Taking artist research further

After looking at Turner, along with other influential artists, I began work on a small series that could become a part of the final installation space, regarding it suits the atmosphere and theme.
I do feel that Turner is encompassing the feelings I wish to convey in my final installation, looking at location for inspiration but working with emotion. It is funny how different some of the small paintings appear because they were painted when I was in varying states, either calm, as I was when producing the first few, or frustration and exhaustion, which are occurring more and more as the project draws to a close.

Earliest paintings

More recent. The colours begin to get much more interesting
here. It must be the exhaustion talking!

I definitely prefer the later outcomes and it has been mentioned in peer feedback that they do portray a stronger sense of emotion. 

Alongside these paintings I have been working on a large piece that incorporates the human form. It will be interesting to begin pairing up the paintings to see how these ideas and themes come together in the final space.

J. M. W. Turner

Turner was one of the most renowned artists of his time and even today, this title does not seem to have faded. Each and every painting is so fascinating, with beautiful colours and compositions, which never fail to be provoking.
For me, when I look at a Turner painting, there is so much emotion and thought: calm seas suggesting peace or silence, stormy seas alluding to an inner turmoil, there is so much to be said for the artists craft. I do gain a strong sense of isolation from theses scenes - solitary focal points surrounded by sheer expanses of colour - "Dawn after the Wreck" certainly has a sense of isolation or abandonment, a lone dog surrounded by extensive miles of sea and no apparent life elsewhere.

"Dawn After the Wreck"

On a trip out on location, I visited Cleethorpes beach, on possibly one of the warmest days of the year, therefore the location was packed full of visitors, much to my annoyance. I wanted photos alluding to isolation, not easily done when there is people everywhere.
Nevertheless, I persevered and managed to to gather successful photos inspired by Turner's seascapes, that were completely void of people, despite the masses outside of the frame.
I have a number of photos from this day that mimic the compositions of Turner's work - using an isolated figure and only using what is already there, not adding anything in to make the photos look a specific way.

Cleethorpes beach. 

Here, the fort is so very far away and the rest of the beach appears to be derelict, with not a breath of life. There is something powerful in this and I do feel this is so very much inspired by Turner.
This is a photograph of the photo and I am surprised by how well it has translated on the screen. I edited the photos to get a feel more like a painting as opposed to the true colours of the scenesm I felt this void of colour would add to the atmosphere. In photographing the image, it looks almost like an old photograph which makes it feel all the more impactful. Even the accidental oil paint smudges work in favour of this.

With the photos I have gathered (and also observational work produced on the day) it will be interesting to see how the influence continues into the actual paintings.


[EDIT]
After looking at Turner, along with other influential artists, I began work on a small series that could become a part of the final installation space, regarding it suits the atmosphere and theme.
I do feel that Turner is encompassing the feelings I wish to convey in my final installation, looking at location for inspiration but working with emotion.

Isolation and Egon Schiele

Within my project, I decided to create the sub-theme of isolation. This has become a reoccurring theme throughout my experimentation, with all of the paintings, drawings and even photos looking at isolating themes. I decided, not to look in the literal sense of isolated or derelict locations, but instead use them as inspirations for personal attitudes. I believe I noticed the theme when I was feeling isolated in myself and the ideas seemed to stand out within the work I was producing.
It will be interesting to see if I can progress with this idea, producing work centered around my mood and emotions, as well as focusing on my inspirations from location work.

Egon Schiele is an artist who I have found particularly useful here. I looked through a number of books exploring the artist: "Egon Schiele and His Contemporaries" and "Egon Schiele Sketchbooks" proved very useful to me and brought me to one of the most intriguing paintings I have seen by the artist: Tote Mutter.

Egon Schiele Tote Mutter

I explored different ideas within this painting considering sexuality, isolation and distortion. (Detailed analysis featured in sketchbooks.) I was very pleased to happen upon this painting as it does certainly work as a from of inspiration for these newly developing ideas.
Not only does it suggest isolation but it also incorporates the idea of inclusion of the human form to suggest the theme. The black alone would create a strong, isolating atmosphere and I did experiment with this idea, creating images using black ink and masking fluid to create harsh dark space to contrast colour or stark white.
Many of my experiments progressed in this manner and working in the incorporation of colour became rather effective, particularly when using watercolour, again a contrast to the stark black ink.

I definitely intend to explore the idea of contrasts within my paintings and further experiments as I feel they work well. Not only just creating interesting juxtapositions, but also giving a stronger isolating feel by having particular elements stand out alone against a different background, perhaps making them so different that they do become isolated from the rest of the painting around them.
Exploring this in more depth and on a large scale will be of definite use to me.

Incorporating the Human Form

In looking at all the previous posts, as of late, it is definite that my project is veering directly to the incorporation of the human form. I feel as though I need this presence in order to tell my ideas through the paintings I am to create. 

I intend to remember all the research I have been collating and ensure that it stays relevant and predominant throughout the production part of the final major project. 

Henry Moore.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park,
Wakefield.

Martin Parr - The Rhubarb Triangle.
The Hepworth,
Wakefield.

Humans of New York

In looking at the human form in a space, I realised an obvious point of research would be The Humans of New York Project. This project has become such a successful piece of work that is now spanning so much social media, gaining followers from all over the world.

humansofnewyork.com
The projects website.

Human of New York
The projects Facebook page.

@humansofny
The projects Instagram account.

The project features images of ordinary, everyday people, something seen with a number of photographers before, but there is more vulnerability here, for the subject has a story and the story is not private, instead it accompanies the photo that is then published online for the extensive followers. There is something very powerful in documenting all these stories and human beings, bringing together all their stories, all their worries, joining them in solidarity. There seems a strong support network surrounding the project also, which makes it all the more significant and powerful.

I feel that this can link to my project because of the themes of isolation I am exploring. In isolation, you feel you are the only person, but this project reminds its audience that there are so many other people leading different lives all around you and there are definite, strong messages in that.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park

As well as visiting The Hepworth while in Wakefield, I took a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
I have the opportunity to work with so many possibilities from the photographs I gained from the park. I was particularly intrigued by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. These were two of the artists I knew best, there were others I was familiar with, but these were most known to me and I do believe they stood out the most also.
I just loved Hepworth's sculptures. I loved how they captured and framed the space around them so wonderfully. The use of holes, spaces and different shapes made for so much to look at. It wasn't just the sculptures, but the way they aligned with one another, how they created little viewfinders and even the ways in which the light caught the bronze and how this light cast interesting shadows. There is so much to a Hepworth sculpture and they were so delightful to see.

I have seen Henry Moore sculptures before, but only ever much smaller works, situated in the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, so seeing the huge structures in the park was a wonderful experience. Seeing the craftsmanship, the dents and curves, on such a huge scale was something very impressive. I have always been intrigued by Moores' drawings and paintings but there is something so much more about seeing the shapes of his 2D works brought into 3D on such a grand scale.

Seeing these sculptures in the park was definitely inspiring to my ideas of exploring space and the human form. The way they claimed the space was something I really wanted to capture and document as I feel this made them so powerful and effective. 

Martin Parr

Martin Parr is a photographer I have only discovered through the duration of the course this year and at this moment, he is a very important artist to explore in my current project.
Parr photographs people in locations, often in a candid manner and in garish, bold colour. Despite the excessive brightness of the photos, there is something enticing about them, especially when they are presented in bulk.
I recently took a trip to Wakefield, to visit The Yorkshire Sculpture Park and The Hepworth Gallery. In looking at figures in the landscape, I had wanted to visit the sculpture park as a call to my location visits and I then discovered that The Hepworth was a short drive away. I had been told about Martin Parr's The Rhubarb Triangle, a photo series exploring, quite simply, the rhubarb industry. I was certainly intrigued by the absurdity of the idea, who would think of visiting a rhubarb factory in order to make a work?
The photos I had seen online were also appealing so I made the visit to the gallery.

[My photos taken from the exhibition]

I gathered photos of my own of the exhibition and also purchased postcards of the exhibition. It was definitely interesting and beneficial to go and visit the exhibition. Just seeing the ordering and curation itself was worth the trip. The use of colour throughout the exhibition was so significant: the hints of red all the way through, becoming more and more pronounced, from the red stalks in an industry setting, to the red everywhere curtesy of Parr's photographs of the festivals.

The thing that became relevant about this project was the idea of photographing within an industry environment, capturing people in their every day occupation. I think something as mundane as a rhubarb factory and industry is so peculiar that it helps add to the appeal of the series. This also adds relevance to my project, for it looks the figures in the space, and here it is certainly an unconventional space, but it works.

Parr's website
The Hepworth

Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark was a photographer who prided herself on her street photography and was best known for her photojournalism and documentary photography, among much more.

The Guardian collected a few of Mary Ellen Mark's "legendary photographs" to present an article commemorating the photographer after her death in 2015.
The article features this statement:
The award-winning photographer, who has died aged 75, was famed for her documentary work and intimate portraits, always regarding herself as a street photographer. 

The statement suggests that maybe you can say a lot about a person in a few short words.

Along with her street photography, she also created photo series' including self portraits, portraits of others, including celebrities such as Johnny Depp and also series' looking at her family. The photographer had so much credit to her name before she died, showing just how much she cared for her craft.

The Photographer 

Streetwise, which became a documentary film directed by the
photographers husband, Martin Bell.

Ward 81

Twins

A Week in the Life of a Homeless Family

One of the intersting things about Mary Ellen Mark is how diverse she is. It is also intersting to see that despite how varied the work is, I am still able to make comparisons to so many of her projects and series'.
While most of her work is about the human form, where she has situated and photographed the subjects is just as important. She selects her locations to compliment the subject and this is where my interest in the photographer lies.
It would defninitely be interestign to explore this careful consideration further with my own experiementation and primary photographs.


Mary Ellen Mark's website
The Guardian's article

Fay Godwin

I discovered the photographer Fay Godwin when looking at landscape artists and forms in the landscape. The photographer was suggested to me by a peer. I went on to research the artist and found her series Our Forbidden Land to be most interesting. The photo series features spaces, natural land, that features something human: be it a man-made structure or the human form itself.
My favourite works from theseries, those which stand out to me, are the following:

The ways in which Godwin photographs these locations perfectly relates to the ideas of forbidden land, suggesting isolated areas, bu mostly those which have been cordoned off. Even the self portrait of the shadow in the water has a similar idea, with the reflection unable to go further than the waters edge. 

Godwin also photographed portraits, again using black and white film. These are rather close up portraits however, almost like headshots. A lot of them do seem rather casual however, as though the photographer has caught them at a moment in their lives; captured something about the person as they going about their day to day activities and tribulations.

It is interesting to see the flexibility in this photographer, while still being able to gain a sense of her style within each of the different photo series'.

I found an article featured on the Guardian website that looked at and discusses Godwin's work and exploring her life.



https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/08/margaret-drabble-fay-godwin

Chris Killip

Chris Killip is a photographer who reminds me slightly of George Shaw. I know him best for his industrial portraits and I believe this is where the similarities lie.
Killip created the photo series In Flagrante.

The thing that separates Killip and Shaw is Killip's use of the human form, to compliment his industry in an oddly successful juxtaposition.
The use of young children using the estates as playgrounds, contrasted with the serious adult workers creates much more contrast, which again, only heightens the significance of the series.

"You didn't have to be a genius to realise how important it was to get in and photograph it before it all fell apart." Killip allows us to understand the fragility of both the location and the community with this statement, and his photographs only prove this further.
The images are beautiful in strange and perplexing ways. It should be discomforting to see the breakdown of a person *, but the vulnerability that Killip is able to capture makes this beauty.

*

It is certainly intersting to see how Killip captured people in the most appropriate landscape that was able to bring together every quality and characteristic of the location he selected and this is something very important to look to in my own project.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/11145782/Chris-Killip-In-Flagrante.html?frame=3064309

George Shaw

After looking at human interaction with nature, through beginning to explore my visuals from a trip to Hull, I wanted to  move onto the idea of how we interfere. This came to mind when considering The Deep. It is not so much interaction as it is interference; paying to see animals who must remain in the same tank for the rest of their lives, seeing humans pushing their faces into their "homes". I wanted to include more of this idea about how we alter the nature we live alongside.

I moved my attention away from the animals and took myself off to the man-made, looking back at the images I took at the very beginning of the project.
This led me straight to George Shaw, who works a lot with structures and also memories. I did feature Shaw in my previous project also, and still see his relevance now. Like Turner and Schiele, Shaw is an artist I seem to find influencing me wherever my projects turn.
In the post I made looking at the artist last project, I featured a video on Estate of Mine, an exhibition Shaw put on to display his home.

There is something very inspiring about the modest (possibly too much so) artist, who creates such stories and atmosphere with the locations he presents, that are so poignant to him.

Shaw uses this short documentary to explain briefly about some of the works, making them all the more appealing.

I intend to look further into the artists work again to uncover how I can work with the ideas and themes of industry.

Michael Raedecker

Michael Raedecker creates beautifully simple images, focusing mainly on very simple line, most commonly working on to canvas or linen. Raedecker doesn't just paint and draw the images however, he also sews into them in order to complete them. He will work in acrylic and use additions of thread to conclude the detail. 

The juxtaposition of the structures and the hand sewn threads make the images so interesting, as well as how they remain with the unfinished style. I am particularly fond of the third image, of how he has suggested water through the subtle gradients of coloured threads. 

This has made me consider how to work with my images from the previous post, by threading into a painting, or even into the photo itself. 

In looking at Raedecker, I also came across another artist at the same time. I found the artist as a suggested page on Instagram. Jane Carkill, who goes by the username @lamblittle produces beautifully embroidered pieces, mainly of animals, but she also paints her images. 

I was interested by her way of working, painting first and then working over the top .

Not only does this come to mind when I think of Raedecker, but it also reminds me again of Anselm Kiefer and his heavily mixed media art. 

Jane Carkill's Instagram page

It will be interesting the explore working in this manner to see what I am able to produce. 

On Location: Hull

I made a visit to Hull last weekend and took in my surroundings, exploring the location. I stopped with a friend who is at the University there so I was treated to visits to small gems I would not have found on my own and also trips to the tourist locations. I wanted to look to The Deep, with ideas of human interaction with nature, but in an obtuse sort of way. How are we really connected to the animals there when they are separated, in an unnatural environment, by thick panes of glass.
I found interest in working here, photographing and also work in my location sketchbook.
It was interesting to take myself off to a new location to explore some newer ideas.

I returned home after the weekend with new material to work with, and was interested by the ideas of developing this contrast that I found. I created studies in watercolour but had the idea of doing something more.
The following images were my favourites. I felt they were the most effective in achieving the ideas I had behind the visit.

I wanted to explore the contrast and so I feel that these are definitely the most effective images to use in order to try and achieve this. 

Schiele Study with Line

In looking at Schiele, I turned my attention to making the human figure a part of the landscape, rather than just featuring in it. I looked at line drawing again, pulling in figures and trees to make one continuous drawing across two lengths of card. I considered then drawing back Schiele, incorporating  some of his work in with my own.

First experiment, looking at the pairing of human line and
nature. 

Incorporating my Schiele fine liner studies
with another study from a photograph of
mine.

Incorporating my Schiele fine liner studies
with another study from a photograph of
mine.

The initial drawing made onto tracing paper
to sit on top of the Schiele studies.

I used the drawings featured in this post to work with on the experiments.  

Working with line and colour in a further
Schiele study from my own visuals.

Egon Schiele

Shiele is forever an inspiring artist to me and so I began to work in line and sporadic colour, inspired by his works.
In looking to Schiele, I took out two books on the artist:
"Egon Schiele Sketchbooks"  and "Egon Schiele and His Contemporaries"

#1 Egon Schiele Sketchbooks

#2 Egon Schiele and His Contemporaries  

The second was more relevant as it showed an array of works, rather than just sketches that his sketchbooks evidently served. It also showed me into the works of his contemporaries, as the title states, looking to the likes of Klimt and Kokoschka, giving me further avenues to explore.