Comments included that the new paintings (ghost underpainting) looked like a graphic novel, action style poses - not sure if this is a positive link to narrative?
Have I thought about changing the order of the tryptich? - yes, this is intended to be interchangeable but not meant to hang together as uneven in size.
The gaze has changed to less confrontational as the eyes are averted, this makes the viewer more voyeuristic as the subject appears unaware of the viewer's presence.
The pink background piece has some element of gaze.
There seems to be a change of confidence in the figures as they seem to be hiding, diverted gaze.
In earlier paintings the 'gaze' intention was more straightforward - an 'oblique' way of dealing with the gaze. There is a less direct challenge - they are less aware of being watched. Does the gaze need to be direct? I value the eyes.
The ambiguity is still there and the viewer is made to feel awkward. The body position is also awkward and twisted.
There could be a horror film face behind the hair, it feels uneasy.
Could one of the figures be a scarecrow? - hair emerging from the hood, no hands and a stuffed body that the viewer has stumbled across - links intriguingly with metamorphosis
Discussion based around not 'illustrating an idea' left me tangled in knots, I couldn't explain why this was something I am concerned with. I need to do some analytical readings of Paula Rego and Peter Doig's work - narrative but not illustrative.
I need to investigate strategies to disrupt a straightforward reading of the work but don't want to avoid giving the viewer a way in by relating with their experience.
There is also a difference in scale and the context you encounter an illustration - don't be over concerned with avoiding a perceived negative feature of work, just go with the flow.
Pushing and pulling of drawings and tangled hair is good.
The red figure is most prominent - confirmed by others!
Look at Barbara Hepworth, the individual in the landscape.
Personification and merging of person into context - feels like I'm going back to the yellow wallpaper again.
Reflection
I felt much less confident about my painting sketches and went into the crit feeling that they needed excusing from my body of work. What I found out was that through working in this way and completely out of comfort zone, I have explored a different area of gaze and figure to that which I usually would, which raised interesting debate. I do still want to use eye contact but this can be mixed with averted gaze and masked/hidden figures to add to ambiguity. This could work really well in a series of pieces. I also hadn't realised that I was exploring metamorphosis quite subtly (scarecrow observation) and where the hair and figures in the drawings overlap this suggests linking, splitting, mutating, blending, twinning.
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| Dorothee Kreuzfeldt |
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| Elizabeth Dismorr |
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| Hanna Ilczyszyn |
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| Jenny Saville |
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| Mary McCarty - Marlene Olive |
One month reflection
I haven't worked on these pieces since the crit as I have been contemplating them from a distance. I feel they need to be dealt with individually rather than as a group, particularly as it was pointed out that they are different sizes. I will reengage with them when I get into working with oils as they will become part of the painting rotation. The highest impact on reflection of this crit was the effect on my confidence as I felt very uncomfortable about showing this work and the group were very supportive which helped me to recognize the value in what I had created.
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