More paper casts, trying to decide the most suitable surface for my expanded painting. Ditching the plaster here and instead used starch and spray sealant in an attempt to make a more durable/robust piece.
Both the starch and the spray sealant didn't make any difference overall. Didn't want these pieces to be flimsy, but the paper had to be thin enough to make the casts.
Casts of lamp, tub of acrylic and stair handle.
Born 1933, Sam Gilliam was an African American colour field painter. He was part of a group of Washington D.C. artists that developed the abstract style of paintings known as colour field painting. As I have been looking more into expanded painting, Gilliam's work strikes me. He abandons the need for stretcher bars and instead hangs his canvas on hooks. Since the coronavirus restrictions, I haven't had much studio access. Especially to create my own canvases. Since I don't have a wood workshop at home. I did consider buying stretcher bars online however I felt this opportunity presented itself as a chance to dive into expanded painting.
Sam Gilliam, 1970, Simmering, [Acrylic on canvas and leather string], Tate, London.
I am able to compare this with my paper casts. There's something similar about them visually. It reminded of similar fabric pieces I'd done previously in my 3rd year. Where I had dipped fabric in starch and hung them dry so they would hold the drape. I know I could do something similar with my paintings. Gilliam's work here really helped me understand how I would physically achieve my final result.
Tate. (). Sam Gilliam. Available: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sam-gilliam-1170. Last accessed 28th Feb 2020.
As I've started incorporating everyday objects into this body work, I started researching methods on how to go combine this with my painting. I came across Hayley Tompkins work and her series, 'Objects.' Using found objects themselves as a surface to paint on. This series was the direction I wanted to take my works into expanded painting. But I do like having the idea of making a surface, like plaster, fabric or paper. Like a traditional painting. Whereas, does painting directly make it just a painted sculpture? And not expanded painting. This definitely got me thinking about my process more in depth. What are and are there boundaries to expanded painting?
In conversation with Joe Scotland, she is asked about the relevance of time in her work. To reiterate, time was important for my choice of colour. The morning glow of the sun and against the blue sky, and its reflection on stone buildings.
'Time is there, embedded in everything. It is like the data of the work. I have a sense of what I'm doing is mostly about looking and seeing into something or between things. Looking for a likeness. I agree with you, there is little stillness anymore, no stopping.' (Tompkins, 2013)
I feel I could relate my practice and theory here. Considering Lefebvre's theory of the everyday, time never stops, nor the changing everyday. Time is one of the ways we record or work. Also, looking into something or between things. Adopting an interdisciplinary form of research, autoethnography and psychogeography. Finding the links between them and why they are important for this research. Using psychogeography to produce autoethnographic artworks.
The Modern Institute. (). Hayley Tompkins. Available: https://www.themoderninstitute.com/artists/hayley-tompkins/works/key-works-2015/90/. Last accessed 28th Feb 2021.
