Degree Show

Wall Space

Before placing my work up on the wall i played around with the layout first. I did not want it to be in a square, or in any specific order, just placed in a way that makes the space look as though they have moved towards the centre. I was also making sure i didn’t place any of the paintings next to each other and be cautious of where i was placing the photo prints.

I finally decided to place them on the wall space in a way that can be seen below.

I used a spirit level but other than that, i only made sure the spacings were even and that the pieces didn’t look too far away from one another. The positions were entirely random.

Sculpture

For my sculpture, my initial idea was to project a video through the sculpture onto a space that fit in with the pieces on the wall. However, i realised that doing this would lose the sculpture and i thought that it worked fine on its own.

I also realised that, because the sculpture is not that big and in a large space, it would be lost if it was just floating and it could get damaged if not seen. So after speaking to my tutor we decided it would be best to put it on top of a plinth, but still keeping the illusion that it is floating. I used fishing wire to hang the sculpture from the ceiling.

A few of the birds did fall off whilst carrying the sculpture to university and whilst attaching it to the ceiling, however, this has not effected the concept for the sculpture.

 

Nails on wood board.

This is a piece i started at the beginning of the year, however did not finish due to lack of nails. however, i have included it for assessment because i think even though it is unfinished i still like the way the nails build up and space out at certain points on the wood board.

Artist Research

Rómulo Celdrán has created these paintings of smoke which are very similar to the photographs i took of the smoke after i edited them to black and white. The artist uses pencil and acrylic to create these “hyperrealistic” paintings of smoke that look as if you could almost imagine the smoke carrying on it path and leaving the page. I attempted to paint something similar to this, but couldn’t achieve the effect like Celdrán does. I am impressed with the details and how the artist managed to even paint the smaller wisps of smoke.

http://www.romuloceldran.com/?cat=23&lang=en 

 

Painting.

I decided that, for my degree show, i wanted to create some paintings, as i am originally an acrylic paint artist, i wanted to introduce this back into my studio practice. I had an idea for a composition and i began testing colours and lines, still following my monochrome theme that is visible in my work.

I decided to make 3 paintings for the show. I used the lino print patterns as the inspiration for my work and for the final smaller piece (the last image above) i used one of the black and white tipex drawings as the inspiration. I used previously used patterns in these paintings to create some repetition within my work, but still keeping them different.

I had the rule of using the same 4 colours throughout each paint; black, white, dark grey and light grey.

Artist Research

Catherine Ulitsky is an artist who takes murmurations and turns them into geometric patterns. She takes photographs in Europe of starling murmurations and then paints with gouache on top of the photographs, literally turning the flight pattern into a geometric pattern. At first glance the black specks in-between appear as just black dots, but when you look closer, it is apparent that they are birds and it is at this point that you realise it is a photograph (as seen in the bottom image)

I am in awe of Catherine Ulitskys work as it helps, in my mind, to make the connections between my second year geometrical work, and my final year murmuration work.The author in the article (link at the bottom) by “the Jealous Curator” states that they “wish they had done it first”, I would have loved to create something like this also.

I believe this work connects to mine, as the artist has traced and followed the flight pattern of the birds. some of the keywords i talked about in my presentation fit perfectly with this artwork.

“Keywords:Freedom, Choreography, Line, Follow, Movement, Pattern, Flow, Process, Trace, Shape, Mystery, Record”

 

http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/2011/04/21/im-jealous-of-catherine-ulitsky/

Artist Research

Below are some of the artists i included in my presentation that i have used as inspiration for my work.

Above is a sculpture by Andre Stead called ‘Swallows in Flight’. It consists of 1330 birds all placed in a murmuration style to create his own representation of this natural system focusing on movement and pattern. He uses mixed mediums and the birds look to be made out of perspex as seen on a video (seen below) that i watched of the making of the sculpture on youtube. The piece was commissioned by a restaurant owner to hang above the main dining area.

“The installation uses the movement of flight as an expression of vibrance and harmony” – http://www.andresteadsculpture.com/artwork.php?artwork_id=68

 

Above is a sculpture by Susan Benarcik and it is part of a series of works named ‘Sculpting Nature’. she uses uncommon materials to create shapes based from nature. The sculpture that can be seen above is made out of coat hangers to represent water droplets. I like her work because it is unusual and not something that i have seen before, especially not with the use of coat hangers to create something so beautiful.

Above is a sculpture created by Hew Loche called ‘El Dorado’ which is Spanish for “the golden one”As seen, he uses anything and everything to create these massive installations. In this particular sculpture, the artist has used children toys to create a sculpture of what appears to be the queen. fitting with the name of his work, he has made sure the primary colour that is noticeable is gold/yellow. I find pieces that use many different objects intriguing as there’s always going to be something new that you see within it. In this case, there will always be a new object that he has used that you may not of noticed the first time you view the piece. making the piece somewhat mysterious to the viewer. The mystery is what inspires me about his work.

 

Above is a print by Chris Humphreys called ‘winter’. The artists creates prints of birds amongst trees using woodcuts and different variations of printing methods. I thought his work linked to my because the prints that i created, even though they are not similar, are based off another topic that relates to birds and I was impressed by the detail and his intricacy.

 

Degree show proposal

“What is your anticipated work? (Please briefly describe your pieces).






My work for the degree show is two pieces which focus on the system created by starlings called, murmurations. The first will be a hanging sculpture which will involve a projector set up behind the piece to project a video through on to a blank space on the wall behind. The second will be a series of prints which will be placed in a similar way, on the wall, to the patterns created in murmurations.

 

What is the title of your work?






unsure…

 

What is the medium of your work?





Cast resin, plastic mesh, cotton string, glue, bamboo sticks

(Still unsure how the prints will be displayed)

 

What are likely to be the measurements of your work? (e.g 20cm x 40 cm).






(cube sculpture) 30 x 30³

(prints) still unsure of the sizes

 

What is the intended presentation? Might there be specific hanging / installation requirements? 






A wall will display the prints and the video projection.

The sculpture will be hung a distance from the wall depending on the size of the wall provided. I will also require extra space behind the hanging sculpture to allow a projector to be set up.

 

What kind of work do you think might work well next to your work?





Sculpture based work and work that is primarily black and white (not vivid coloured work)

 

Where do you think your work might work well?






Against a studio wall or near a corner wall space

 

How much space would you like around your work? 






I would like enough space for people to walk around the sculpture without having to worry about knocking anyone’s work.

 

 

Are there any definite requirements for your work? (e.g. a dark room)




I will need a darker space for the projection, however I will still need to be able to see the prints.

 

Can you think of any other important requirements? 






I will need extension cables or access to wall sockets due to the fact I will need to plug in a projector and possibly a laptop.”

Black & White Smoke Edits

After editing all the smoke images, i noticed that once i had edited them to black and white, the resemblance to the murmurations was evident. So i began to play with the composition to make the photos resemble the natural system by attempting to make the flow look like it builds from the bottom to the top.

Smoke Edits x4

Smoke Edits x3