Summary

First Residency Summary

I didn’t leave the residency with many opposing views of my work. I left feeling like there was a consensus. My work is interesting maybe even compelling at times, but stops short. My figures exist in similar, empty space. They are alone or stand very close if there is more than one. They are very central, lacking formal variety. They exist on small pieces of paper that feel like they should be in a book. The figures are treated very similarly and stand at relatively the same distance from the viewer. They are cute and precious and a little creepy. They are reminiscent of childhood both whimsical and frightening. They feel preliminary to something. They are stopping at a point, teetering on an edge where something could happen or they could just be precious, cute, and a little odd. Over the coming semester I want to explore the formal qualities of my work, investigate context for the figures, and further develop my content.

My figures primarily exist in the blank page. They are almost always central and usually alone. This semester I want to group them together, create families and allow conversation. I want to avoid an obvious narrative but would like to let them interact and explore one another. Jan suggested that all of my works and figures are too miniature. This term I want to explore issues of scale with the figures themselves as well as working on larger surfaces. I want to move them around on the page and compose them rather than relying on the framing device. Judith commented that I am very good at editing. She felt like everything looked like it belonged together and that perhaps I should look at some messy painters to break out of everything having the same sensibility and control. She suggested that this may make my work feel more contemporary. Laurel suggested that I show struggle and once again let go of the control that I have have begun to rely on. By exploring scale , composition, and variety I will hopefully create more visual tension as well as images that are more interesting alone and do not rely on the company of many drawings to make them important.

Again, because my pictures exist in the empty page they lack context. Jan stated, “they don’t exist anywhere.” She suggested that I look at Picasso’s paintings from the rose period to see how he handled the landscape behind his figures. I would like to explore creating spaces for my figures to exist in that are abstract, yet give context and a feeling of place. In the past I have tried to create places for them but they felt plastic and contrived . I am looking forward to exploring issues of context by experimenting with indoor and outdoor spaces. I am still hesitant to put them into a defined space and am hoping to allude to spaces both interior and exterior while maintaining the focus on the figures themselves. I would like the space to support them but not control them or overly define them. I want to approach each drawing as its own. I want to, as Deb suggested, give myself obstacles to overcome and resist the rhythm that takes over and begins to feel redundant. I still enjoy undefined space and the focus being on the figure, but realize its limitations. I am hoping that by giving my figures context and place I will not only make drawings that are formally more interesting but I will deepen the suggestions of their content.

I am very aware of the content of my work. It is something I am constantly thinking of and realizing as I work. However, when Stuart asked me to answer, “my work is about..., in my work I seek to..... “, I found it difficult to respond. I think I have been holding myself at a stand still, with my content by approaching each piece so similarly. I think they became routine and were hinting at the same things and failed to reveal the content that is underneath them. Stuart suggested that I work with found imagery for awhile as a means of exploring what I am drawn to, to further push the content and in turn the context of my work. I am exploring this now and will continue to. Working with found imagery has afforded me a wealth of new images and encouraged juxtapositions of those images that I would not have otherwise discovered. . I am excited for the possibilities and am finding it easier to speak with a little less focus on the character or person and more on their interaction and relation to one another. I look forward to being able to finish those sentences and to creating work that is less controlled and less familiar to me. I know what I need to hold onto and what I should let go of. The first residency made me aware of these things and I am eager to move on.