This has been a strange time, with lockdown affecting many things - one result is I am currently furloughed from my job as an Architect. However, one small silver lining in all of this is it has granted me an opportunity. I now have a period of time I haven't had since summer breaks at University to devote dedicated time to developing my artistic practice. A result of this, is that I have unexpectedly taken new paths and realisations about my paintings and what inspires and motivates me. This has lead to me to develop the idea behind a new series of artworks I will be working towards over the coming months; "Colourscapes"
Colourscapes combines unexplored ideas from previous artistic projects around the notion of Homo Ludens; man as player. This is as opposed to Homo Sapien (man as thinker) and Homo Faber (man as maker) to suggest an evolution of community and aspects in life such as language, law, knowing, philosophy, art and war amongst other things through characteristics of play. Furthermore, having trained as an Architect, I am fascinated how we as individuals and as society occupy, inhabit and move through space. Delving deeper, I am particularly focused on what the space is, and how form, materiality, light, shadow and colour create a constantly changing landscape. An experience of a place is but a single moment in time and never the same from one minute to the next.
Being an Architect, there are many ways to how I view a space - plan, section, elevations and in perspective. Each form of representation brings something different to illustrate, present and even unlock spatial forms. The plan drawing, a top-down line drawing can be a sterile image, one that can, at time, be hard to read and relate to. For me, I find a fascination in the aerial view, when colour, light and depth is added to this viewpoint, it can turn a sterile, motionless still to a atmospheric image full of movement and life. By adding the perception of a third dimension through light, shadow and colour, the image becomes more experiential and possibly provocative. Katrin Koffman's aerial photos of people occupying and interacting with their environment has been particularly inspiring this project. A sense of play and joy is found within our environment no matter the setting. The intention isn't to be naive or frivolous, more purely to take a different view; one with a little bit of abstraction and light-heartedness.
Throughout this process and being restricted within lockdown, I have found myself drawn towards coastal and outdoor scenes. This has surprised me, as my previous artistic projects have mainly been focused around the urban environment. I have always been drawn between the coast and the city due to where I grew up and even more now with living in Bath but family ties in Cornwall. The depths of colour and movement with the water, the sand and cliffs is the perfect setting for my desire to capture an experiential moment of landscapes in perpetual motion.
Colourscapes will explore the coasts of Cornwall from an aerial perspective built from a record of memories, in-situ sketches and photographs. The purpose of this body of work is not to illustrate a place as it is, such as from an aerial photograph or such like, but more rather paintings that draw from experience to capture my perception and memory of how these places are experienced from above - how I remember the moments where sunlight fell across rocky outcrops, or how the waves swelled up to the shoreline and the playfulness behind people's interactions with the environmental landscape.
Play is a thing itself, a voluntary experience; a child plays in complete earnest at an instinctual level. For adults, it could be suggested the concept of play is characterised by nostalgia for the recent past. Ultimately this body of work will focus on the impact of play and nostalgia on our cultural lives, whilst exploring places that are significant to my life.
Comments