Experimental work

I ended my last post regarding King Island, “The challenge now is to translate all this into a fitting expression of these primal and timeless tenets”.

Thinking about what pieces I was going to make, I was concerned that I was perhaps being too literal with my interpretations, before realising that many of my source photos had already become an abstraction by the way I had framed images. So many images – so overwhelming!

Although I felt unable to begin work on the island due to the lack of my multitude of materials to experiment with – now, at home and surrounded by them, I have so many choices that I am in danger of becoming paralysed.

At these times, this quote from Sylvia Plath generally sets me right again:

 “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Image by Gavin Aung Than, Zen Pencils.

Well we can’t be having that, can we. Anyway, apparently she may have felt like this because she was hungry. ....

It can be hard to discipline yourself to calm down a bit, make decisions, follow through with experiments, and to properly partake in the exchange between you and the material. Particularly as I am changing the type of work I make, more-so than ever, I can’t just forge ahead, but must slow down and explore options.

I want my new work to explore the themes I described such as mortality, the cycle of life, and the beauty of decay, as well as being intriguing and powerful pieces themselves – no pressure then! Sitting here writing this is like making a mission statement for myself. I’m a little wary of making steps in a wrong direction. Over-excited, I have to focus on exploring the process of sampling. That’s hard when you just want to go forth and make!

Something I do know though, is that the more you play, the more ideas you have, and the more they extend and grow. They all swoop down on me when I try to go to sleep, so I now have to have a wee lamp and my notebook next to the bed for surreptitious scrawlings!

So here are some of my experiments: flour paste on dyed silk to create a crackled, rock-like texture.

Painted over with black dye.

Washed out and ready to stitch into.

Various samples of stitiching into leather, onto satin, free-motion embroidered pieces, and satin and leather stiffened with gelatin.

Embroidering wings over acrylic on satin.

Gummy silk cocoon strippings, painted with glitz sprays.

Leather as kelp, shaped and stiffened with PVA glue.

 Leather as kelp, stitched onto backing and stiffened with PVA glue. Very happy with this!

Leather as kelp, shaped and stiffened with PVA glue, beginning to be painted.

 A background canvas for kelp - covered in beard snoods wet down with PVA to create a textured rock surface - this is going to be a heap of fun to paint!