1. The main help that I need is to decide on what to exhibit at the Graduate Show. I have prepared some ideas that I will present at the tutorial.
2. I want to find a way to make newsprint (my newspaper art work) archival. Who is the best person or department at CSM/UAL that can help me please?
3. For Unit 3 learning outcomes – ‘evidence of plans for showing your work’. Is the graduation show sufficient or do we need more?
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General progress update –
Since our last discussion, I have continued to make art in response to the current issues I feel strongly about. I have been making a series of new work called News Art.
It started with this initial exploration – we have already reviewed the paintings; I have since completed the reflections and learning sections for the blog:
I have updated my study statement to include a few new objectives for my latest work since it is an exploration that I hadn’t planned to do at the beginning of the course. They are listed on the last two pages of the statement:
1. Graduate show – we discussed the different options I presented for the show. Key takeaways are:
– Cheongsam paintings and News Art are two different bodies of work and if we were to show both then they should be displayed separately. Think of them as two separate things.
– If we show the dresses then all will need to have identical mannequins. This I confirmed would be the case.
– News Art feels more urgent and remarkable. There is an energy and there is a voice (be it a quiet voice). Using non-dominant hand also adds to the work with a sense of risk and excitement. All the different layers together. My history in engineering working with newspaper printing presses also feature in this body of work.
– News Art – it feels like everything has been leading to this. A culmination of my commitment to interrogate.
– Practicalities – ceiling is 4m high. Same height throughout the site.
– If we go for a wall display, I could use a builder’s flood light to back-lit the newspapers. Can also have the newspaper coming out at an angle – anchored to the top of the wall but coming out a few feet from the wall at the bottom (like the side of a tent) – this also feels more confrontational. Can use the bottom of the newspapers to hide the flood light units.
– The pieces of newspapers can be stitched together.
– Do not go for an overall coordinated composition, leave it untidy and loose.
– Try flood lighting in day light to see how it looks when illuminated.
– Wall height is 2.4m, some can be 3m. Width can be 1.4m (2 x double page spread)
Other thoughts:
– Don’t rule out cylinder lights for future shows.
– LED light strips to go behind wall mount newspapers, looped around like a drawing.
2. Life after MA – ideas for how to show work:
– Group show.
– What’s going on in the city that might help other events, e.g. late opening of museums. Do a proposal for showing work alongside the event.
– Do not think about the audience, just focus on making work to a deadline, getting the work to a show quality and taking good photos.
– Propose to office spaces.
– Rent artists run spaces.
– Go outdoors! In my case, can go to The Downs where I go to see the crows. Can hang News Art from the trees, set up a table where I paint the crows. Take some crow food and maybe some human food for visitors, too.
For the tutorial, I would like help with the following topics please:
a) An update from me – a personal situation leading to a mindset change which will influence how I approach my practice.
b) To determine a direction for my practice with the mindset change, possibly incorporating photography, ‘weaving paintings’ and the broader perspectives of my identity, whilst maintaining the objective of producing a coherent body of work. How to incorporate these new ideas into my ongoing practice without seeming incoherent?
*Note: Reflections captured in topic items 2 and 5 listed above are useful for tutorial discussion.
NOTES FROM TUTORIAL
1. Qi’s idea of ‘painting between likeness and unlikeness’ was discussed especially with unlikeness coming from the heart. Other similar ideas are ‘heart sight’ and ‘inner landscape’.
2. I explained my ‘new mindset’ regarding my thoughts and views on the current global issues. Also how I approach my practice (in the short term at least) will need to be re-evaluated to reflect my current state of mind because I cannot separate my art from how I feel. We discussed the fluid boundary between my ‘retreat’ and ‘assertive’ modes and what causes the drifting between modes.
3. The meaning of ‘a body of work’ was discussed as I asked for help on how to maintain a coherent practice with a potential change in direction. A ‘body of work’ is something that is authentically from an artist. The link between my work is therefore ‘me’.
4. In considering the direction going forward, I should give myself space and time to think and make. Keep making. Don’t obsess about having answers straight away.
5. Think about ‘what is it about me that manifests into my work’ to understand how ‘I’ provide the link between different pieces within my ‘body of work’. E.g. think about why I was more interested in film photography as part of my practice rather than digital photography because the latter is too quick to get results.
This blog details my preparation for Tutorial #4 due to take place on 29th November 2024 with Jonathan Kearney.
Referring to my Study Statement, I have circled two specific areas for Unit 2 on my work plan for this tutorial preparation.
For the last few months, I have been making art in parallel with writing a research paper. The progress for both are as follows.
PROGRESS (MAKING)
Since the last tutorial, I have continued to explore making Cheongsam shaped canvases for painting. I feel that this way of making could be the start of the convergence of my narrative and style development work. I was hoping that this convergence would happen sometime during Year 2 of my MA programme (as circled in red). So I am pleased that the Cheongsam paintings could be the convergence that I was looking for to take my practice forward.
Cheongsam Paintings
The following blogs detail the Cheongsam paintings that I have been working on as well as the thinking and narratives behind the work:
Below is my latest work which is the start of a new series of Cheongsam paintings about memories of ‘Family dinners’ from 1970s Hong Kong. The change of medium from acrylic to oil meant that I had to change the canvas material and dress design as captured below.
Book Art – I was very inspired by the Book Art workshop during the low res week in London. Here is an example of an attempt with some Suminagashi paper that I made:
Writing the research paper has given me ideas to take the context of my practice beyond just examining my personal identity. It was always my intention to find a way to go towards something broader and societal (as circled in blue on my Study Statement). Below is a blog capturing my reflections and learning from writing the research paper which is the start of this thinking process.
I would like help with the following points please – I will expand further on 2 and 3 during our tutorial:
1. Any feedback on the Cheongsam paintings and research paper (if available) would be most appreciated.
2. Ideas for the final degree show – I am considering a series of Cheongsam dresses (3D paintings), shall I include other work such as video and 2D paintings as well? I am planning ahead because the Cheongsam paintings take a long time to make.
3. Next step on my learning journey – I have done further research and would like some more advice please.
– End of prep notes –
Notes from tutorial:
Positive feedback on the research paper. We are still waiting for formal feedback from my supervisor. An area of improvement is the overuse of ‘This paper argues…’, so important to be mindful of this overuse in future writing.
Degree show ideas – we discussed making more Cheongsam paintings about childhood dinners because I still have many ideas or dishes still to do. So I will continue with that series. However, I should not limit myself to just Cheongsam paintings and I will explore the other aspects of my practice. E.g. review the Steamed McDonalds video that I have made but not edited yet. I will review and edit to see if it would be a good piece of work to complement the Cheongsam dinner paintings.
We discussed the ‘fair use’ policy of using music soundtracks in my video. It is fine to use in an educational setting for a student video as I am not planning to profit from it. As for using sound – always be careful to make it relevant to the content and context.
We discussed the next steps of my development regarding options after the MA course. The discussion was very helpful and I have some actions to investigation options.
This blog details my preparation notes for Tutorial #3. It summarises my study plan and progress so far for this term (Y1 Summer term 2024).
STUDY PLAN
I refer to my Study Statement to review what I had planned for this term to see if the plan is still relevant. The orange highlights show the items I had planned for this term and that I am actually working on:
Overall, the topics listed in my Study Statement for this term are still largely relevant. For my making, I have some new creative ideas based on the Chinese Cheongsam as a result of an accidental find…
Finding two of my mother’s Cheongsams (also called Qipao – traditional Chinese dress) in my loft that I thought I had accidentally thrown away 23 years ago has given me new inspiration to make Cheongsam related art. My mother’s Cheongsams are of a modern mid-20th century design and is a ‘hybrid’ design combining the traditional Chinese style with European design of that era (tight fitting/figure hugging design inspired by Dior, Chanel etc.). I find the topic of an iconic Eastern-Western hybrid garment intriguing, exciting and I want to make art about it. It is also helping me to bring together my two development strands (narrative and style) – this convergence within my practice is happening earlier than I expected which may or may not be good. Time will tell..
See below for the new activities added to my Mind Map as a result of this latest discovery:
I added a light-green category to show work that I have started but not working on right now.
I have added the Cheongsam as a new topic for academic research and resources from the UAL libraries have been very useful:
I have added my mother’s dresses that I found in the loft as part of my family history research:
I also added Cheongsam to my list of making projects for this term. The plan is to make a series of wearable paintings:
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PROGRESS(MAKING)
The progress of making during this term since discovering my mother’s Cheongsams are listed below:
– The first Cheongsam wearable painting was completed and documented in these two blogs:
– The blogs below show some earlier work that were carried out prior to the above paintings during the ‘thinking’ time that led to the idea of making a Cheongsam wearable painting:
I am close to finalising the title question. Details to be supplied separately to this blog.
TIME PLANNING FOR THIS TERM
I aim to split my time 50/50 between making and the research paper.
NOTES FROM TUTUORIAL #3
Date: 10th May 2024
Tutor: Jonathan Kearney
Notes: All the topics listed were discussed. Key points noted were:
– Out of the two similar titles for the Research paper – either is fine at this stage. Once more work is done then can decide on which route to go or maybe even something different.
– Homi K Bhabha’s book The Location of Culture – can quote from YouTube videos about the book. It’s ok to reference someone else’s interpretation of the text.
– Also look at TCK – Third Culture Kids texts.
– Positionality – not essential to declare for this type of research paper. But also ok to do, can be in introduction or conclusion. Although not essential, maybe interesting to declare for the reader in my case so they understand my motives for the research.
– We discussed how fixed I am about making a ‘wearable painting’ – my feeling was that I was not fixed on it. I don’t want the act of making it wearable (searching for washable paint and materials etc.) to distract from the making. It is a painting that can be wore (briefly for say a photo-shoot) and not intended to be a piece of proper garment. Keeping it as a painting also means I can use my usual artist grade paint and materials.
– What next to make – I have ideas for two pop art themed Cheongsam paintings based on food as metaphor about heritage and identity. I will make those and then hopefully to make more after that. I am excited about this concept. The vision is to make many (exact number to be determined) such ‘dress as a canvas’ paintings for them to be displayed on headless mannequins as a collective installation. I am excited by this vision!
Below are topics that I would like to discuss please.
1. Advice on work for exhibition.
2. Clarifying Learning Outcomes.
3. My current challenges are:
– Still struggling to find my transcultural style but I am pursuing a plan of exploration with practice-based research and I feel I’m making progress. Hence I’m not too worried at this stage.
– Delving deep into my narrative development – I am still agonising over the fragility of the process so would like to give an update on this. (Metaphor – like a treasure chest of snakes.)
If time allows:
4. Pick up on a discussion from our last tutorial – ‘freedom with structure’ or ‘freedom vs structure’?
5. Update on my Third Space research.
Below are for info only (in case we need to refer to specifics during the tutorial):
Here is an update of my latest Mind Map.
Example blogs of style development – practice-based research to explore media:
Below are notes / reflections on the items discussed.
1. Exhibitions –
MA Interim show: We discussed this topic in detail about the different options. Outcome is – use ‘HK Street signs’ as a backup piece. Video will need to be shortened to 2 mins long. Work on the transcultural silk piece and if that works out then I can show it instead. We discussed the different ways to hang the silk – the key is to consider the mount as part of the art work, what kind of effect overall etc.. It was a very helpful discussion.
MK Calling: discussed options on framing and how much to ask the gallery curator. It’s ok to propose a new frame as an option but not to ask questions that are too open or require too much of the curator’s time.
2. Learning outcomes discussed and clarified.
3. We discussed this item because I’m happy to continue my planned explorations and don’t need input yet.
4. I shared my thinking on how the structure gives me a secure space to freely explore. Hence it’s freedom with structure and not freedom vs structure. i.e. the structure is not inhibiting the freedom but in fact enabling it. This way of working and my being comes from my duality of being a highly institutionalised rebel.
Next steps:
The immediate next steps are focused on getting my work ready for the MA Interim show and MK Calling.T
As for the rest – continue with the work I have planned for developing my practice.
The mind map – whether The Third Space or Self-exploration should be the centre is something that could change over time. Just because I have decided on the former now doesn’t mean that the latter might not emerge as the centre at a later stage.
Reflections: I found the mind mapping process very useful in bringing clarity to my thoughts and practice. However, I recognise that it is important to avoid being too rigid. Need to make sure I give myself the space to think freely and not to bind myself to a fixed structure which could hinder my scope of exploration.
The extended-brain system of note taking – zettlekasten, can use this method to help me organise my thoughts when reading and researching about The Third Space as this book is so foundational to my practice at the moment. Obsidian software is an useful tool for this.
Reflections: I have found reading The Third Space very useful but have felt that I needed a better way to make notes and capture my thoughts so that I can build on what I read and make sense of it in the context of my practice. I am always worried about useful thoughts escaping me. So this part of the discussion was very helpful and I will research about the zettlekasten concept as well as try the Obsidian software.
Chinese painting – we discussed why not blogged until now and related discoveries.
Reflections: It was useful to delve deeper about the Chinese painting part of my practice. To talk out loud about where it has been and where it is going was helpful. Not only is the Chinese painting a skills-learning opportunity, it is helping me to discover my heritage and my personal history. It has led me to explore a range of topics such as Chinese philosophy and poetry as well as art. I was surprised to find that there was so much of that culture inherent within me despite leaving HK and my family when I was a young teenager many decades ago. I do feel blessed that I have a lot of material to ‘mine’ because so far that content has been largely untouched. However, among my excitement there is much hesitancy because of the uncertainty of what I might find. Also I am mindful of managing the challenges of vulnerability, detachment and self-preservation. Nonetheless, I am excited overall but I will take my time to ‘mine’ like an archaeologist doing an ancient monument dig because of the fragility.
The real challenges in my practice – Aside from the technical challenges such as digital printing on canvas, what are the real challenges for me in my practice?
Reflections: In this discussion, I reminded myself of a key part of my practice that I have been struggling with for some time – expressing my transculturalism. It was in this search that I came across The Third Space and I have been hoping that its research would help me with this challenge. I feel I am still at the beginning of that discovery. I have also been researching into other transcultural artists (as listed on my mind map) to gain insight into how they express their transculturalism. To explore my third space, I have been working on layering images from cultures that have influenced me. My challenge is to discover that something ‘new’ or unique to me. Right now, I feel my images are layers of culturally distinct images rather than a coherent whole – this remains my challenge to explore how to achieve that aesthetic coherence that uniquely describes my third space.
My creative ecosystem – we discussed this and how I have been building an ecosystem for my creative practice. I was asked to think about ‘working at my best – what is it like?’
Reflections: Referring to my search for a way to express my third space, I need to be more mindful about the ‘practice based research’ part of my work and make it an integral part of my day-to-day discovery. I will work on this and also consider the posed question carefully.
My prep questions requesting help – all answers captured under original questions below.
Next steps:
Be mindful to not let the structure that I build into my practice hinder my creative exploration.
Research zettlekasten and try out the Obsidian software to support my reading of The Location of Culture and research on The Third Space.
Although I said that I was not ready to ‘dig too deeply’ into my family history yet due to the fragility of the process, I will explore using some recently found family photo images for my forthcoming work.
Consider the question ‘working at my best – what is it like?’
My response to the question ‘working at my best – what is it like?’:
When I am working at my best, what is it like?
The environment –
In my home studio, alone. The room is warm but not hot; relatively orderly; quiet outside, with the radio or a podcast on; materials available and accessible.
My state of mind, how I feel –
I have lots of time, not in a rush, no pressure to be elsewhere. Free from interruptions.
My mind is free from worry.
I am doing the work for myself, not for anyone else.
I feel completely free and anonymous. The work doesn’t matter, it is not for show. That is when I can be truly liberated in my thinking and making.
Dance like no one is watching; sing like nobody’s listening; paint like no one will ever see your work and you will never have to explain.
Preparation for Tutorial:
I have been working on several strands to develop my research-led practice. To bring clarity to my thinking, I have created a mind map to capture the different topics that I have been working on or plan to work on in order to show their relationships to each other and their context within my overall practice. This map also shows the areas that I am currently working on.
To plan for Unit 1, I want to consider these two questions:
1. What are my aims?
2. What do I want to discover?
Unit 1 timescale – Two terms from Oct 2023 to End March 2024, approximately six months.
What are my aims?
For Unit 1, I want to continue the two strands of my practice exploration – developing my style as well as my narrative. I am hoping that at some point, the two strands will converge in a way where my narrative work would feed ideas into the layering style work thereby forming a more coherent practice overall. However, I don’t feel that will happen in the next six months.
The aims for developing my style:
– Digital Printing: A key priority is to resolve the difficulties I have been having in digital printing onto canvas. I have contacted CSM Digital Printing lab to find out my options. After receiving some helpful info, I am preparing a series of experiments to evaluate my digital printing options. My aim is to come to some conclusions on this point by the end of Unit 1. Progress so far is captured in this blog:
– Chinese Painting: I have been learning Chinese brush painting and I am enjoying it. Despite learning for nearly two years, I have not written any blogs about this work because I didn’t know where I was going with it. I have now decided that I will continue this path of learning and hope to incorporate more of this genre into my main practice. As a result, I aim to start to blog regularly about my Chinese painting work and I hope to explore how best to incorporate it coherently into my practice through the reflective blogging process. Below is my first blog on this subject:
– Research canvas background images: I aim to do more research and make digital image collages that reflect my lived experience to form the canvas background for my style development work. Once I have compiled my latest collages, I will use the CSM digital printing lab for printing on canvas. Then I will use the printed canvases to make the next series of work.
– The Third Space: I am reading The Location of Culture and I am finding resonance for my practice. I have started a blog on my reading, I aim to use it to capture my reflections and thinking as I go along. I also want to research more transcultural artists to explore how they have interpreted and expressed their third space. Reading progress is slow because of the thinking and reflecting involved. Blog for this work so far:
– Make work freely and reflect: I don’t have as defined a plan here as I have for my style development work. Here, I want to just make work, leaving it as free and unstructured as possible to make whatever comes to mind. My aim is to use the reflective process on the work that I make to explore my thoughts and narrative. Below is a blog on my latest narrative work – Self-portrait #3:
– An improved process for my multimedia layering work: with better canvas materials and using the CSM printing facilities.
– My Third Space: through my reading and making, I want to research and reflect on the meaning of The Third Space for me. I expect this exploration to last a long time and long beyond Unit 1 but I want to make some concrete progress in the next six months.
– My narrative: this is in fact part of the Third Space exploration, but I have not made sense of how they fit together yet. So for the time being, I will continue to discover my narrative through free making. My research into other transcultural artists will hopefully give me some helpful insights.
What do I need help with?
1. Digital printing and painting on large silk canvases – where can I get help if I struggle?
Discussed.
2. Feedback on whether having such a mind map helps or hinders the creative process.
Discussed.
3. Question – will there be any essay writing assignments?
Yes, in Unit 2. 3,000 to 4,000 piece of writing. More info in April.
4. Any other general feedback would be appreciated.
Discussed.
5. Can I access free Adobe suite software and stock photos library as UAL student?
A painting based on reflections from the ‘risk-taking’ drawing exercise and the Chinese painting blog – creating a loose painting background using the left-hand and eyes-closed approach, then adding Chinese brush painting style symbols as an experiment.
Third Space/soft power – HK Colonial street names – I want to make something about this topic that I have been giving a lot of thoughts to over the last few years, maybe experiment as part of the above painting to start with to see where it takes me.
A narrative painting from memory – childhood story in HK about a lawn bowling green incident reflecting the colonial era.
elizarawlings 