Notes from peers: -sequential work: strong visual/formal elements good connection to personal experience strong composition -“tender” piece could be brought forward and spent more time- play on words could be something to carry forward -Teeth imagery- has a strong link to the development of a child- could continue the idea of something missing or bring it back to sequence -Most recent sequential work- coherent of all the work ive done combined- need to think of bringing it together for a resolved piece -think about using stills for some textile work, could just use imagery of nettles and dock leaves, or perhaps just the spikes. -work seems like it has the intention to speak to audience, like a way of communicating a story – if i am trying to communicate a story it doesn’t have to be direct or obvious, leaving room for viewer interpretation is ok.
Personal notes from feedback: -Healing properties of plants is a strong path to explore – Reminds brooke of mud pies/ potions could involve the aspect of child play being a source of nurture.; look into shona mcnaughton “we nurture” performance -Storytelling is a good way to round up the project -the use of plants strong because of the connection to my mother; passed down knowledge -because lacking in materials i could treat fabric and paper in the same way for development – the connection with text and textile is an important realisation to tie the project together -it might not obviously tell my own story directly but with the use of imagery it can tell a story of nurture that people might relate to – there is such a vast breadth of language that i can make use of, can easily adapt to each viewer – doesnt have to communicate exactly or reduce it to only my experience- you can see just by looking that the theme deals with the idea of care
From my previous writings and drawings i used aloe vera as imagery to play with the idea of care and soothing; i decided to see if i could use the actual plant in any way. Extracting the aloe vera from the plant was quite a therapeutic process and the jelly inside felt cooling. Although i liked the process of it i don’t know how i would actually use the plant in my work as it just drys out.
The failed aloe vera extraction along with a book of essays “on care” made me think about my mums connection with plants. She has worked at the botanic gardens growing ferns and gingers since i was very young and taught me everything i know about plants. Although i have forgotten a lot of the information she gave me i will always remember the harmful and the healing plants. I have distinct memories of coming home covered in nettle stings from the woods behind my house and using dock leaves to help the itching. i recreated this for a video (stills below). I like how this brings up a story that most people could relate to from their childhood, there is something very simple and pure about tending to a nettle sting.
I also started to think at how when you heat nettles with hot water it removes its sting and can be transformed into something healing. Nettle tea is known historically for treating pain as well as having many other benefits such as reducing inflammation, contains lots of nutrients, treating high blood pressure and even has been used to keep roman soldiers warm. I tried to weave with it and also see what i could do with the soaked leaves. i don’t think any of this looks that interesting but i have thought about how i could use the nettle to stain material so i think this is the next step to try. i also think that the leaves look really interesting in themselves so i might just draw them to be included in the sequential work.
After Neil Nodzak sequential art workshop, i started to look into how i could use the information i learned in this project. I have lots of written work and as im exploring the topic of childhood my writing has been mostly memories and stories in poem like forms. i wanted to see how i could translate this into sequential works. Initially i took the approach i saw in aiden koch’s work, using as little words as possible to convey as much as possible. i liked breaking down each piece of writing to see what stood out, using imagery like teeth, ladders and rotten apples all felt still relevant to the theme whilst also breaking down a story/memory. ive been struggling to portray what i need to but after a 1-1 ive realised that even though the direct story or explanation might not be obvious, when you look at each peace you can see care and nurture just by the feeling of it and the colours textures.
Moving on from the sequential drawings i have started to see how i could use the same techniques but on fabric to tie back into the previous weavings. The continuation of negative space/ gaps i think helps to highlight the idea of imperfection or a lacking of something.
All of the above work is based on these pieces of writing below. The hand written bits are all very rough versions/first drafts but i intend to play further with words and layout.
When I started this project, my original aim was to explore the dichotomy between Nurture and lack of it; and how the presence of one can make you feel the other more severely. I planned to use my home environment for a rich source of visual and conceptual inspiration and I hoped to utilise my experiences to guide me through this topic. I also wanted to look at this project as a stepping stone instead of an opportunity to dwell; I liked the idea of looking at things from a childlike perspective with the knowledge I have gained in my adult life. To do this I have been exploring the craft materials I would typically play with as a child with my parents help, such as weaving. I found inspiration in Eva Hesse and Toshiko Macadam’s work due to their sculptural use of textiles and the techniques they use to adapt the materials intended use. Aiden Koch has also been important for me to look at because of the way she explores sequential art and writing; I found myself writing memories that I could translate into visual stories. Moving through this project I have not explored the two sides of the dichotomy as strictly as I intended to. My approach has been a lot looser as I have reflected more on my own experience. This complicated the theme a bit because its hard to look at things objectively and it feels against my instinct to talk critically about the relationship I have with my parents and my experience with receiving nurture. I have struggled to produce as much work as I hoped. I feel that when I make work related to my experiences, I complicate it so much that it can’t be understood by a viewer and when I make work that is distanced from my experience it feels too obvious and lacking depth.
I would like to have created a lot more work but have found it difficult to know where to channel my focus. I think my strongest work so far has been my weaving experiments, I think that they look the most interesting whilst staying relevant to the theme. This is largely due to being told that I need to concentrate on examining every possibility within one area of exploration. However, I can see lots of points that they could develop further perhaps incorporating them into my video experiments and also look into how I can use the imagery of milk and my disgust of it, as I can see lots more opportunities for a strong link to the theme. During the Mid project crit we discussed the idea of sewing the weavings together to make a blanket and also how far I could take this strand on the theme of nurture. I think this is important to consider and continues my question of how I want to handle the balance between visual and conceptual focus. Alongside enjoying the visual aspect of the weavings is there a way to strengthen the concept by bringing my writing into it? The general advice from the crit was to diversify my approach whilst continuing my main focus in parallel. I agree that broadening my research and churning out more experiments will benefit me and also help me to feel like my final work is based on something more solid.
After the crit I felt mostly confused and lost interest in what I was doing, I couldn’t tell between what was good or bad. It has taken me a couple of weeks of thinking to actually recognise what advice I need to take from the it. The feedback has helped me to realise that I need to clarify what I want to achieve with my work, It has also allowed me to step back and see what others feel is most interesting. I think by doing this I can see that my intentions are a bit lost currently but I now know that broadening my theme to be an exploration into what nurture itself means could be a lot less restrictive and naturally will bring more possibilities. Realising that a person’s experience of nurture is rarely black and white will allow me to explore the contradictions within it. Using the feedback from the crit, I want to find a variety of areas that can offer more opportunity to support what I have already done. I can see my work evolving to have something sculptural at the core and presented alongside and supported by my written work; maybe this collection of different focusses will be relevant for the nuances of the theme.
-relationship between drawings and weaving is strong -the connection its has to the line of women in my family and utilising raft material is relevant and something to look into more. -Look at artist josh riley- roots and fruits make out of sparkles and gems -Could you stitch the patches together? create a larger blanket -Do you see the video moving forward from where it is? -How about weaving soaked in milk? -There’s a good translation of drawings to weavings but how far can that strand carry on the nurture idea? -What about the visceral qualities of milk? – how taste and smell changes as it sours – Was interested in the fact i find milk disgusting – in that it’s such an important part of nurture and nature- Where can i go with this? -look into the taboo/disgust with breastfeeding- there must be a logical reason for that?
THOUGHTS/NEXT STEPS: -I need to diversify my approach whilst continuing the weaving explorations in parallel. -i want to continue with the video exploring movement of material and how it could combine with milk exploration -start to bring in writing work- perhaps use what was learnt with sequential workshop – should i use myself in the work, wrapping myself in blanket, bathing in milk, washing words away?
Moving on from the 1-1s, i was told that i need to do more material exploration to help me to get the most out of each idea. We talked about how i could use drawing to test shape and colour before doing the weaving as it is very time consuming. it also doesn’t leave much room for mistakes and happy accidents which are what im in need of at the moment. I went back and forth between drawing and weaving, continuing on the parts that i liked.
These black and white drawings allowed me to look at texture, i like the look i achieved with varying pencils and direction of line. This is something that i want to translate into the weaving as i am enjoying manipulating the typical horizontal lines you get from a loom. the part in particular that i like from my first weave was the gaps i created, so ive focussed on how to forward this with drawing.
I feel like i haven’t been as experimental with colours because i feel the ones i’ve been looking at seem most fitting. the baby pinks, blues, light greens are all colours i associate with nurture; similar to ones you would see in a nursery or new plant growth. i could probably look more into the significance of each one but im quite happy with how they come together and are a good starting point to move onto the weaving.
Overall, this has been my favourite area of development and i feel it is quite a strong place to move on from. i an envision these as a blanket, possibly patch working them together or making a large scale one. The thing i like the most in them is the gaps, it feels contradictory to the purpose of a bit of weaving/blanket. i think that its a strong way to explore they idea of gaps within my own experience of nurture, and exploring the tactility of feeling and lacking nurture. Touch is such an important part of nurture so i think that it would help to keep thinking about how a viewer could interact with it; feeling the soft wool will remind people of comfort, it would be interesting to see what material i could use to achieve the opposite of that. I also think this development has helped me to focus on the aesthetic of what im making instead of just the concept. i plan to continue this practice alongside my next work to see what i could bring to it; possibly written work or video.
NOTES FROM DISCUSSION: – Look at more other typically ‘feminine crafts’- knitting, sewing etc. + research the historical and cultural context behind weaving. – Touch on feminist theory- role of mother in comparison to father ( did that differ from typical- looking at parents parents) – Lots of scope for playing with materials; KEEP EXPERIMENTING – Could look at different caring activities for research . – Continue with writing as its providing useful insight and also could be a good way to get thoughts out to the surface to work from. – Explore sense of realisation/ feeling of being safe – Explore the link between texture and comfort/feeling -Research mothering techniques how they vary and contradict each other.- leaving a baby to cry, cradleboard -Imagery to continue/ look at- ‘mothers milk’, objects of childhood, first ever braces, mothers teeth, self building objects, fragmentary memories.
Continuing on from my initial weaving experiments, i started to think about filling in the gaps i had left and exploring some writing work. i like the combination of materials and there are also lots of other ways i could explore this. i think that i can start looking at wool to draw into the weave and practice blocking colours in other ways.
-Feeling like my responses are limited, i decided that i could use drawing as a way to explore more imagery. im really enjoying the look of the teeth and the ties to growth/loss/nourishment. i think i might bring them back into sculpture and explore what kind of materials will be interesting- felt, paper, clay, wire? i also like contrast of soft/hard with the fabric underneath- could relate to the idea of tough love and link softness to comfort. -The blind drawings of milk bottles- it ties into the idea of ‘mothers milk’ which is something i want to go into more. Mothers milk is a source of nutrients but when i relate it to my experience or the idea of receiving care i can imagine it being spoiled/toxic. i think this could also link back to teeth/bones and how their growth requires calcium. – i am thinking lots about new leaves- i think this imagery supplies the idea of hope or something new but i dont think it looks that interesting.
From the mind map i feel that i want to branch of from topics that came up in my last project- It was pointed out that the ongoing themes that kept appearing were ‘care’, ‘nurture’, ‘growth’. i like these ideas, however, i think that they need to be explored alongside another theme to open up the options. My approach for this project is to visually respond to these words as a starting point, so ive collected some images to take inspiration from. I will likely continually add to this image bank so that i have something to refer to when lost.
louise bourgeois
louise bourgeois
louise bourgeois
Nell mitchell
Nell mitchell
Nell mitchell
Dave Zackin
I chose clay to work with as there is something about the process that feels nurturing, looking at the imprint of my skin on the surface and the imperfect shapes you can create. Taking inspiration from the shells and cocoons as something that feels safe and nurturing, i created these first experiments.
I like the first of these shapes but hate the last one, i need to be more relaxed and let the clay decide some of the shapes instead of recreating what i see.
These next experiments felt more interesting as the clay took the imprint of my hand; this feels relevant and touch is a source of nurture. i painted some of them with a skin tone colour which brought out some of the marks. i like where this is going but im not really sure where i can take it.
For this piece i started to just make what came naturally, ive seen lots of interesting ceramics recently and love the use of clay in a way you wouldnt see typically. Inspired by dave zackin and nell mitchell, i started to think about creating bowls that have purposes other than just holding something; i like how both artists bowls are used as a way of communication and remind me of the act of sharing. whilst making this bowl i was thinking about being young, having my adult teeth grow in and laughing till i was told to be quiet. i also explored some writing, imagining how a well-nurtured child would laugh.
Whilst creating these small objects i started to think about my own experiences, and realising a contrast between the nurturing (or perhaps lack of) i received from a complicated mother daughter relationship and the self nurturing existence i experience now. As i’ve grown older and began to ‘flee the nest’ i am noticing more how an unstable and difficult childhood has left me. I am going through a point in my life where i’m moving away from my family home (having received adequate therapy) and i am now able to take a step back and review. I don’t think i would be able to explore the topic of nurture and care without thinking about this experience so i need to decide whether to avoid or use to my advantage. i don’t enjoy getting too personal or dark because i like the relief art can provide, so perhaps if i kept things light by carefully choosing my approach, the experience could be beneficial? An interesting point that could come from this is new-found independence and looking at things with a fresh mind- i feel i have relearned what it means to be cared for. i like the idea of looking at things from a childlike perspective knowing what i know now. There are lots of related branches from this general line of topic so intend to keep it vague whilst i experiment.
I decided to refer back to my images and explore colour. i was getting frustrated most of the time because nothing looked right and i don’t really like painting when i don’t have an idea. i was trying to look at imagery like cocoons and soft caring spaces but i was lost when it came to composition. I ended up just doing what felt like doodling or colouring in which didn’t produce anything i liked that much.
i found that pastel/pale colours reminded me of a childs bedroom and the greens reminded me of growth. i liked some of the textures i discovered and figuring out how paint looked when layered. i feel like it was the material holding me back so i decided to move on to something that felt more relevant.
i found my old loom that i used to play with as a child and thought it could be relevant to work with wool because of the feeling of it and its connotations.
Although very messy and rushed i felt the material held quite a strong relevance. I remember being taught how to sew, knit, weave, crochet by my grannies and mother- when using wool it feels caring, often i would use it to make gift and through it received enrichment. it would be interesting to see how i could combine this material with others to explore an unstable experience of care in contrast. i like the look of small windows/gaps in the weave it feels like something is missing.
Abigail yeats CAP 