The artists below all make work which both creates and denies three dimensions at the same time.  Take a look at their websites then make notes in your learning log about these artists, your response to their work and how their work relates to what you’ve been attempting in this project.

Angela Eames : http://www.angela eames.com

The Fleshscape series reminds me of the exercise in Part 1; Project 4 The Human Form, where you had to devise a composition overlapping limbs.  She has zoomed in close up to parts of the human body, resulting in compositions not at first recognizable as the human body.

Other series, such as Dimensions, combine conventional drawings, for example scribbles with a biro and digital technology, such as 3d photography.  This helps to explore form, in a way not possible through conventional observation.  It challenges the viewer to make sense of the ‘hybrid’ image.

Other work, such as the Veil Series involve virtually building 3 dimensional structures, creating ambiguous images.

I think my conclusion on looking at the work of Angela Eames is that media can consist of anything you like.  It can be a drawing, in the traditional sense, or a digital drawing, it can be a photographic image or any variation or combination.  I think the important part is the outcome; is it interesting, does it engage the viewer, does it make you think, does it stir memories, is it pleasing to look at, or does it capture attention.

My response to it is that it doesn’t engage me.  The use of digital technology is interesting, but to me the results are too clinical and almost illustrative.

Michael Borremans: http://www.zeno-x.com/artists/michael_borremans.htm

Michael Borremans uses traditional media, such as oil on canvas and pencil on paper, and watercolour, in a traditional manner.  It is his subjects that grab the attention by being unconventional.  Examples of the subjects painted are figurative paintings where the person is in an unusual pose, such as a boy with sticks up his nose, figures chopped in half in the middle, the human body becomes an inanimate object, but is otherwise realistic looking.  In addition he uses framed LCD screens showing short film sequences.  The images appear a bit like a puzzle, where the viewer is trying to work out what’s happening and the scenes are often surreal.

My response to his work is that I can really appreciate the technical painting and drawing skills that he has.  I particularly like the oil paintings on canvas, which remind me of the old Masters, however the subjects leave me cold.  They do grab your interest, but for me, not long enough to want to keep looking.

Jim Shaw: http://www.simonleegallery.com/Artists/Jim_Shaw/Selected_Works

The work of American artist Jim Shaw is very contemporary.  The materials he uses are very innovative; everything from conventional materials such as oil pencil, acrylic, collage, ink, wood, resin, airbrush, digital print, enamel, the list goes on.  The combinations he uses are interesting together; oil paint with digital print for example, and the various substrates used add another dimension; oil on shaped wood, cardboard tubes, ragboard on plywood and linen etc.

As far as my response to his work goes; it ranges from awe at the complexity of the composition and detail in Blake/Boring, to total incomprehension of work such as Dream Object (“A room with waves of meat frozen crashed in the corner). I think the artist’s aim is to be provocative and is seeking originality, however it doesn’t engage me.

I think all three artists are endeavouring to combine traditional drawing as we think of it, with for example, graphite on paper and innovative materials and images.  Every subject has been done to death over the years and creating something new and fresh is becoming increasingly harder to do.  These artists are seeking new ways to say something original about how they view the world.

Look at the work of Henri Matisse…What are the similarities and differences between Matisse and Blackadder?  Which artist do you feel more affinity with?  Consider making a second piece in response to Matisse’s more sophisticated use of space and pattern.

The similarities between Matisse and Blackadder are I think, that they aren’t concerned by a subject in a painting, and distinguishing it from a background, but view the composition as a whole with all parts having the same importance.  I think I’m drawn more to the work of Matisse.  I was fortunate last year to go to an exhibition where there reproductions of his “Cut outs”.  I wasn’t familiar with these, although the Blue Nude 11 figure was instantly recognisable.

I will return to this when time allows, to consider another attempt at the gift bag exercise.

I’ve not been successful in viewing any of Prunella Clough’s work in the flesh, so unfortunately all research has been looking at images on line.

I looked at Wire Tangle 11.  I’ve decided to look at it and decide what it says to me and how it may have been done, before I research what others have written.   It is a large piece; 101cm x 127cm and is painted with oil on canvas.  It literally looks like tangled wire.  It makes an interesting composition and the large “tangle” on the right leads eye round the whole drawing.  The back ground could be Frottage of a wooden structure.  The yellow diagonal lines are curious and so different from “the wire”, I’m not sure what to think.

I’ve read that she was fascinated by Post War industrial landscapes and the materials found there, such concrete, corrugated metal and the subject of this painting; tangled wire.  But the paintings aren’t figurative representations, but abstractions of these.  She was interested in patterns and forms of things which were man-made, and things that have served their purpose and been discarded.

When I first read that I was to research Elizabeth Blackadder I was quite excited because I went to a retrospective exhibition of hers  at the Scottish National Gallery in September 2011.  “Great”, I thought, “I’ll dig out my notes from then”.  Unfortunately, these were of no help whatsoever, as I’ve waxed lyrical about all of her work, except for her still lives.  I recall that at the time I really enjoyed the exhibition, however I didn’t really understand her still lives.  I bought several postcards, including a still life; one of “Chinese Still Life with Arum Lilies”, painted in 1982.  I’ve written in my learning log at the time “I’ve included this because I dislike it, and moreover, don’t understand it; therefore this is an attempt to discover why she has chosen to paint it in this way.  My thoughts are that it appears to be a random collection of objects, painted in a way that gives them the appearance of being flat and without form.  There doesn’t appear to be any attempt at constructing a composition, and your eye wanders around the painting, not knowing where to go next.  The diagonal lines at the bottom right side are distracting and serve no apparent purpose.  The viewer appears to be looking down onto a table top; however the objects appear to be side on.”

In an effort to understand it I’ve recorded the following, taken from http://www.exploreart.com; “Her flowers and still life have broken from the traditional organisation of space to create a carefully composed arrangement of the objects against a flattened background, which is brought parallel to the picture plane.  In this way the eye is allowed to concentrate upon the quality of the painting and the details without distraction from three dimensional backgrounds.  The arrangement of the flowers or objects plays a major part in the compositions, and there is always a visual excitement when her three- dimensional objects meet her two dimensional space.” 

1980s she visited Japan on a number of occasions and many of her paintings at the time showed the influence of these trips.  First visiting in 1985 and returning the following year, Blackadder’s interest in Eastern techniques and subject matter was realised in a series of vibrant oils and watercolours shown at the Mercury Gallery in 1991. Her desire to avoid the technical vibrancy of Tokyo took Blackadder to the Zen gardens of Kyoto; in many ways, her work depicts the principles of Zen which give paramount importance to the idea of empty space. Blackadder also traveled to the United States of America.  Souvenirs of her travels would appear in many of her paintings.

 So, in the spirit of looking at this painting again, with a fresh pair of eyes and a little information on what Elizabeth Blackadder’s interests and influences were at that time, here goes;  I now see an innovative approach to a traditional subject.  Special care and attention have been taken in choosing which objects to paint, which colours to choose and where to place them.  Instead of the traditional grouping of three objects together, there are pairs; two lilies, two boxes, two pairs of circular objects, two little chickens and other objects not the same, but placed together due to a similarity in shape, e.g. the bird and the coloured wrapped sweet.  These objects are lovingly depicted and are possible cherished souvenirs of her travels abroad.  We know she travelled to Japan at this time, and she may have been influenced by Zen gardens, where the focus is on open spaces.  The items are lined up, almost as if on parade, but because they are small in size, they don’t dominate the composition, but instead become part of the table top, almost like part of a design on a patterned cloth.

I’ve found through looking at this painting again, I have a better understanding of Elizabeth Blackadder’s composition in still life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackadder