arts in health, – Artwork

26th December 201923rd November 2021

Walking Around 2: Wandering Into The Print Workshop.

Well, NO! It was more like racing in at high speed shouting ‘Let me etch!’ This was because, the day before, I had watched this……..

…and while watching it, I found myself scribbling furiously, drawing quite spontaneously, and making little illustrations of the things Chi was talking about. In no time, I had several sketchbook pages, drawing, making notes, thinking back to the CHWA, conference and remembering the projects about blood and breath that had been presented there……….. Yeah! A sort of idea was germinating which resulted in this.

And by Appraisal time just before Christmas…… these

relating to thoughts about these things….

“It is through a phenomenological type of reflection that I was led to see that the oneness of the human person and the rest of the system of nature is discovered, not invented….. a sharp division between the self and an environment is not present.”
Marietta, 2003. p122.

Marietta Jr., D.E. (2003) in Toadvine,T. Ed., Brown, Charles S.Ed. (2003) “Eco-Phenomenology. Back To The Earth Itself” New York, SUNY Press.

I re-shaped my module proposal as an exploration of interconnectedness- macro to micro -relating to the evolution of elements critical to life and the connections between plant, animal and mineral worlds by which these elements move through time and space.

The evolution of respiration would be illustrated with organic cellular forms in fluid environments drawn spontaneously in a gestural style and be contrasted with crystalline, mineral entities and abrasive erosive processes illustrating the evolution of circulation. The prints would be presented as artist’s books in zig-zag form to suggest time and include enclosures to suggest space, telling the story of the evolution of iron into the HemeB molecule critical for respiration and circulation in plants and animals – a fascinating interconnection that stimulates questions like ‘What are we?’, ‘Where do we begin and end?’, ‘What is other, upon which we depend?’

7th March 201929th April 2019

FMP PROPOSAL(tentatively)

Concept: A visual exploration of the effect that ‘place’ has upon thought and feeling (well-being). The driving questions are … How do places ‘communicate to us’ and impact upon our emotions, ideas and feelings? How might this be quantified? – particularly in a way that can inform #artsinhealth. What can visual artists learn of and express through a ‘language of place’ that can contribute to #artsinhealth?

The Artistic Challenge: To develop work through a contemporary lens on ‘the sublime’ that creates a sense of ‘silence’? ‘well-being’? and evaluate this.

29th November 201810th August 2019

No dice rolls: Project hand-in week.

A busy few days finishing things off and doing some playful extension pieces before final group crits for The Dice Project. Next week we move on to a new Pathway project. Next week also includes a day trip to Glasgow galleries and museums and the start of UCAS personal statement tutorials following the trip most people went on to the UCAS fair in Manchester on Tuesday. Rather than doing that, I had a quiet day in the studio completing ‘Neuroimagining’ and doing some research about M.A. courses on the computer.

Cutting perspex is an awful chore! However, I resolved the piece eventually, finding some smart nuts and bolts to put through both layers of plastic and hold the sculptural pieces in place. I did some PVA experiments on some of the perspex off-cuts and decided to add some into the ‘Neuroimagining’ composition to add a different ‘plastic’ texture – I like the way it puts a bit of punctuation between the polystyrene elements and sort of bridges the materials gap between that and the flat perspex layers. Final refinements included cutting and carving a polystyrene border/frame to fix between the perspex layers that will hopefully seal the piece up and help to prevent dust getting in – it has a huge static charge and attracts dust like a magnet!

Just the protective polythene layer to peel off the front.

Placing in different light (above). And doing a photographic exploration of the details. (below)

Printing with the polystyrene practice cutting pieces.

Finally, use photographs I have taken throughout the Dice project to do some image manipulation….. rather nice surface pattern results I think.

‘Me And My Friends’ digital image manipulation

25th November 201810th August 2019

Perspex and Textiles.

A trip to where you get perspex sheets from – horribly expensive stuff! Nevertheless, materials have been purchased for mounting the ‘Neuroimagining’ piece. While I am contemplating how to accomplish this …. more work on ‘Me and My Friends’ dual brain textile piece – it’s hand in next week so there’s a lot of finishing off to do!

Clear perspex for the front and box profile perspex for the back I think. I like the way the latter catches the light.

I have experimented with a variety of arrangements of the bowel, brain, microbe and neuron motifs before attaching everything to the hessian backing fabric. The pieces are appliqued to the backing using the sparkly thread that represents the vegus nerve connecting the gut and the brain. Little shiny french knots help to secure everything and represent the ‘communication’ through the system …. the electro-chemistry of the neuron-bacteria link sort of idea.

Finishing off the edges with a macrame binding stitch…… thread by thread VERY TEDIOUS!

The Finished Piece – except for working out how to mount it. Photographed with different lighting effects.