Embracing a sense of slowness
Despite what you may have been told, being an artist can be full of tension, it’s not always fun, it’s not always messy and sometimes some structure is needed. It is these challenges that keep things interesting and push me to create, to experiment and to move forward.
My practice is often controlled by the influence of order and chaos, both feeding off each other and I have a real need to create balance between the two. I find that this creates a tension that keeps me working.
Sometimes things feel easy and then a curveball gets thrown in just at the wrong time. Cue some mild hysteria followed by reflection and consideration and then being able to move forward with renewed purpose.
I am happy to say though that having had a long period work working with latex I've created around 250 dishes, shown below, all created in sets of 12. Set 2015-85-96 is shown above. This period of several months has been interesting as it has had to fit around the challenges of the day job thereby creating a sense of slowness. This has meant I have had more time to truly consider what it is I'm trying to create; what works, what doesn't; what I'm aiming for. The dishes have been pinned to my studio wall and have been part of my everyday with different marks and detail being noticed along the way.
This choice of working in sets has been intriguing, it has given me a boundary to push against that has allowed what happens within the creative process to be free. Part of this has been to investigate how the same set of inputs, for example, the same amount of ink, chemicals and direct interaction can result in diverse results.
As this develops, I find that my understanding of the properties of the ink has grown, each ink behaves uniquely; it is this behaviour in tandem with the other inks used, the chemicals and my actions that allows alchemy to happen.
Cataloguing such a huge number of images, in multiple conditions is a complicated and time-consuming thing to do. I have been photographing the dishes with and without light as well as on both sides, to really get a sense of each dish. This is where my ordered side has kicked in, with spreadsheets, folders and more to keep it all working nicely - I have to remind myself to not be too obsessive about this but to enjoy the period of discovery.
As this process reaches its climax, I'm able to see the potential of the sets in presentation and usage. I am looking for new ways of adding light and creating sculptures mixing the dishes with other part of my practice including my work in pottery. Key to this is to enable many interactions between the dishes and those viewing them, attempting to evoke a sense of wonder in new and old ways.