Evolution & Unpredictability

FINAL SUBMISSION FOLIO

Link to external image; 

https://64.media.tumblr.com/5581ebbdcbabb3867661b21ba8333018/13131e86bbd91245-6f/s400x600/f12524aec643df45266492ad24e068efe241b889.gifv

ARTIST STATEMENT

Evolution implies linear progression. Instead, the unpredictable nature of human complexities forbids personal growth to travel in only one direction. We relapse, revisit and stumble both physically and emotionally throughout our time here. Sometimes in response to external events and agitators, or due to our inner convolutions. But the uncontrollable can strengthen our resolve to develop further. Like a callous from repeated agitation, obstructions can reinforce what is already within us and continue to push us in the direction that calls. Sometimes periods of uncertainty are the most beneficial to us, but by accepting what we cannot change and changing what we cannot accept, we take ownership of our personal growth. Whether we are conscious of it, we live in a state of constant fluctuation and change. Acknowledging the ultimately unpredictable path that our personal development will follow, is the ultimate form of control over the uncontrollable.

PROJECT STATEMENT

i love the large poster boxes as a (currently impossible) possibility for exhibiting these images. the translucence and layering within the images is only highlighted further by the backlighting.

mock-ups for potential exhibition of work.

if I had funds and it were possible, I would love to exhibit these works large scale. The shapes and themes of self are all encompassing, to see them large and imposing would add to this envelopment.

photography manipulations.

Edited from found images and my own self portraits. Presenting myself as non-human and abstracted. Completely separate from physical form, as it’s now inorganic.

This is more surreal, this idea of complete separation in a futuristic way. Would our personalities and growth remain the same? Similar? The unpredictable change and evolution we could undergo in future is limitless. Outside of our own personal growth.

Taking the brief of ‘evolution’ to its furthest point, human evolution on steroids until we are no longer limited to our organic physical bodies. This isn’t a line I think I will take further but I wanted to explore the more fantastical and abstracted inferrations from the brief.

I also took this as an opportunity to experiment with further colours as I often drift towards warmer more intense colour. Red, orange, pink. So to use monochrome or rarely chosen colours for me such as green and yellow, was an experiment in itself to push and question why I work in the ways I do.

Using the monochrome and green pushes the ideas of the impersonal and disconnection from our physical forms even further, straying from warm or comforting colours with connotations of internal workings and natural forms.

In particular I am drawn to her 1994 video installation “Corps étranger”, which confronted the audience with images from an endoscopic camera filming Hatoum’s own body projected onto the floor of a cylindrical structure, while time was marked with her heartbeat. She also made works on handmade paper with her nail cuttings, hair and bodily fluids embedded in the paper pulp. Her idea was to work with bodily discards and abject material, and the work was filled with symbols and suggestions. The uncanny look of body parts when presented in such a way, is unnerving and eerily beautiful.

To me, this relates to what I’ve been doing with my ‘microscopic’ images which mimic or suggest the internal workings of the body, creating an uncanny look at our physical forms and abstracting and presenting them in this way.

digital manipulation of previous images.

I also documented some works similar to these on my visual language folio in relation to universal experience and interpersonal connection, however I wanted to experiment with some of those techniques in relation to this brief also, as I feel the process is becoming relevant to my current work on relationships with the physical form and it’s connection to intellectual or emotional growth.

The images take on a grotesque quality, body-like. The abstraction of this idea of physical form, disconnecting it from our mental selves. The colours and shapes which came through a random and almost organic process, show a vision of internal organic, natural shape and form. And suggest these rarely seen and occasionally unpleasant inner works of ourselves. It ties into the previous work from my latex experimentes in which I manipulated the colour and other aspects, the internal and biological complexities of our higher selves

Our bodies grow and change and with us, but they are simple the vessel for which our desires and purposes can become clear. Our bodies are indicators of where we are in life, how we feel, how we want to express ourselves. However the true ‘you’ is in your mind, your emotional development, your intelligence, your memories are held within your inner self.

The distortion and separation from physical form and presenting self in an abstract or slightly uncanny and grotesque way, appeals to me. The unpredictable evolution and growth of personality is no doubt influenced by our physical forms, however the essence of ‘us’ and all the unpredictability that comes with that, is internal.

This disassociation with the body, the abstraction until it is truly just a biological look, is something that intrigues me. The uncanny and slightly grotesque look of these images is spurring ideas around the disconnection of physical and mental selves, and the unpredictable nature of our relationships with our bodies.

some alternative colour ways from past experimental latex work.

From feedback, it was advised i experiment with colours outside of my comfort zone. I often work in reds and oranges, they represent warmth and love to me. Passion, ferocity, truthfulness.

I rarely venture outside of this, and as the concepts call for evolution, it only seems fair to include or experiment with different options.

I don’t enjoy the blue at all. I feel it’s too dark and just way too disconnected from what I’m trying to portray. The yellow and pink is more appealing to me, warm, welcoming, vibrant and natural. Highlighting many of the aspects I love about using reds and oranges, without being identical to past work.

The pink and yellow is still useful for articulating these feelings of internal physicality, warmth and acceptance of our journeys. Without being as representative of bodies, and natural forms. The brighter colours create something more abstracted and less visceral than the reds and oranges.

Helen Chadwick, Meat Abstract No.2: Tongues, 1989

Helen Chadwick was one of the first women nominated for the Turner Prize, she created a wide breadth of work within her life including installation art, sculpture and photography. So much of her work is unconventional, using strange or visceral materials and mostly focusing on the body even in abstracted ways.

She began by often using her own body as a vehicle or illustration for female subversion and challenging the way the female body is viewed as a site of desire. As she progressed she began using other materials and objects as metaphor for her larger ideas.

I love this work in particular, the tongues surrounding the other objects, enclosing. The composition is artful, but the use of multiples creates this feeling of closeness, surrounding the other objects with the diagonal line cutting through. The colour red is so emotive, so strong and something I use often. It is warmth, blood, anger, passion. Strength.

Video.

Articulating so many of my feelings on change and personal evolution, using my own past works and photography to illustrate change in myself.

The bubbling clip, rising and falling droplets, this continual lifting and dropping. As how unpredictable events change and push us. We can reach intense highs and lows within our own lives, it isn’t a linear reaction. There is this give and take, this bubbling.

I used photos and clips of past work, self portraits, times and feelings which I can pinpoint. There is a nostalgia and a reference within myself, I can feel the growth within from when some of those portraits or videos were produced. This is the connection to me.

The symbolism throughout of these natural forms, the waterfall, the bubbles. It continues, life and evolution and growth will always continue. In a way we are all works in progress, personal change does not need to lead in only one direction.

The sound as well, this looping audio of an old sculpture I made. Again the callback to personal progress, and others of choirs, louder at the signs of reflection.

this is what i decided on for producing a triptych including text. 

i feel like the choice of words exemplifies these ideas of personal growth and fluctuating change. ‘and still’ implies that after a setback, a relapse, or a loss in footing, forward momentum is still achieved. unpredictable situations and setbacks can be denied and resisted.

as the images go on, the two halves of the image distance themselves. separating itself into past and future, beneficial and destructive. The series begins with the text feeling small, claustrophobic, with multiple lines. Unsure of itself. The last image is wider, demands its space and fills it. more definite and confident in its text.

the abstracted shapes are indicative of a consciousness, an internal self. they are not figural or representative. it is not representing a physical growth or journey, but an evolution within your own consciousness. the reds indicate this warmth and the internal or self reflective nature.

It is, in its most basic way, just a documentation. But Emin always works in ways that are raw, vulnerable and express innermost emotion. Her works are confessional, but also accessible and relatable, with the right priming.

Because she works in the realm of emotions, it becomes an open book. Everyone has experienced loss, sadness, grief, longing. She becomes a vessel on which we imprint ourselves and our experiences. The use of what seems to be a smartphone, the use of what is not seen as an art resource as often, ties into this emotional accessibility. I think most people in western society, have taken a selfie. It isn’t a cyanotype or an expensive lithograph, professional photography or other experiences which are hard to relate to.

She has photographed herself during a period of lethargy, of comfort and sadness. The implication and her recurring subject area of a bed, tying into this. It can be a place of comfort or of restriction, but it is always indicative of a mindset.

This work in particular is really relevant to me, even the name. Picking a fortnight as a period of time. Is this an excerpt from a longer time of suffering? Or is this the only time she has felt this way? The idea of self portraits to document, is something I have played with often.

Pinpointing an area of time as a form of documentation and relation to self, past and present. It can be comparative, a distinct data point to articulate feelings past and present. Is there a way to grow or relate to these feelings, or should we move past them.

Marina Abramovic is an artist I deeply admire, her work and personal life are both something that publicly go through cycles of change, her artistic development has evolved in full view.

In this article she talks about aspects of change in her life, her work, her growth. what she views as the way to approach life due to her experiences.

so much of her work captivates and invites human connection and participation letting in the unpredictable aspects of performance.