Category: FMP

Final Major Project. January – June 2019. Entitled ‘Shinrin Yoku’; an exploration of the health and well being benefits of being among the trees examined with reference to the contemporary sublime.

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Experiments 7th – 10th May

Taking a different approach to making the water bowl. Lining out a basket to give the base shape. The polystyrene former will be the support when it is turned over to let the cement level within the mould.

Last image: turned out, semi-dry, surface scored and now building up layers. Considering ways of adding texture/pattern to final layer in next week’s refinement of this element. Could stencil in loose cement or engrave into the surface.

Collaging with printed scraps taken off the turpentined collagraph boards in the cleaning process; frottage of pavement patterns and collagraphs embedded in the concrete blocks, plus photocopied brutalist building pictures. Newsprint, collaging materials & vegetable oil. Beautiful translucent layered effects to photograph. It might be interesting to develop these in digital manipulation.

Attempt to support pieces with resin. Successful small scale and pieces made have been to begin to explore layout of a final piece within a rough maquette of the corner of the studio most recently identified as an exhibition space. The epoxy looks beautiful – making the suggested tree branches look like there has been rain. Gorgeous but on reflection not perhaps quite the language I want for the piece…… would make a lovely something related but kind of different thing. Also, resin horribly expensive and devising a methodical process to apply it to the larger pieces proposed would possibly take more time than I have available before the final build.

Mark making with plaster – trying different techniques that might help to add a crisper edge to the plaster bandage support structure in the piece, or be used on the hanging elements to create a more unified & economical aesthetic. Pink plaster used for experiments here only. Not intended for final results.

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Experiments 29th April – 3rd May

Experimenting with ‘forming’ fabric – applying plaster bandage strips to 2 types of possible fabric – crop protection fleece and florist’s spiders web. The aim is to shape and strengthen it and make it stand freely following upon last week’s success with small scale experiment – scaling up to 60 x 90cm. This is to explore the idea of ‘gates’ into the Shinrin Yoku garden leading the ‘viewer’ into the participatory space. I have cut polystyrene to make the formers. Finally, begin to cut a mould for a concrete water feature element.

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Experiments 23rd-26th April

  1. Photographs of collagraph boards inked up for printing. Black mixed with yellow through to addition of red. Print run included printing onto card, newsprint and over printing onto sheets that were pre-printed with blow-up image detail taken from photocopied images of brutalist architecture. This latter experiment, speaking to ideas about trees in the urban environment and harking back to group crit. remarks about this in initial evaluation of ‘The Kimonos’……. in addition, a ‘concrete’ reference that leads on towards working with the stuff itself.

2. At end of print run – scrap prints taken off the boards – paint loosened with turps ready for cleaning. Boards cleaned and used to make impressions in clay.

    3. Printing onto fleece fabric. No white ink unfortunately!

    4. as above, exploring light shining through the printed fabric.

    5. No white intaglio ink anywhere so experiment with screen printing onto fabric with acrylic.

    6. Above and below. Cleaned collagraph boards combined with concrete to make ’tiles’ that suggest dappled leafy shadows on the ground and develop the brutalist concrete overprinting ideas in a 3D format.

    7. Pursuing ideas for Shinrin Yoku installation elements – experimenting with ways of re-enforcing fabric so that it can self- support/ hold pre-determined shape. Attempts made with PVA and plaster bandage.