New Face

This was also made for the Edition Skateboards launch night. Unlike the previous face I made, this time I haven't used pieces of skateboard to create all the features. Only the tongue in this piece is made from an old skateboard. 

Skateboard Face

This piece of work has been done for an exhibition which is part of a launch night for a new skateboard company, Edition Skateboards. The brief was to create a piece of work that incorporated skateboards, the idea then developed into creating faces using pieces of skateboards. A number of other artists have been asked to produce one, this is my contribution.

Face

A couple of drawings edited playing around with Photoshop.

Group Tables

Just a couple of photos of a pair of tables we have had in out living rooms over the past couple of years. 5 different people have contributed to the tables.

Sketchbook Pictures

Just a couple of doodles.



Bits and Pieces of Furniture

I produced this piece at the beginning of last year. This was the first time I had used this pattern for a piece of work. I enjoyed coming up with this pattern and have now began applying it in the renovation of old furniture.

This piece made on a chipboard approximately 55x30cm using acrylic, gloss paint and paint pens.

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The next series of images a of a table I repainted and decorated in a similar style to the previous piece of work. I'm still not sure how to finish this piece. I'cant decide wheather to just varnish it or varnish it and finish it with a piece of glass on top.

These next images are of another table i have been working on in a similar style to the one shown above. Again as with the one above I'm still not sure how to finish the table. I have been thinking of finishing the top of the tabel with a piece of perspex cut to flush with the top.

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With this next piece i have approached the stylisation in a different way. Instead of decorating the piece with a pattern I have attempted to use to shape of the piece of furniture to my advantage. In this case I have tried to turn the shelves into a 3-Dimentional charachter. Bar from having some eyes this piece is complete.

De Monfort University Degree Show 2010

Here are a few images of the work I exhibited at the degree show along with an accompanying statement.

My work focuses on colour relationships; my ultimate aim is to achieve a visually concentrated outcome generated from the interplay of colour, alongside pattern and space. I have attempted to show this by creating a body of work made up of smaller components. These components are arraigned in playful manor throughout my space and aim to question conventional methods of displaying paintings.

“People like pattern, because it is nice to look at.”    Matthew Collings

At the start of the year I was stuck in a rut for a period of time with no real sense of direction. Hearing the quote by Matthew Collings took me back to a drawing I had produced in my first year of university, which focused on a repeated pattern. I began by making numerous two and three dimensional paintings in which I attempted to show a visually intense image using pattern & colour on varying formats. From these initial paintings I learnt that, contrasting colour combinations, 3-Dimentional relief pattern, and a long narrow format all played key parts in the visual outcome I was trying to achieve.

 The format of the pattern on long thin boards became a vehicle for the colour combinations I was experimenting with. I started out using acrylic paint straight out of the tube, this was a good place to start but the colour selection became limited and I soon began repeating myself. I realised that to give myself a better understanding of why colours work with each other and the properties each colour possesses, I would have to begin mixing my own colours and experimenting. This is something I have always found to be challenging. Upon testing out various colour combinations I noticed that certain colours behaved differently when displayed together. For example in one of the pieces is blue, a recessive colour, it is placed in front of a red, a prominent colour. When viewed the two colours try to retreat towards their natural visual planes.

This in investigation into colour prompted me to look at the work of Bridget Riley and her early ‘Stripe’ paintings from the 60’s. These paintings explored colour contrasts using geometric patterns. Whilst looking at this work I noticed that her work created an illusion of depth and psychical space whilst playing with colour. This made me realise I wanted my work to have more of a physical presence. This is why I began displaying my paintings in unconventional ways; I noticed that this made the work more interesting and engaging. For example by bringing the work out onto the floor, allows the viewer to respond to the paintings in a different way, enabling them to physically walk around the work. To accompany this I also made changes to the pattern element of the work by attempting to activate space in a different way. I also made subtle changes to the colour and shapes of the smaller components that make up the patterns.

As my work was becoming more installation based I decided I needed a neutral grey background to enhance the colours within my paintings and increase the continuity throughout. I’ve experimented with the space I have been given intuitively and avoided over repeating the way in which my paintings have been displayed. 

This line of enquiry into colour, pattern and space has been a big challenge and a learning curve. I feel it has been a real insight into the thought process and decision making required to produce work focused on colour and space. To progress my work I want to investigate occupying different spaces using similar formats incorporating colour and pattern.