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ARTIST STATEMENT

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EVALUATION

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FINAL SUBMISSION FOLIO

DEVELOPMENT 1: 

I made bedsheet by soaking it in coffee, setting fire to it and using my sewing machine to convey damage and uncleanliness. I presented this on my bed and photographed it. For the site-specific aspect, I photographed unclean and discomforting locations. Below is a lane in the city centre that smells of urine and is not looked after. Combining the photography of the bed with the sheet and the lane, I edited the fusion in photoshop by using the threshold to achieve the strong contrasting black and white. My use of black and white was to convey rape and sexual assault as an event of the past. 

Tracey Emin’s work My Bed, 1999 heavily inspired the bedsheet idea and production. Where she has photographed a setup of her bed, with the sheets being bundled up and various things surrounding the frame. Her work was intimate and personal. I wanted to convey this element through my struggle of sleeping because of being kept awake at night thinking of the things that were done to me, which make me feel unclean, used, and weak.

I have chosen this as a development piece as I feel this conveys the mental instability that the experience of rape and sexual assault has on a victim. It appears harsh and uncomfortable because of its forceful black and white appearance. I feel that this work has an accurate visual representation of how it feels to go to sleep at night, of which is daunting, uncomfortable and eerie. 

DEVELOPMENT 2:

I made a soft sculpture figure out of tan tights, stuffing and a needle with thread. It is around the same height as myself, being the average height of a woman at 5″6. When being held, it flops towards the floor and has no stability. I made this in relation to the emotions experienced during and after the events of rape and sexual assault. Personally, I feel numbed, vulnerable, and unable to move or cater to myself. This work is also in relation to feeling weaker and unable to do anything about being raped. We feel forced to endure the experiences as we may end up in a worse state if we try to fight back. Leaving us feeling like lifeless figures. With the photography of the figure, I took a range of the positions and placed them into the one document. Relating to the first development, I worked with black and white to represent an event of the past that is haunting each figure. 

The mass amount of figures represents the significant amount of women that are raped and or sexually assaulted. This was inspired by Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May, 1977. Where she gathered the amount of rapes that took place over the course of three weeks in one area, which sadly resulted in a significant amount over a short period. 

I chose this work as my second development as I feel it speaks on behalf of an extensive amount of rape victims that feel unlovable, used and traumatized by the disgusting act of rape. I particularly like this work because of the sense of the figures being grouped together, being viewed as victims of rape. I believe that when an individual discusses their rape experience, people feel apologetic. Though, I feel that when a large quantity is presented to the viewer that it has a stronger impact as it is a mass amount of victims rather than one unfortunate individual.

DEVELOPMENT 3:

Using the first development of the bed in the alleyway, I inverted the work and presented the figure on top of the bed. I maintained the black and white appearance as an aspect of the past. 

This work is creepy and discomforting which is what I was aiming for, I feel that to get people to understand more of how we feel as victims; I have to make them feel discomfort. Using the figure on the bed conveys the struggle of sleeping at night, sitting awake in a place where I am supposed to feel most comforted.

I chose this as my third development as I feel it successfully combines my soft sculpture, fabric manipulation and site-specific location. 

DEVELOPMENT 4:

To make this work, I laid my mattress against my wall and put my distressed bedsheet around it. I dressed myself in stockings and a body suit and positioned myself, leaning against the mattress so that it appeared as though I was sitting on it with the camera overhead. I used photoshop to edit the image using threshold. 

This work was inspired by Hannah Wilke’s S.O.S Starification Object Series 1974-75. In the work she is presented shirtless with chewed up gum stuck to her skin representing the beauty standards of women's skin. This made me think of the sexualization of women, and how it is often projected that the way a woman presents herself is the reason she is objectified and or raped or sexually assaulted. It is often discussed during rape cases that if a girl/ woman is wearing things such as lingerie, stockings, short skirts or a low cut top, she was asking for it and cannot look for sympathy. I made this work to present myself in lingerie on the distressed bed in black and white to convey that the way a woman dresses should never excuse her being raped or sexually assaulted.

I chose this work as part of my 10 chosen images as it discusses important issues in the modern world. It portrays discomfort sleeping because of the trauma caused by rape; it shows that a woman should be able to dress however she wants and feel safe doing so.

DEVELOPMENT 5:

I made this work by collating all the photographs of my figure together and turned the rotations around. I overlapped them to create an abstract, overwhelming feeling. I used black and white threshold as I wanted to convey an eerie atmosphere, which is suitable because of the sensitive stigma around discussing rape and sexual assault. I photographed framed works around my college to edit my works into for the site-specific aspect of the project. 

I chose this work as a development work within my 10 images as I really like how overwhelming the work feels to look at; it fits really well with the overwhelming side-effects of rape and sexual assault. The mass amount of figures represent all victims of rape, I piled them up in a big stack to convey the significant amount of people that are affected by rape day in and day out.

DEVELOPMENT 6:

I used an image of one of my figures and put in into a blank document and duplicated it so that there were many figures on the work. I photographed billboards, posters, and rectangular silhouettes around the city centre, and I chose this one at St. Enochs as my site for this work. 

This work is important for me to include as part of my 10 images as it shows the development from work with mockups to working with sites that I have photographed. I feel that this work is significant to my journey leading up to my final works as it shows my consideration of composition and colour choice.

DEVELOPMENT 7:

Using an edit I made of my figures, I edited this into the bus stop advertisement as my site-specific element to my project. I used a coloured edit as I felt I should do a colour edit or a black and white edit. I turned down the saturation of the site image so that the work was the focal point. 

This work is in my 10 chosen works as it shows the other sites I considered along with considering whether to work with a colour work or a black and white work. This site is significant as people are frequently at bus stops to get home, meaning a wide range of people are going to see the work, if they were to be with a partner, friends or family it would provoke discussion. 

DEVELOPMENT 8:

I made this work by using an edit of my figures where they are scattered across one surface. Using the photography of the sites around the city centre, I edited the figure work onto a poster tower thing. I made the focal point black and white to portray the disconnected feeling of rape and sexual assault. I edited two buildings around the image to tie in the centrepiece with the rest of the work. 

This work is important to show as it is one that didn’t work out too well. I like it but it doesn’t feel like I could be there in actual life. My goal with these site-specific works was to make it feel as though you could literally see it in public. Something about the edit of the centre piece doesn’t work for me. This work is an example of strong development, from this piece to my final piece it definitely represents a significant journey.

FINAL PIECE 1:

I made my first final piece by arranging my figures on a document well spread out and put in positions where they appear to be floating. I used the gradient map in photoshop to achieve the red and purple colour theme. I took the image of the side of St. Enochs and used the polygonal lasso tool to delete what was in each of the squares that you see my figure work within. I placed my figure layer beneath the photography so that the frame laid on top. To add more of a realistic feeling to the work, I added in shadows with a low opacity on the inner side of the frame. It thrilled me with how much more lifelike this made it feel. With the photograph in its regular colour, you could see the colour reflection of what was initially in the squares prior. To avoid this being read by the viewer, I made the photograph black and white; I think this looks more appealing as it instantly made the work the focal point.

I chose this work as my final piece as it is vibrant and it stands out significantly. I feel that with the black and white works that they might blend in with the surroundings too much as Glasgow is a very grey city. I wanted to take advantage of the grey weather to as it works well with the seriousness of my project. The colour will pop to people, attracting them to analyse it and question the meaning, hopefully starting a conversation. The site is successful too as it is a large presentation in an area that so many people pass through to go shopping, get the subway, jump on the bus or to pass through. It was an important area to present my work in a site that many would see, as my work is about talking openly about the side effects of rape along with raising awareness of the significant amount of rapes that are an ongoing issue. 

FINAL PIECE 2:

I made this work by photographing my distressed bedsheet on my bed and photographing it. Using my initial site photography of lanes and areas that discomfort me; I photoshopped the bed to appear as though it was in that location. I used the threshold tool to create a harsh black-and-white image. To create the second work, I inverted the first work. For the site-specific aspect of the work, I photographed installed works around my college that were presented in frames. Using these works, I edited them out and replaced the contents with my work instead. This was to make it appear as though my work had been installed within the college building. 

I chose this as my second final piece as I have been drawn to the bed works throughout my project. The works convey the discomfort of sleeping at night to a significant standard; the sheet looks dirty and unappealing, the location I presented it in looks dangerous and unhygienic. These factors make the work overall really successful for what I was trying to portray. I presented the works side by side in frames as I feel they work hand in hand for creating the strange atmosphere. I think that presenting one of them alone wouldn’t capture the emotional trauma aspect of my project. I chose a final presented in frames as I was attracted towards realistically presenting my work as prints in frames.

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ARTIST STATEMENT DRAFT

Below is my draft of my artist statement. I have sent this to Lorna too to look over and see if there is anything she thinks I should change. 

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EVALUATION DRAFT

I have completed my first draft of my evaluation. I have sent it to Lorna to have a look over and see if there is anything she would like me to ass or change.

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SITE SPECIFIC PHOTOSHOP

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ST. ENOCH GLASS PANELS

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ST. ENOCH BILLBOARD

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CITY CENTRE PHOTOGRAPHY

I went into the city centre for taking public photography of advertisements as that was the first place I thought of that would have a lot of opportunities for the things I was looking for. I already had the massive billboard at St. Enoch's in mind. I felt it was a good idea to go with the billboard I remembered most, as it is more than likely well remembered by many people due to it’d scale and location. I photographed the St. Enoch's billboard, poster advertisements, glass panes, bus stops and the Tim Hortons billboard. Next I am going to gather the works I am considering using in my sites and work with them to hopefully produce a final piece I feel strongly of.

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CITY CENTRE PHOTOGRAPHY

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SITE SPECIFIC PHOTOSHOP

With the photography I took on Wednesday in the college building I photoshopped the works I may use as my final piece and placed the within the silhouettes. I tried using the photograph I took of the stairwell wall, but it didn’t feel believable for me. It appeared very edited. I really love the frame works below, they look the way I would present them if I had the funds and space. I am most drawn to the first edit below with the beds in the lane; I feel the contrast between the use of inversion portrays the right amount of weighted emotion. Although, I am finding it hard, narrowing it down to one final piece. I am going to photograph around the city centre so that I can work to present the pieces to the public to raise a discussion in society.

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SITE SPECIFIC PHOTOSHOP

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PHOTOGRAPHY

I am currently working in the studio; I took a wander around the college building to look for frames or rectangular silhouettes to photograph to get a start on editing my edits into the shape. I photographed the stairwell wall too, as an option of having an edit on a blank wall. 

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ROUNDING UP

Coming up to the last week on this project, I have made a small guide/ to do list for leading up to the hand in. For my final site I am going to photograph spaces, posters, billboard ect. to make my site for my final work. I intend on messing around with the works that I feel are the strongest within these sites. I plan to edit out whatever is on the poster/ billboard ect. to replace it with my work as though my work was being presented in a public setting. I will take my research into consideration to solidify my final production. Once I have done this, I am going to consider what my 10 images may be. Following this, I will write my artist statement and evaluation and send them to Lorna to have a check over to ensure it is up to the right standard. Finally, the final things to do will be looking over my Tumblr and ensuring everything is there and that I have annotated everything to the best extent and then uploading the necessary things to mycity.

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LINKS

EFFECTS OF SEXUAL ASSULT AND RAPE

I sourced this article to see what mental effects come from sexual assault and rape. It mentions PTSD, which I suffer from. My PTSD came from the physical abuse from my dad, although the abuse is where it sourced from, the flashbacks make their way into other experiences of my life that I fear. The rape being one of them. It mentions severe anxiety, uncomfortable thoughts and depression. I experience the anxiety and uncomfortable thoughts. They weren’t as severe when the events took place; it is more present currently as I have grown up since, and the scenarios affect me more severely. Disassociation is spoken of. Often I will do my thing and I go down a spiral of questions and frustrations surrounding the topic. The article has a list of emotional effects which will be useful when trying to think of what emotions to portray through my works so that I get my concept across: anger, blame, shock, numbness, loss of control, disorientation, helplessness, vulnerability, fear, self-blame, weakness.

MEN SEE WOMEN SEX OBJECTS. IT’S NOT MYSOGINIST, IT’S REALITY.

I included this article as it discusses how men see women as sex objects and have a severe lack of respect for women. It is noticeable in so many areas of our world. In movies directed by men there is an excessive extent of sexualizing women, the roles of women in these movies act the way men want them to, and the male role always gets what he wants from them. Men play the role of wealth and intellect whereas women play the submissive role to the male character. We know the full story of the male and nothing about the woman as she is there as candy for the male eye. A woman cannot wear particular clothing without being sexualized. Just last week I wore shorts outside, an old man couldn’t take his eyes off of my lower region. It infuriates me we can’t simply wear a pair of shorts without men preying on the skin that is showing. I feel the objectification of women is a vital topic to discuss when working with rape and assault, as it is a key element to the results of rape. Women do not need to cover up or be wary of what they wear in case they get raped, men need to stop raping.

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Sleeping Heart (2017), Annette Messager: The use of the sleeping bag in this work relates to my works involving the bedsheet I made, it made me want to revisit it and see what more works I can make with it as I feel it has more potential. From the beginning of the bedsheet work, I wanted to take overhead photography with myself being on the bed. I didn’t know how I could achieve this without expensive equipment or suspending my camera from the ceiling. Instead of trying to source something to suspend my camera, I came up with the solution of placing my mattress against the wall and putting the bedsheet on. The next step was to make it look as though I was lying/ sitting down on the mattress with the camera overhead. A complication I ran into was that when I bent over to appear sitting down, my hair was falling towards the ground. I had to use products to keep my hair in place or it would ruin the illusion of the camera being overhead. I haven’t included myself in the work as so far; I have been working with the stuffed figure so that I was speaking on behalf of anyone who had experienced rape/ assault. I felt that it’d be beneficial for me to show examples of representing my experience, personally it feels comforting to be honest about what I have gone through. I won’t be talking about what happened, but my work is representing my experiences of rape and sexual assault. Me being present on the bed relates back to my surrounds the discomfort of going to bed as a rape victim; I wanted to portray body language that portrayed uneasiness and discomfort. In some images, I show blank expressions to relate to the stuffed figure, as it was a lifeless silhouette. When I am reminded of my experiences, I freeze and feel stiff and unable to move; I tried to convey this through body language and facial expressions. I wore two different undergarments in the photos, one with large briefs on with a bra, and one with stockings and a body suit on. This was playing off of the argument that people use against victims; “but she was wearing this”, they should never use this against women. I want to convey that what a woman wears underneath or out with does not play a part in the reason she gets raped.

I worked with threshold and inverting a lot with the photography I took; I like the harsh appearance of the results. Black and white imagery represents an aspect of the past which applies to me working with experiences from my past. I feel like if I worked with a soft delicate appearance that the works wouldn’t give off the right perception, whereas working with such a harsh appearance displays the sincere discomfort of being raped and sexually assaulted.

I introduced a bottle of bleach in some images to play on the idea that what has happened can never be cleaned/ erased. There is an aspect of never feeling clean or being able to erase what it has done. I placed the bottle near my lower region to convey the attempt to bleach away my insides of where people went. With the lid on, the images convey the contemplation of attempting to bleach the experiences out of me.

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