Monday 16 August 2010

Looking backwards and looking to the future

This is a brief extract from part of my Learning Record I wrote today:


Currently I am preparing for a house move, and as I sift through my possessions and pack boxes I realise the connections between my current ‘new’ area of practice and threads of ideas going right back to old school projects. I can see how my interests in woodland, collecting, walking, documenting, nature, looking and making run back throughout my life. They are elements instilled at a very young age but are clearly of great relevance to me now. In previous college and university projects I tried to pin down the substance of my ideas but struggled to define them. Inevitably a tangent was found that I could pursue without getting to what I really wanted to express. So what is it that I want to say, just what is it that I want my work to do? While I still feel I am searching, what I now know to be true is that fundamentally art is a declaration: I WAS HERE! From ancient cave paintings to Tracy Emin’s unmade bed the underlying primitive urge is to leave our ‘mark’ on the world. I realise this could be viewed as a simplistic rationale, but I think this is what I was looking for, the essence or bare bones of what it means to be an artist. My work then shows my way of leaving a mark; this is my way of stating it, my way of viewing this place at this time.


As I am moving house (finally) this week I will be without internet access, so blog postings are likely to be few and far between. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

  1. I am ingesting your words and using them to nourish some of my own current musings (and con-fusings) about mark-making and the whys of it...

    Thank you. Best wishes for a flawless move!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a beautiful bunch of pink lovelies you've made! I'm enjoying your blog; thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This strikes a chord Hannah & very well put! It sounds like things are mentally settling into place for you in your work.
    Good luck with your move.

    ReplyDelete

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