Elizabeth Flynn

Movement 27.02.24

My figures are out of the kiln!! I am very pleased with how the figures ultimately turned out, if I had one regret it would be not glazing the secondary figure, but regardless the colours still came out stronger than I hoped, and the glaze on the first figurine turned out quite well, I was concerned about the colours but I think the end result is nice.

I do hope that these figures demonstrate the link between my primary research and my workshop practise/exercises, I'm particularly happy with how the original patterns from slip printing turned out.

Movement: 27.02.24

For my chosen elective in printmaking I decided to do a small lino print with elements from the other discipline workshops.

I focused on combining the individual mark making and visual compositions from prior exercises in these workshops.

I'm not entirely happy with how this print turned out, I would have liked to incorporate another colour or two but unfortunately the project is ending so I am out of time!

So I am now making small moulds of my initial human forms to experiment with slip printing and glazing technique.

The figurine with the barbell on the shoulders turned out to be very delicate and after breaking one I decided not to do them both in that fashion.

The first figure is painted with the glaze paint colours, on bisqued clay.

I wanted to repeat the motions that created my mark making designs on the body of this figure, which worked nicely on the back but turned out poorly in the front, so I block painted over it.

Hopefully it will turn out okay after glazing.

The second figure is unfired clay, which I used the slip printing technique on. I used coloured slip to recreate my themes marks and patterns and then wrapped the newspaper around the figure to apply them. It was sort of like doing temporary tattoos.

I actually really liked how this figurine turned out, sadly there isn't another bisque firing scheduled this week so it's going in the glaze firing with my other figure to set it. It will be unglazed but that might be a nice contrast to the other one which will end up quite shiny I think.

I can apply lacquer post firing if I need to bring the colours out.

Movement 20th Feb

Ceramics Workshop

In the Blue Week ceramics Workshop we were advised to think of verb prompts that relate to our interpretation of the movement theme, which I have listed above

I then spent some time using various mark making devices to create patterns with Indian ink.

We were instructed to then choose our three favourites patterns and print them out, then rearrange them in a visual exercise.

Some of my favourites were made from combining cut outs of the inverted and original print outs.

Movement 19th Feb

Ceramics Workshop; Mark Making

In today's blue week workshop Elaine and Mary directed us with Mark making using various tools and textures, after creating a list of verbs relating to our individual themes.

Most of the marks above were used making dynamic movements some of the relevant verbs were: Jumping, Pushing, Pulling

After break we used various printouts of our favourite patterns to recreate and reassemble new visuals.

Movement

Feb 10th

Some conceptual work for ceramic figurines I'd like to do based on my dynamic movement poses

I haven't had a chance to do a workshop in a while and since reading week is coming I will take the opportunity to do some self directed work in the studios.

Movement

9th Feb

Last week I did the painting workshop with Sylvia, we spent about an hour and a half in the morning mixing colour palettes, block painting certain angles and objects in the painting and then finally finished up around 12pm.

As always Jeff was incredibly professional and a pleasure to paint.

I found this workshop very helpful with the fundamentals of life painting because Sylvia gave us a step by step tutorial on the basic components of the painting.

After we broke for lunch we gathered back at the studio and spent quite some time organising and rearranging everyone's individual paintings to create a visual composition that catches the eyes of the viewer.

Jan 26th MOVEMENT

Today I spent some time in the painting studio mark making and creating patterns using movements I typically use in the gym.

Straight lines and right angles = Squat cage and mechanical equipment

Circular marks represent wrist and ankle warm up flexes,

Curving marks represent bicep curls

Straight lines represent deadlifting and bench pressing, and the printed circles represent plates and dumbbells

I hope to rework these patterns in the print making workshop on Monday

Artist research

As one of my electives is printmaking I decided to do some research into printmaking artists whose work resonated with me.

Below are some prints from various artists which really captured my interest, as the graphic imaging and almost industrial effect is something I hope to emulate in my prints related to my theme of weightlifting equipment and dynamic movements.

James Rosenquist; Campaign 1965 (lithograph)

Robert Rauschenberg; License 1962 (lithograph)

Grace Hartigan; The Archaics: In The Campagna (lithograph)

Movement

Jan 19th

Today I spent some time studying the most popular barbell poses, these are all movements that I know how to perform physically, but I had no idea how to represent them visually.

Using some of the tips I picked up from the gesture drawing workshops I discovered how to simplify the dynamic poses in order to represent them in 2D.

Image 1: Incline Dumbbell Press

This exercise targets your triceps and upper pectoral (chest muscles)

It's an especially difficult move for women to master because of the reduced muscle mass in the female upper body in comparison to males.

Image 2. Deadlift

This compound exercise works a variety of the muscle groups in both the upper and lower body. It is particularly beneficial to strengthen the core and back muscles of people who experience back pain.

Image 3: Barbell Squat

The Squat is an essential exercise for weightlifters as it targets most of the muscles in your legs, while also training core stability and improving posture.

This is a quick gesture drawing I did of one of the most recognisable weightlifting poses, the barbell bench press.

This compound exercise is one of my favourites as when I started I could barely lift the bar and at my strongest I could rep 40kg, which doesn't sound like a lot but to me it was something I could be proud of.

I'm still working on gaining back my strength after taking a break from the gym while settling into the first semester of college, but this project brief has gotten me really excited to incorporate something that I love into my academic schedule.

The tool I used for this drawing was a VERY long stick (2.5) metres with a small sponge on the end. Dipping the sponge end of the stick into ink and controlling the movements from the very end of the tool was quite difficult, and Eoin recommended that I film and upload myself as the process itself was interesting regardless of the outcome.

At the end I used my favourite tool (a Hammer with a plastic cup stuck over the head, very cathartic) to create some round marks and the double ended paintbrush which I fashioned after a dumbbell, to accentuate some lines.

This activity was actually a lot of fun, I've never experimented with performance pieces but Eoin pointed out that combining visual art with a dramatic performance can enhance the overall piece, so it's something I may be interested in exploring over the course of the second semester.

A collection of tools I put together in the toolmaking workshop with @eoinmclsad

1. Double ended paintbrush

2. Paintroller with chickenwire

3. Hammer with plastic cup

4. Golf ball wrapped and suspended with twine

5. 2.5 metre stick and sponge

Movement

15th Jan

Movement

16th Jan

Disrupt 9/12/23

After I came back in on Mondsy to check the progress of the dried plaster I was initially pleased with the result but did feel as though something were missing.

After discussing with Aisling, I decided to add some more fabric but not necessarily dip all of it in plaster.

I spent a good deal of time in the Textiles room sorting through various prints and fabrics, at first I considered wrapping a selection of floral prints strategically around the sculpture in a reference to the Baroque usage of floral ornamentation and drapery techniques (Bernini) but after styling the various fabrics I realised I didn't quite like the outcome, I felt it was overdone.

Instead, I chose a light, opaque yellow fabric as a reference to my picture taken months before of the corporeal looking stacked pots with a yellow prop light.

I styled the fabric and mixed some.more plaster to hold it in place and also create the effect of the materials blending together.

I really love the outcome of this sculpture, I find the imagery of mixed media coming together really striking.

The mesh being immersed but still visible in the plaster and the fabric entangled in both creates a sense that you don't really know where the individual mediums start and finish.

Artist Research: Yuichi lkehata

When researching contemporary artists who

work with the theme of the human form in

sculpture I came across Yuichi Ikehata, who

creates these pieces using wire, clay, paper

and plaster as part of an ongoing series

called "fragment of Long Term Memory"

Ikehata photographs his works and then

digitally adds human features like eyes and

hair, enhancing the realism of his pieces.

The exposed wire and plaster reminded me

of the work I did in the studio yesterday

I was debating whether to cover the rest of

the sculpture in another medium but after

seeing these works I rather like the idea of

Disrupt 8/12/23

I went to the plaster room for the first time where technician Chris showed me how to mix the plaster powder and water.

I tried to stylise the wet fabric so that it would drape in a fashion similar to my clay pots.

I'm a little bit apprehensive of how it will dry given how drippy it is, and the little pieces of wet lint that are sticking up in some places but at least I'm tackling the learning curve of plastering and sculpture.