Evaluation statement
I can’t quite believe I am coming to the end of my BA Fine Art journey. It is time to reflect on the work of the past year and how my practice has developed.
The context of my work is now located around social history, work and labour and the working-class women’s narrative. It has developed from being about Manchester and my personal history, to looking further afield and considering stories and voices which are not usually heard in the art world.
I feel compelled to create this work for many reasons, one reason is to record narratives of working-class women who are aging and won’t be around forever. I also want the artworld to be more inclusive and make women feel seen and heard.
During the year I have visited many exhibitions but certain artists, who I consider having a similar practice to have been the ones which influence my work. These include Louise Bourgeois at the Hayward, Mark Leckey at Cabinet, discovering Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz work and visiting Whitworth art gallery in Manchester. This opened my eyes to a new art practice which involved the community.
My practice is still working with found and made objects but now I am creating installations and assemblages rather than smaller sculptures. I also worked with film, ceramics and letterpress print during this year.
Research is the focus of my practice. The research stage takes time and I immerse myself into the subject, following leads and reading around the narrative to find a new pathway into the subject. I mix fact and fiction to fill in the gaps, creating a narrative which is unique and believable – its maybe the truth which was never recorded. An example of my method of enquiry into a project is, while researching the Angel Meadow narrative about the poverty endured, 40,000 bodies in a mass grave and the literature it inspired. I discovered artist L S Lowry’s connection with the area. He painted the mass grave, which was a children’s playground in his day many times. His Grandparents lived in the area, and he worked the streets as a rent collector, I believe he was aware of what he was painting. During my research I noticed a lone figure stood on the steps in the painting ‘The Steps, Irk Place’ (1928). The man looks straight at the viewer, stood on the steps where it is said the angels appeared, to protect the children who had died (hence the name Angel Meadow). I believe this was a self-portrait of L S Lowry. To develop this, I created a figurine of the man on the steps, an ornament of this era and a working-class keepsake. I created a shadow box with the figure inside and grass from the meadow as part of the larger installation.
The methodology of how I work is always in the making. I have ideas but it is not until I start the process of creating that the artwork appears. An example of this is making Angel Meadow. This began with research and reading as a possible dissertation subject, then I created a mind map which I then ordered into a timeline to make sense of what happened when. First, I created a shelf as a linear timeline, each item connected to the next event. This looked too tidy, 'polite' and didn’t have the emotional impact I wanted. I needed to be bolder and tell the story of the people who died there to build Manchester. Developing this I used larger furniture pieces, clues and prompts and continues to connect it through cotton thread. My timeline moves back and forward like real time and each item has its story to tell. Development continued, I tried site specific narration, spoken word poetry and in the end, I decide to create a newspaper using letterpress for the cover, to ensure the narrative was understood. This option chimes with the era, the news and getting peoples story heard.
I have also recorded the background noise from Angel Meadow which I will play as an audio feature while people are viewing the installation.
The documentation of my artwork including the letterpress prints about Gorton, Angel Meadow and my Southport film has been planned as ideas in my sketchbook. Development has been shown in my blog and reflections on what worked and what didn’t have been recorded as a learning process. Each printing of the letterpress process has been kept and numbers with amends scribbled at each stage on how to improve the print.
My work has been heavily scheduled throughout the process. I need deadlines to ensure the work gets made, especially after losing a few weeks in the first term to being ill with covid. An example of my forward planning was organising when I could travel to Manchester (which needed to be in the school holidays). This enabled me to visit Angel Meadow, record site specific audio, collect some soil and grass plus I interviewed my sister for my film ‘Southport – working men’s club children day out’ while I was there. I visited several times to make the work happen. I also visited Whitworth art gallery in Manchester as part of my research for the dissertation.
This year my budget seemed tighter than previous years with the increasing cost of living. My budget went on travel to Manchester, buying items for my installation (although many I already owned), transporting items to the studios and finally printing my newspaper. I plan to print more so I have enough for people to take them home on the private view night.
On reflection it has been a successful learning year. I felt
the time pressure due to missed sessions in term one. I believe I can push
myself going forward to know how to improve a work. I also learned that
sometimes you need to stop and rethink an idea. For example, my attempt at
spoken word, a few weeks before the end of the year were not great and I did not have enough
time to improve it these skills.
I am still learning to listen to myself rather than people pleasing.
I have been given lots of great feedback by tutors, but it is often conflicting
which each other. I need to listen but make the final decision myself. I plan
to keep in touch with my peers, to get together for crits and encouragement. I
will keep my practice going and I plan to create
exhibitions with friends whenever possible.
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