Reflecting

For a wee while now I have been quite concerned that I don't know what my next sculpture is going to be. Thoughts similar to this have bothered me on and off for years. This is probably quite common for artists, I would imagine. Its not that I am short of inspiration, my work is autobiographical and is very much a direct translation from daily life. I am certainly not short of material to consider - as I write this I am suffering a compression fracture in my spine. I have unfinished sculptures in the studio and in my bedroom awaiting work, so it's not that I am not occupied, I have been incredibly busy, especially this week, but there is still this uncomfortable relationship between my studio work and myself.

feedback reflection

In my feedback session it was observed that I did not demonstrate how my work was conceptual. I gave a great deal of thought to this yesterday, coming to the conclusion that during the assessment I was too caught up in communicating my research interests to present my concept.

During yesterdays reflection I have been able to really define some of the thinking behind my practice.

My work is very autobiographical. I work directly from life experience and reflect on what it is like to be an artist in this day and age, with social, political and ultimately personal influences. This manifests as a direct relationship between emotions and objects, a connection which i am beginning to explore through research into performative objects and the absence of the performer.

Semester 2, spinal injuries and sculptures.

It is the first week of Semester 2, the first teaching week and the first full week back in the studio (almost full week that is, as I spent Wednesday at the LTA module and Thursday in bed with the cold). This semester I will mainly be working in the studio, writing a dissertation and studying to gain an additional qualification (the LTA module) that will enable me to teach in higher education. I will also be in recovery. I suffered a vertebral compression fracture, which means a broken vertebrae, the force of the accident resulted in my spine jarring and consequently crushing one of the vertebrae resulting in fractures. Needless to say it is very very painful.

Broken spine aside, the MFA continues. I have been back in the studio working on some new sculpture - Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise. This work consists of three sculptures, oversize pots of cleanser, toner and moisturiser. I have been making them in clay, originally with the plan to fire them in the kiln before glazing, but I am considering the option of leaving them unfired. I am utterly seduced by the work of Anna Orton, who in the past has worked with clay, leaving it unfired but painting it with enamel instead, to great success. The other factor in my decision making process, is the scale of the work - I'm not convinced that it will fit in the kiln.

I have another decision to make. I am trying to weigh up the pros and cons of painting/ not painting Swatter. Painting the sculpture would hide the materials - cardboard and resin, and I fear that covering them would remove the honesty of the construction. But, while I was making the work I always intended to paint it and this makes the decision uncomfortable. I'm caught somewhere between Telling The Truth and the desire for glossy plastic Readymade goodness. Sounds like the classic struggle between what you should do and what you want to do...

Meet Roisin

We have recently started a collective to work collaboratively, we share the same interests and work in the same mediums: drawing, printmaking, sculpture and installation. We are combining our individual practices to create an exciting new body of work, which will comprise of video work inspired by Talking Heads, a collection of merkins inspired by celebrity icons, collages of online dating failures and drawing, always drawing to discover our hybrid alter ego - Roisin.

We are Janey Muir and Michelle Souter. We are Roisin.

In a world full of baddies and heartbreakers, we fear for our confidence, we seek to find humour where we can: we hide behind our masks, our wigs, our merkins.

Our first series of work is a collection of merkins that pay tribute to popular icons. Each merkin will be an individual piece of couture, lovingly created for a high profile person in the public eye. The merkins will be diverse, ranging from, the highly practical and discrete merkin for the self-conscious wearer, to the outlandish and extravagant. It is intended that, after the collection has been exhibited each merkin is to be posted to the icon that inspired it – Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, Amy Winehouse, Hugh Fernley Whittingstall, Lady Gaga, Chelsey (Lately) Handler, The Queen, Vivienne Westwood, Perez Hilton and Louise Bourgious. Like a fan club for lusty teenage girls, we will send our hopes, dreams and our hand crafted goods to the celebrity apples of our eye.