Exercise 4-My practice/Playing with the back of a canvas.

Playing with the back of a canvas.

Materials

• The pieces from Exercise 2 (Grain Weave and Surface).

• The back of an old found canvas.

• Gesso

• Sculpture gel

• Glue gun

• Paper acrylic paints

• Various tools

I used all of the media. Putting different surfaces together as the ground was exciting.

I built up, covered up and continued to play with the materials.

Smearing sculpture gel and handling different surfaces as I continued to experiment.

Weird hybrid mess

Mixed media on canvas 50 x 40 cm

Reflection.

• Juxtapositions of shiny and matt surfaces mounted in a hollow picture frame with various surface variances are chaotic when spontaneously placed.

• Automatic and spontaneous making is enjoyable.

• Selective examination of parts of the process I want to pursue needs to be documented promptly now.

• Hybridity needs to be a consideration in my work but not essential.

• The screen is concealed and only revealed by the optimal viewing position of the viewer.

This piece seems to have no purpose, a hybrid mess with tension and chaos at its core. Is this how I felt whilst I made it? No, I was having fun exploring, ripping, tearing, placing and sticking objects and materials onto a hollow support.

I am drawn to the shiny sunflower part (which glints in the above image mid-left), and the crackle paste draws me into a hidden space.

The overall impression is one of experimentation, a mad professor's 3D cabinet of oddness!

What have I learnt?

• Less is more.

• Being selective with my materials and spaces, tensions, and choice of hybrid concoctions is fundamental to the outcome.

• Surface, impasto materials and the ground of a piece all contribute to the objecthood of my work.

• How I handle and physically manipulate the materials is vital to the outcome and feel of the work.

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