Tutorial February

Michael Wright Post Graduate studios 4th February 2020

This was an informal tutorial

I have started a series of large drawings on the walls of the studio, both the Cells piece and the Falling Wall piece which is in two parts.

As well as the larger drawings, I am drawing from some stencils I have made in order to produce some bent metal pieces and I have drawn using them to make geometric responses on A1 paper.

Michael and I meet in the corridor as he is running a colour workshop with the BA degree students. I join in for a bit of this and we talk about colour and he said he wants look at my drawing as he had noticed it whilst looking around the studios.

We talk about the act of drawing directly onto the wall and space and how this interrupts the space. He tells me this is a radical way to draw and praises me for doing so.

We talked about optical illusion in terms of drawing and Riley’s use of line in this way. Reference to pieces of work being made in the space and then being destroyed.

We discuss the use of geometry in the A1 drawings I have produced and this use of geometry and the grid. We again talk about the recent Riley exhibition and her use of line and geometry in her cartoons, her small pieces of work she uses to conceive her work in the studio before it gets made. I talk about wanting the geometry to be subtle and not take over and these working drawings working towards something I am not sure is sculpture I am not sure in painting. Something in between possibly. Installation seems to be where I am moving towards with the use of the drawing on the wall.

We talked about repetition and series in my work. How I have always used these methodologies and what other artists also use them too. We talk through my sketchbooks I am working on and we talk about using both sides of every sheet of paper in the books and how this impacts the repetition developing. He talks about building up a body of work in this way (through repetition and series) and not being afraid of making mistakes, making variations cutting out and collaging.

Mike suggested I look at Agnes Martin for her use of geometry to focus attentiveness and Sol Le Witt who was a maker of serial art. Serial art has its roots in conceptualism and minimalism. and that I look around the studios for grids and patters too, not just my imagination or recall. That I actively seek out these structures and systems in the surroundings. I will find other artists as well as these to research about serial art and immerse myself to try and understand what it is I am doing and am drawn to.

Below are the images I took after our discussion from Maria Meyer’s space and then on my morning walk. You will see from previous visual research posts that I am unconsciously looking at grids however, with this discussion I realise I need to be more open to purposeful research seeking out the everyday images that will aid my practice.

Pictures taken over the next 24 hours.