Since the Art Fair in early May, my paintings have developed dramatically in a reasonably short space of time. After seeing the work of Sally Gabori, Grace Wright, and Ed Bats in 2018, to seeing the stunning works of Aaron Fell-Fraccasso and Tira Walsh in the 2019 one.
Upon viewing the works i felt drawn in to the depth of colour and texture the artists use in their colour abstract pieces. I especially loved Fell-Fraccasso’s work and how he employed a complex web of layers that push and pull in and out of your plane of focus. I also love his colour choices- but this would get me in trouble later.
Once i got back into the studio, i immediately started working larger and faster. getting more and more layers down quickly to build up in my pieces. i made three works at a time with a pastel colour palette with my acrylic paints. I started mixing thinner paints after talking to Susan in third year, noticing how beautifully her colours shine through each other on the wood. (it also made my paint go further by mixing it with water so as my work got bigger i didn’t have to spend as much on paint.)
After running out of colours in my acrylic paints and frankly just dreading going to buy more paint, i had a few test pots of house paint i used for a skateboard deck commission i got in january, i recalled a conversation i had with Claudia Kogachi at one of her exhibition openings at saatchi and saatchi and saatchi late last year, in which she told me about how she used house paints because you can get wonderfully flat colours without breaking the bank for gouache. I also had conversations with Alex Johnston in third year who was using house paints as well. (im aware there were more people working with house paints around me in studio but these are just the people i had conversations with and experiences at the time)
The combination of these two things resulted in my new found ability to make large quantities of colours watered down in cups or thickened with white to really push around space with opacity and layering, as well as texture and masking.
I’ve really been enjoying the work that I’m making at the moment, and coming into studio each day has become a lot more exciting. However as time goes on and I’ve really churned out work in the last three weeks, I’ve run into some holes in my creative process.
I’ve learned that as an artist i get very comfortable in certain colours and combinations of colour to maintain a certain aesthetic. i get consumed by making pretty pictures and trap myself in a place where I hit a wall and my work loses its energy and oomph. In the lat week i have been forcing myself to make “ugly” art, and allowing myself to be unhappy with what I’ve been making.
I would love to say that this has completely cured my temporary artist’s block, but I continue to make work that doesn’t feel as authentically ‘me’. I am pushing around cold colours and trying shapes I don’t like, and from each one I am taking into account which elements and things I do like that I can bring into the next piece.
becks ireland 