Artist Research - Lee Krasner

Through the gestural style of painting I've been focused on achieving there's a strong influence of abstract expressionism. Through my research I've noticed most of my painting influences come from abstract expressionist artists.

The artist I'm looking at is Lee Krasner. An American painter with a strong speciality in collage. Krasner was married to Jackson Pollock which has overshadowed her career for a long time.

I was taken by her large scale abstract paintings. Working mainly in a domestic setting it has been a challenge so far on producing bigger works that I have a desire for. Krasner also adopts a strategy for her collages; she takes earlier works and rips them up to create the collages. This technique is something I've practiced previously in my journey as an artist. Although I haven't revisited the method despite it producing good results. I had ripped up a self portrait and collaged some of it back together to then paint on top of. I definitely plan on revisiting this method now as it works incredibly well for Krasner here. Cutting off attachment to a piece of work is highly liberating and has been a new aim for my painting method. Thinking back to the everyday theory, this is an example of interrupting that because you do feel a sense of shock once the work is torn. But then putting it back together you are restoring feelings of comfort and familiarity, a key aspect of the everyday theory.

Lee Krasner, Bald Eagle, 1955, Collection of Audrey Irmas, Los Angeles. The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Photograph by Jonathan Urban.

Artist Research - The Boyle Family

Born in Glasgow, Mark Boyle teamed up with partner Joan Hills producing assemblages made up of found objects. Other subjects influences included the elements, humans, societies, animals and so on. They believed anything could be a potential subject. By 1968 "Journey to the Surface of the Earth" had begun. Their children, Sebastian and Georgia Boyle began their participation during the 1970s. The couple had moved onto encapsulate sections of the world. Blindly, throwing darts at a large map they found 1,000 places to cast and recreate a surfaces.

Why I was interested in their work was down to the blind and walking drawings I've been doing. The way they allow themselves to let go of control and use of autonomy contributes to the conceptual framework. Which is to showcase a truthful representation of reality. I have considered doing this myself to take control of the next dog walk. Picking somewhere in the local area at random, take the dog, and do a quick drawing at that specific location. The method used in the World Series has encouraged me to continue changing the process so my work can still link together without being tiringly repetitive.

The aim of the Boyle Family's works here was to show objective and truthful versions of the societies they visited. This makes them relevant to the research since that is what autoethnographic study aims to complete as well. This is also what I hope to achieve through my work.

Thirdly, what they physically capture isn't what would be the beauty of the city. They choose the curb sides, roads, paths etc. Subjects that are everyday 'boring' aspects. In turn, this can be linked back to the theory of the everyday and is again, what I have been looking at throughout this process. From this, I plan to look at more details rather than whole buildings or landscapes. Details of structures perhaps, the stick that Lulu chews on. The dog sniffs every corner she passes, maybe its those street corners, lamp posts and fences I should try to capture. To summarise, the Boyle Family's work has influenced this research in three main aspects. Liberating the creative process through autonomous drawing, through my autoethnographic methodology, and through Lefebvre's theory of the everyday.

Research Article - How Artists are Dealing with Coronavirus Cancellations

Delving into how artists have responded to the virus, this article was a great starting point. Not only for good reference but for giving me tips for my own practice.

Online presence is mentioned first here. For many artists, strengthening that presence was the key to successfully working virtually. One of the featured artists, Helen Klebesadel mentions, “I will use this time to finally finish setting up an online watercolor workshop that I have been thinking about for five years,". By starting up workshops meant the artist could keep engaged with the viewer and other artists and shown her ability to maintain communication with others in isolation. Being a full time student, this is clearly something I won't be looking into currently. However, during the lockdown I have been keeping my social media art pages up to date. There's definitely an increase in activity within the virtual art community. Artists supporting each other through shares and likes and also showcasing their lockdown art. I believe this has definitely helped to stay engaged in my projects. The artists are not giving up!

In comparison again, Klebesadel went further to set up a Facebook group called "Cabin Fever Creative Community." A space for artists to share their work online and create a sense of place within isolation.

Back in March, with two friends we set up an online platform in hopes of bringing local artists together. A way to support by sharing work and also increase our contacts. We managed a successful chain mail style project. The first participant would a piece in response to lockdown to then be sent to the next person who would respond using any media, and so on. The results were great as we'd created a shared artistic experience through the impact of the virus.

Using the platform to share our own work too, I have shared bits of the work I've been doing for this project. Having others see the work and interact lets me know what the viewer understands from my work, and that the concept is successful or lacking in certain areas. Which has been hard to achieve over lockdown. To summarise, having online presence has had an effect on my work. To have viewers where I normally wouldn't has been helpful. Similar in the way the artist mentioned had set out to do.