I started by brainstorming some ideas in my notebook, these included ideas of how I feel in my so called 'space' at the moment!
I moved here to Limerick from Dublin two weeks ago so naturally i'm unsettled and uncomfortable in my new environment!!
I started to look at urban space but got side tracked with other ideas so i'll leave that for now! However I did find a fitting quote 'For most of us the city is the backdrop to our lives' I found that quote in a book in the library called 'Art Works' 'Place' by Tacita Dean & Jeremy Millar!! I don't think I really consider Limerick to be a city yet beacuse it's quite small in comparison to Dublin. I'm almost positive my opinion will change in time!!
I moved from slighty touching off urban space to looking at myself in this new space!!I did a few sketches of myself feeling a bit trapped and then also wrapping myself up!! Charcoal was my choice of material to use! I'll photograph these sketchbook images and upload them ASAP!
I found myself wandering around the library aimlessly looking for some inspiration when I came across a book which I've mentioned previously 'Place' by Tacita Dean & Jeremy Millar! I found an image in the book of a lady called Anna Nesprova in her kitchen with what looks to be her son , anyway on closer inspection I looked her name up and found a book which she featured in called 'The Second Life Of Lidice' the book is about a small town community who's space was invaded in June 1942 by the Nazis...The men in the town were all shot and the women were dragged to concentration camps! I just found it to be a powerful example of sacred homely space being invaded , so I photocopied the image and built a paper wall around it to secure anna in as she had moved back to the little village years later... I wanted to give her a sense of security but her eyes tell a different story!
I can't find the exzact image but this is a memorial in the town of 'Lidice'
I found another book in the library which I found to depict lots of images of self confinement! 'Extreme Beauty In Vogue' is the name of the book! I stumbled across an artist/photographer called Irving Penn . Penn is quite good at conveying cultural figure in his work however it was just his photography I looked at.
This image is called 'Football Face'
There is probably a very beautiful woman underneath this disguise , or maybe not?
It's not just the ugly that have secrets which is often the mind set we are expected to have in society...ugly people are seen to be dangerous and somewhat dodgy....there's something sinister about this lady!!
After writing about this particular image I went on to give a brief history of Penn in my critical and contextual studies notebook!
Still on the matter of hidden space I found a book in the library called 'Visibly Muslim' by Emma Tarlo.
I'm still palying around with ideas to do with this book!! I have a few in my sketchbook!
'Irving Penn'
I thought i'd throw a picture of Penn himself up just beacuse I like to see what the artists look like after I reasearch and look at their work beacuse we naturally have perceptions of people even before we see them!
Another Penn image which depicted masking identity and self confinement!!
'Extreme Beauty Vogue'
I like working in 3D so I decided it was time i convey some of my ideas in a 3D form....so I got some florists wire and began looking at the sketches I'd done of myself in my notebook!! They were all pretty dark and eary so the cold dark metal wire was perfect!! I did a bit of research before on sculptors that work with wire , and I came across 'Alexander Calder' 'I think best in wire'
I chose to look at these series of sculptures because they convey various facial emotions.. they seem so child like!! I engaged with them beacuse of the simplicity of the emotions. I decided i wanted to sculpt myself in a very small scale curled up in various positions simply beacuse I dont feel like I fit in yet in Limerick!! I'm an outcast in my new space like many others!!
Pablo Picasso was also another artist I looked at in relation to small scale sculptured humans. I looked at his series of sculptures called 'Stick Statuettes' I found a book on sculpture in the library with these little guys in it. The exaggerated torsoes are interesting beacuse they are completely out of normal human proportion as are the boobs and heads!!!
'Picasso' 'Bust of woman'
