What a labour of love this has been! I have been collecting, evaluating, sifting and sorting through various artists statements. I have also been reading books and articles, listening to talks and watching clips on Linked In and YouTube! I have been gradually, and I mean gradually, piecing together my artist statement for my website.
I must say it has been a really useful exercise. I am always impatient to get things done and the slow nature of this task has been a challenge to me. However, I feel like my research into 'how do I make my work, why do I make my work, and what is it all about' has paid off. I feel a BIG sense of achievement with my statement right now.
I am aware it's a working document of course - and as my work progresses, my research twists and turns and time passes, then my statement will need updating. What creating this document has done for me is made me really consider 'what is my work about?' It is so easy to give a glib or partial answer to that question in the moment (and then feel dissatisfied with your answer later). But the more I have delved into the thinking behind my studio practice and my research, the more I have learned about my work, and myself.
I am aware that this document is useful as a tool to explain my work to others - for exhibitions, publicity and applying for jobs and funding (for example). However, in terms of self reflection and artistic development I consider it to be a really worthwhile exercise, even if you don't intend to show your work to anyone! I also imagine it will be invaluable to look back on how the statement changes and develops in months and years to come. I think it will enable me to see my progress, my struggles too and recognise themes that emerge. As time passes, we have the benefit of hindsight, and I am sure this will reveal more and more as time goes by.
So here it is (it's on my website too) - constructive criticism is welcome.
My artistic work is an aspect of my spiritual practice. I am a Professional Astrologer, Witch and Initiate of the Western Mystery Tradition, and my artworks are influenced by my fascination with these subjects. I am interested in ideas around atmosphere, ambiguity, and aura. My work explores the relationship between the seen and unseen realities, it references the divine feminine, sacred sites, traces left behind, memories, and precious artefacts.
My research reflects my discrete areas of interest; feminism, the goddess movement, and the palaeolithic Venus Figurines. I am inspired by (and indebted to) the work on prehistoric symbolism, by the archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. Also, the feminist artists' Mary Beth Edelson, Monica Sjöö, and Judy Chicago, who researched and utilized goddess mythology and imagery in their art.
Through my research, I have discovered that, historically, women have been frequently hidden, silenced, demonized, or forgotten. This deeply concerns me, and I believe the suppression of the Goddess religions has played a part in the disempowerment of women. My forthcoming art installation explores these issues and invites the viewer to consider how much, or how little things have changed.
I work with mixed media and occasionally I make a film or a sculpture. I also research and write essays that inspire my practice. I usually start by creating a drawing, painting or collage as a foundation to build upon. Then I add layers of wax (sacred to the Greek Goddess Melissa) to create depth, ambiguity, and atmosphere. I create the encaustic medium myself, melting wax from honeybee hives, damar crystals from fir trees, and then stirring in pigments, to create muted colours. It is a slow, sensual, and fragrant alchemical process. As the transformation occurs, I remember the artists from ancient Greece and Egypt who first used this medium. I am transported, in my imagination, to that distant time and place, where women were Priestesses, and Goddess worship flourished.
I then apply the layers of warm wax, allowing some areas to remain translucent, like portals that reveal previous layers. I make some areas opaque, to cover and bury the past. Finally, I cut, carve, or scratch into the layers, making spontaneous marks that allude to sacred scripts and symbols. Layers are revealed, and fragments of the work below, with its sculptural textures, nuances, and intricacies. Each final piece has a dream-like quality, a blurred remembrance rather than a precise rendering. I love how the wax has a translucent inner light, with connotations of the soul within. It conceals, reveals, shrouds, and protects.
Comentários