.

I am content with the results of this piece and overall composition. On a technical level I am not satisfied with the face but I am on the verge of overworking it so perhaps it is something I’ll return to at a later date.

I find the process of getting ready quite stressful. I get overwhelmed by all the folds in my skin and movements I make and textures of my own skin and clothes. This was an attempt to embody that.

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Artist Research: Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois was a French-American artist who was best known for her large scale sculpture and installation art. She was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a variety of themes over the course of her career including domesticity and the family, sexuality and the body and death and the unconscious.

What comes to mind when I think of Louise Bourgeois is her large scale spider sculptures. However, in terms of my project movement, I have come across her spiral prints.

These spirals appear frequently in both her sculpture and work on paper. These spirals represent and endless natural cycle. It is specifically often used by Bourgeois to represent the constant continuation of birth, life and rebirth and sometimes directly motherhood.

With my interest in spirals, specifically on the human form, I really enjoyed looking at her prints. With the range in shape and sizes, with some of them being contained within the limits of paper and others continuing beyond I really found it fascinating and hope this research translates into my own work.

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Spirals is a motif I have always been drawn to in making my art. They have always been a popular ornament and have been seen through all stages of cultural development of the human from Stone Age to present day. The spiral shape has been seen as something that can become intrusive when it comes to portraying and designing movements. It is sighted at the core of many movements, organic and man made such as drawing and dancing or creating pottery etc. It has also often been painted on the human body in many cultures serving many forms of symbolising but often birth and re growth.

I have often used it in my artwork over the years, specifically eyes,without quite knowing why. Examples are below.

This project movement has prompted me to do further research as it is at the core of movement itself. I am interested in including it in my portrayals of skin as it such an organic form of movement itself.