In this first week, I was allocated a studio space within the postgraduate studio. I decided to get to grips with the space straight away. I found some large sheets of paper which had been left in the space. Within my practice I re-use materials and use found objects and materials so I decided to cut some of this paper up and use in a site-specific way. I started drawing with the tools I had with me. I just needed to start something in the space to feel like I had a connection with it. It didn’t matter that the paper was very wonky and the space itself had to be knocked about to make it stronger. So, I just tacked up the paper as so…. and started to draw.
I use memory recall in my drawing practice and quickly started to work on a vivid dream that morning involving a recent journey to New York. I drew this dream out with all the text I could remember from the dream.
So, I just started to draw, thinking of the dream I had and drew the initial entrance to the dream, the steps. I also started to look about the space and get used to the shapes around me taking photographs to explain and describe the space and me within in it. I wanted to do some drawing later also to capture this space.
I like to gather lots of images so that I can use them later in drawings or making other work. Here I was looking at how the light cast shadows and shapes around the room. I am interested in the sense of space, although I rarely use myself within my work, and I rarely use the physicality of the body at all. This is an area I want to explore within my practice and try to understand why I shy away from using the person directly in my work within the imagery and visual language I use.
Artists who use their studio’s as a starting point in making work and in finding a context for their work when stuck or starting a new piece to get into a flow are numerous. It is a common practice for artists to do this and to take time to get used to working in a new studio.
Upon reflection I have decided to upload images of the work as it progressed back onto this original page to show how the piece developed using the clouds from photographs captured during this first week as seen below. The bottom left and righthand drawings are the further developed drawings. I also wanted to develop some of the sculptural qualities of the drawn characters within the “cabinet”. Drawings like these when started for one reason, to place myself within the studio, can often develop tangential ideas to the drawing resulting in works in other mediums.
Tina Culverhouse 