Having identified Fine Art and Photography as creative ambitions, I developed that further by researching courses at University and attending open days. Creating a portfolio has helped me realise my strongest work and identify how to progress with my specialist practice.
I researched mental health for the project, ‘Inside outside’ with primary research interviewing people with mental health conditions. I formed an idea around ‘the masks that people wear’ for my final outcome. Secondary research looking at mental health on a larger scale gave me a contrasting picture of how masks are worn in society. A wide search of Artists throughout gave me insight into the tools, techniques, methods and messages behind a variety of work, which I used to inspire my own ideas. Hans Arp’s work inspires me in his communication of restlessness and chaos. Salvador Dali presents introspective dreamscapes referring to mood and meaning. Dada inspired my experimentation with collage. I also looked into synesthetes, colour theory and methods of creating art from using colour and relating to emotion. Experimenting with a variety of different mediums such as; casting, making books and lino printing throughout the project have provided me with a greater depth and understanding of the Fine Art practice which will be useful when studying at degree level.
My ideas changed throughout the project; the masks that people wear, how colour relates to emotion and mood and combining music and art. A development of my ideas was to capture the subjective experience of individuals with mental health conditions and portray that in my final outcome using my areas of specialist practice. Photography, Photoshop, solar etching and printing are my areas of specialist practice, which I used to solve problems. Photography and studio lighting enabled me to capture emotion and create the desired mood. Photoshop helped me to get the effect I wanted for contrasting emotion. Repeat printing helped me to decide what colour and how much ink to use as well as composition. Layering helped me to portray the chaos of unstable emotion and communicate my ideas around masks and mood more effectively with dimension and texture. Chine Colle is a technique I used to express the relationship between colour and emotion.
On-going reflection and evaluation in my sketchbook and blog has informed many lines of enquiry, refining what worked well and improving my ideas. Interim critique and tutorials provided me with focus to push forward with fewer lines of enquiry, giving direction alongside artist research ideas to achieve my aim.
My aims and intentions developed to explore the contrast of emotion and subjective experience against what we choose to display on the outside. Feedback from my peers show that I communicated this effectively with interesting primary research, development in mediums, ideas and focus, problem solving, consistent referral to brief, beautiful presentation and a concept that conveys a message. Areas for improvement are to go deeper into my artist research, focus on one line of enquiry and scale up in FMP. I will use a blog and a sketchbook moving into FMP as these have both proven their effectiveness throughout this project.
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