Michael Simpson
My tutor suggested this artist to me at the start of the
term. I find this artist works interesting for the stillness suggested by the
paintings, the height of the canvas, accentuated by the depiction of ladders
leading to a small opening in the blank wall. This height also brings a feeling
of the possibility of falling, instability and risk of whoever will climb those
stairs. (the paintings are connected to a historical fact, representing the lepers
conditions if they wanted to participate in church services, they needed to do
so through looking through a small opening on the wall). The absence of human
presence and any kind of action is contrasted by the knowledge that the objects
are there for human use and makes us question what is visible through the small
opening or outside of the canvas itself, where the painting seems to lead our
sight to. The fact that the paintings seem to take us somewhere we cannot see
is what I find most fascinating of these works, the sense of mystery: nothing
is happening and yet there is a mystery and a feeling that something is
happening behind that wall. His works are also very poetic and simple representations,
requiring silent contemplation.
Although very different in medium, techniques and process, I
find that the concepts of his works are similar to my own, in the sense that I
also try to depict and represent something invisible, what is under the surface
and hidden. His works have also inspired me to think that less is more and the
fact that there are more empty spaces than fullness.
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Squint
19, 2015, Oil paint on canvas
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Leper
Squint 16 2015, Oil paint on canvas, 4 panels
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Berlinde De Bruyckere
What interests me of Berlinde’s practice is the way she uses the material in an evocative manner. The surface can tell something about its past: a particular deformed, old, used, bruised surface holds a story. Like in my own work (at the beginning of term mostly), the subject of the skin/surface is in fact a recurring subject of interest of Berlinde’s works. These are often (presented as) decaying and used surfaces. Seemingly used rags, animal skins, (which also represent life and regeneration as these are being re-used to create an artwork) elevated to subjects which are degni of being considered artworks.
I am interested in both her abstract works, comprised of unconventional and old-like materials assembled (randomly but still in aesthetically pleasing compositions?) together, since this term I have been interested in materials and decaying surfaces, as well as her more figurative works, where the body is still recognisable however it is deformed and rendered fragile. The head is absent or concealed, seemingly sciogliendosi in different arms/branches which are pulled towards the ground and seem to form a cage/barrier. This has lead me to create similar compositions. The body itself, like the materials, seems to undergo a process of decay, suggesting death and suffering of the human being. In this way the figures seem to show both an interior human condition, which is reflected on the surface and the deformation of the body, and an exterior condition of the skin which is its gradual and inevitable decay process.
The figures of her sculptures, which are deformed and crouching, inspired me to create drawings of bodies in a similar way, because they express a feeling of turning inwards, suffering and decay.
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It almost seemed a lily V, 2018, Wood, paper, textile, epoxy, iron, polyurethane, rope
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Marthe , 2008, Wax, epoxy, metal, wood
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Michelle Lopez
The main themes/ subjects of her sculptural installations
are balance, nature, fragility, branches and shadows, which all have in common
characters of intangibility and instability. Her sculptures are very similar to mine in that they are
lines in space which seem very fragile. However these are very tall and stand
on very thin lines representing the instability and intangibility of structures.
This state of being on the verge of collapsing and falling seem to express the
unstable times we are living in.
I have been inspired to create similar structures and to
experiment with hanging my final sculptural piece in order to give it an
unstable and fragile appearance.
The use of shadows in her work has also inspired me to experiment
with shadow experiments, because it enables to create new shapes and
compositions and create a contrast between flatness and 3dimensional, which I am
interested in.
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Ballast
& Barricades (detail), 2019, installation view
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Throne
II, 2017, steel, pure lead and enamel paint
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Anna Maria Maiolino
Similar to my work I find Maiolino's eclecticism of styles and mediums.
I was influenced by her way of displaying diverse artworks, combining
sculptures, drawings and paintings, as a coherent whole.
I am interested as well in the artist’s attention of both
parts of the drawing, the front and the back seen as equally important, and
showing the concealed: “the other space of the absent, the latent, the
concealed’. Her graphic work is achieved by adding different dimensions to the surface
of the paper, and revealing the absent and the concealed, revealing the importance
of emptiness as well as fullness.
Her works, mainly representing simplified line shapes,
convey lightness, both for their simplicity and for the way they are displayed,
as hanging pieces or displayed near sculptural reproductions which go beyond
the wall’s surface.
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Horizontal [On the Horizontal], 2014, metal base with raku ceramic and shielded
copper wire, Courtesy the artist and Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano |
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Installation
view, August 4–December 31, 2017 at MOCA Grand Avenue, courtesy of
The
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photo by Brian Forrest.
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Mariechen Danz
Her work presents many similarities with my work this term
in the concepts of interior body and representation of inner structures, the
interior is shown onto the surface, although this is shown in an abstract and
unrealistic way. In her work the human body, particularly the knowledge of the
interior body, is seen as the basis of understanding the world around us,
showing that in order to understand our surroundings we first need to know
ourselves. Layers of empty skins, hanging on the wall, are considered as
unimportant in contrast to the inner organs which are elevated and illuminated.
From her work, particularly from her exhibition “womb tomb”,
I have taken the idea of the removed skin hanging beside the interior body, although
in her case the body is still recognisable as a human figure, and in my case is
represented through an abstract skeletal cage where both fluids and structure
are combined.
The sculptures made of transparent materials and colourful
interiors, which are meant to resemble and represent the fluidity and shapes of
organs and are attached and hanging from lines of wire, have inspired me to
create the abstract glue compositions and to combine them with wire and helped
me to place into context these pieces. The importance of lighting in the
display of these pieces, creating interesting shapes with the shadows which are
different to the original piece and create a dialogue, also made me consider of
experimenting with light.
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Exhibition
view WOMB TOMB, Tanja Wagner Gallery, Berlin, 2015
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Digestive
System 3D (fossalizing / extinct horn), 2018, Ammonite pair, unakite, rhyolite,
chrysoprase, landscape jesper, tree agate, brekzien jasper, clinozoisite, resin
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Francis Bacon
Bacon’s compositions where cage-like structures are stages
for disfigured and fluid representations of figures, have been of inspiration
to my work this term both for the figure representations and the space
surrounding them. Although in Bacon’s works the caged figures express an
existential feeling of anxiety, I have adopted this compositional device to
express the boundaries of interior and exterior self. Also I was inspired by
the fact that his figures are fluid in contrast to the linear and grounded
cages which the figures are not entirely inside of but in an in-between
position expressing doubt and instability. The drawn lines depicting the compositions
are also in contrast to the fluid brushstrokes characterising the rest of the
painting, like in my work combining structures and fluid surfaces.
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Francis
Bacon, Study of a Nude (1952–1953), oil on canvas, The Estate of Francis Bacon
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Triptych:
three studies of Lucian Freud, 1969, Oil On Canvas, Owned by Elaine Wynn
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Karla Black
I am especially drawn to the contrasting material qualities
in her works: her abstract installation pieces combine see through surfaces
with opaque surfaces, materiality and immateriality, light and heavy. Since the
main focus of the works is the materiality and its elevation, this made me give
more value to materials and the process of the material experimentation, as
well as to create less representational works. Her installations, in fact, show
how we experience and find truth in the world through a material encounter,
(therefore expressing and explaining the importance of the material in her own
work), through her own material experimentation.Her work shows that we don’t
simply encounter the world and art through visuality/a”purely optical gesture”
but also through materials. This is also
connected to the artist’s belief of play being the inner drive to create
artwork, in a pre-linguistic, child-like manner, which is used to express
something not through words but through an open process of playing with
materials.
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Paths
Properly Told (2018), Capitain Petzel,
Berlin
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Withhold
Favour (2018), Capitain Petzel, Berlin
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Vanity
Matters, 2009, Paper, acrylic paint, eyeshadow, eyebrow pencil and ribbon, Tate
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Kiki smith
Her works inspire me for the expression of bodily
experiences, both interior and exterior, through the use of silhouettes of thin
layers of paper and fragile materials both as surfaces to draw on or as
sculptural pieces. The inner experience is reflected on the fragile surfaces of
the bodies, or through the representation of the externalisation of inner
bodily fluids. This, and the contrast of flat and 3dimentional use of paper, prompted
me to experiment with strings coming out of flat hanging bodies. Her works also
present a contrast of a corporeal aspect and a lightweight spiritual, interior
experience, which interests me.
Her representations of hanging bodies and skins which look
as if they were inside out, revealing the flesh and veins, similar to hanging
meat, also influenced me to reveal the exposure of inner vulnerability.
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Untitled
1988 Ink on gampi paper, art institute
of chicago
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Pee
Body, 1992. Wax and 23 strands of glass beads
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Sara Barker
Her works, in which wire lines are used to create drawing
compositions in space juxtaposed and connected to painted surfaces, seemingly
expanding its space through the wire, lie between sculpture, drawing and
painting. In response to this juxtaposition of structure and painted surface and
the merging of different disciplines, I mainly worked with structures and
surfaces that relate to each other as well. What especially influenced my work
was the concept of externalising the interior painting’s essence through the
wire sculptures, as a metaphor of the
instability of the interior self, reflected in a feeling of precarious
physicality, through the airiness of the gestural and abstract painting and the
fragility of the line structures. I am also inspired by the stark contrast
between the sculptural lines and the colourful surface, which are however in
harmony at the same time.
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Saturnine
night, 2018, steel rod, aluminium sheet, automotive paint, perspex
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Geographies
of Dust and Air moving parts out of night, 2015, brass and stainless steel,
rod, folded aluminium sheet, glass, Perspex, automotive paint, spray paint
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The viewing of the exhibition “All clocks are clouds All
clouds are clocks” of the artist has helped me to further understand and
appreciate Sara Barker’s work.
When entering the gallery of the exhibition the
works all seem very similar and part of a series of her best known works, which
were pieces where painted surfaces and wire structures are juxtaposed.
Photographs from the exhibition:
Photographs from the exhibition:
Cornelia Parker
I am inspired by Cornelia Parker’s material processes of
destroying and recreating from fragments of material and the concept of
transformation of materials. In her work the process of making is as important
as and is reflected in the final piece. Of particular inspiration to me this
term and my favourite of her works, is "Cold Dark Matter: an exploded view", which has inspired me
to light my final piece to create a dramatic effect with the shadows projected
from it. This piece also represents an action of stopping an instant, which is the
explosion of the shed which the piece is made out of, through the suspension of
all the different remaining fragments in mid air. By placing a light in the
middle of the work, the installation expands and invades the surrounding space.
Although I haven’t used lighting in this same way, I was deeply inspired by this
use of space through contrasts of light and dark compositions.
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“Cold
Dark Matter: An Exploded View”, 1991, Wood, metal, plastic, ceramic, paper,
textile and wire, Tate
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Michael Landy
My tutors suggested me to research this artist for my
drawing practice, since I should try to practice more detailed drawings,
instead of always making unfinished and quick sketches.
He is interested in scrap materials and things that people
usually don’t normally notice, like the beauty of weeds in between the
pavements of the streets. He tries to capture that beauty and its perfection through meticulous drawings representations. The artist inspires me for his determination and patience while drawing, often involved in
a prolonged drawing process from life observation, as if losing concentration
while stopping to draw would affect the final result of the piece.
In response to his drawings I have tried to document what I see
in a slower and more attentive way and I have seen it can allow me to achieve
interesting effects. He is also influenced by the artist Tinguely and his
constructive and destructive tendencies, which I am also attracted to.
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Annual
Wall Rocket, 2002, Etching on paper, Tate
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Creeping
Buttercup, 2002, Etching on paper, Tate
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Stelarc
Stelarc was inspirational to me for his concepts of the
obsolescence of the body and trying to go over the limitations of the physical
body and skin. In one of his famous performances he stretched his skin so as to
suspend his body in mid air through hooks in his skin. The skin and body
for Stelarc are no longer natural but are extended and manipulated through
technology, critique of our current era where the “natural” body as
entirely organic is disappearing and fusing with the mechanic. The interior is
shown through technological means, showing that even our interiors are affected
by the exterior mechanization of the world. The artist has stated:“The body of
the future won’t be bound up to its exterior skin”.
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Sitting
/ Swaying: Event for Rock Suspension, 11 MAY, 1980 photograph TAMURA GALLERY,
TOKYO
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