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- May 21, 2024
I’ve always wanted to use wood in my artworks, specifically plywood. I can best describe using it as a collage material, but the depth of material turns it into a sculptural piece. Using it in my works breaths life into the landscape I’m creating, allowing me to play with perspective, layering, and depth.
Using the laser cut machine, I made some illustrator files, and designed these abstract pieces again to reflect shapes in the landscape.
The piece below plays with mirroring, light, and gradients to suggest ideas of sun coming through the trees, and that nature is symmetrical in so many ways (Such as leafs, trees and their roots). The yellow represent the sunlight, and the two tones of green suggesting the light from the sky, getting darker as it attempts to beam through the lush growth, onto the earth’s surface.
This artist visually inspired me when making these pieces.
I’ve also made this piece using hardwood plywood, plywood sheets, paint, graphite, coloured paper, and oil pastel.
This is one of my favourite pieces I’ve made! I like how the elements all sit together, and the plywood pieces create a depth, and give the impression of a space within the artwork. I also love the gradient on the suggested mountain. This brings in the digital aesthetic that I’ve been exploring, and creates an interesting juxtaposition between hand-drawn and suggestive, computer-generated imagery.
I also enjoy the colour combinations and their interpretive design. The warm oranges are supposedly a canyon, paired against large, foreground rocks. But others have said they look like caves, or roads.
There is oil pastel detail in the green areas, suggesting deep, lush nature.
I’ll keep working with these shaded elements, as to see their potential, and what else they might suggest within nature and the landscape.
- May 21, 2024
I have a number of sculptural ideas I want to try make for the final show. Firstly, I want to create an abstract piece that deconstructs the landscape into identifiable elements, and reassembles them to create an entirely new landscape. I hope to inspire a curious mind, and a sense of adventure, triggering positive ideas of possibility and wonder.
I’ve used white earthenware to create the below piece. I used rolled, flat pieces of clay, and assembled them together with slip. I again, want to keep experimenting with a cut and paste, collage aesthetic, and translate this in different materials.
White earthenware piece
The middle, freestanding piece is meant to represent a cliffside, whether canyon wall or a seaside cliff edge. On the edge is a tree which attempts to grow despite the odds. At the bottom, is a small cavernous area, where the land has eroded, and you can take shelter. There is a layer of landscape, which has rising and winding paths. The angular shape of the landscape is suggestive to say it expands beyond the visible horizon. Whether light has not reached it yet, or this is a literal slice of that landscape. Conversely the area could be underwater, and resemble a coral reef. The top of the piece is above the water surface.
Below is from the game Jedi: Survivor, which is what I see in this piece.
Below is the potential second piece I've created for the show. This was made using red terracotta earthenware, as there was a lack of white at the time, but it would be great to test what this would look like. I had an idea of making a mountain with the landscape attached below. When I was making this, it reminded me of bookends, which would be an interesting use within a domestic environment.
I made the horizontal layer slightly thicker, to ensure it would free-stand, despite it needing some assistance whilst waiting to be fired. I made sure to smooth off the edges and continue this around the whole piece, including the horizontal edges. It looks more refined, compared to rough geometric ones (I think!). I will use my underglaze crayons on this once fired, to add rough detail, possibly underglaze paints too.
From each angle you see a different view, reflecting the perspective of moving around the landscape in real life. I enjoy this direct representation. I look forward to seeing the results!
Terracotta clay piece
- May 20, 2024
The actual tiles came out milky from the kiln, I think because of an overly thick glaze. For this reason, the tiles with yellow and light blue underglaze were unsuccessful. However, the ones with line drawings in the dark green pencil came out visibly well, and kind of adds to the representation (Clouds and raindrops).
I pieced together the tiles to resemble storm clouds releasing rain, which then splash on the ground. I would love to see these enlarged on a big scale! I think the message is conveyed well, and one of my fellow artists said the same.
Becky Leivers
"I enjoy the tactile quality. You have a unique style that you can tell is your signature"
I think this piece would look good in a box frame, or attached onto a wooden slate, then framed with a wood border. With the visibly raw material and aesthetic, I think it makes sense to display with these elements exposed, and not try to polish it up.