PROCESS & OUTCOME - CIRCLES & SKELETON


THE SKELETON

The skeleton originally was a single piece I made for my last project where I began my string work. I hung this up by itself on the wall for the structure exhibition. I decided as it's relevant to this project, I should develop it & use it as part of my final exhibition as it is still one of my favourite pieces. The way I used the string to create bone structure was really pleasing to me. The way it swirled round in the larger sections to fill them to the centre worked really well in dividing the bones up into individual parts, whilst also having a bone-like texture & colour, worked really well.
 
PROCESS OF THE ORIGINAL SKELETON PIECE:



My key interest from the last project was more about seeing the shadow that was created on the wall when it was hung up, as I liked the way it created another skeleton through the small gaps between the 'bones'. However, this as a piece was really small & did not look well developed when it was sat by itself on the wall, so I wanted to turn it into a more 'professional' & sophisticated looking piece which could be presented on a wall.

I began by creating the same gold leaf circle on a black piece of card, this one however was much smoother & had less cracks in it. After seeing Nicolette Capuano's work, I wanted to attempt to recreate this in a similar way to her, where the gold leaf had less bumps and was less crinkled up
  (for more about her work, scroll to the bottom of this page)

I wanted to add an extra detail to this piece too, as I felt it still looked a little empty. I used 2 of the individual strands of string & tied a bow into the centre of them. I then tried placing this around the circle as a frame, but it blended in too much with the string skeleton. This is because the circle was a lot smaller than on the other bird pieces. This is an A4 frame rather than an A3/A2 frame. Instead, I placed the string at the top of the card going horizontally across the page. I really like the way this turned out as it makes the piece look softer & more delicate, similar to bones. 

I think if this were going to go into a space on a wall, it would possibly be a tattoo shop. Skeletons are used in tattoos often & tattoo imagery, & they often have darker imagery on the walls, or custom art pieces done by staff that work there / other artists who's work they have brought. The dark background with the light circle & natural media would blend well in that kind of environment, in my opinion.

I really like the way this turned out, & I have now got a slight attachment to it. I know I like it because I keep going back to look at it. Its simplistic but effective. The layering makes it appear slightly complex, but because of how space is used, & the imagery is not cramped or filling the space entirely, it looks smoother & minimalistic.

THE OUTCOME:


I love the way the circle looks like light shining through the gaps in-between the bones. The texture of the string makes it look slightly 3D and the way the string is twisted and swirled into itself, makes it look raised & slightly rounded. The difference in textures makes each part stand out individually even more. The black card instead of dark blue paint works better with this imagery too, & looks smoother as it's a complete block of colour.

An artist that I think links in some ways to this piece is Caitlin McCormack who creates string crochet forms of fossils & animal skeletons. She sets these crocheted string animals with glue, so they can stand stiff & be put inside glass containers. My work follows a similar process in the way I use glue to set the string into a fixed position, & intertwine it & layer it to create a textured form, however mine are 2D & not crocheted. I really like the loose strings that hang from it, hovering in the air. It helps show the way in which they are put together from a distance.


The interaction between the two skeletons in this piece shows a connection between the two. To me, it shows a bond & a natural relationship between them, reminding me of the saying 'till death do us part'.


I think these fit well with the style I have gone for in my skeleton piece. The subject matter is similar as I also portray birds, but I portray them as being symbols & meanings, whereas Caitlin McCormack explores ideas around the decay of animals, & the process of death. She states that the process used was taught to her by her deceased parents, so creating these animal skeletons through crochet matches perfectly. My work also explores ideas around loss. Rather than the process, I focus on the way we adapt, change, & grow to appreciate the things around us a lot more. We latch onto certain things that comfort us or remind us of the people we lost. I expressed this more through bone structure in my last project called 'Structure'.

THE CIRCLES

This piece was very experimental & had no planning, I just knew I wouldn't be able to create three bird pieces to the same standard in time for the exhibition so I decided to create an abstract piece to go in-between them. 




It is an abstract piece that sticks to the same medias of string & gold leaf. I began by sticking the lines of string to the black board, spreading out little sections where the string curves which kind of reminds me of strands of DNA. The way the string spreads, it creates layers that twist round each other. I really liked this effect. I then began to stick down the string in circles which I drew out lightly on the board first. I was going to plait the string like I did in previous works, however some of the circles were too small so the string wouldn't have glued down properly.

For the gold leaf, I did the same as I did for other pieces. I created a layer of glue inside the circles, thin so that the gold leaf didn't bunch up into one space. I then delicately placed the gold leaf inside the circles, completely covering them. Then I brushed over it lightly with a paintbrush to ensure it was stuck to the base. To create the gaps, I just pressed a little harder with my brush and kept going over the same small sections to create 'rips' in the gold leaf.

Overall, I like the way this turned out. I love seeing the texture within the frames, & the way they are presented in the frames definitely makes them stand out a little more. I never normally do abstract pieces, which is why I like this one. It breaks up my work on the wall nicely whilst still carrying on the general theme through the media I chose to use.

Nicolette Capuano

Nicolette Capuano is an abstract artist based in Washington DC, who specialises in mural paintings. She creates custom pieces that are very minimalist & use organic mineral paint which makes her work textured. Her aim on her website is 'to provide quality hand-made art to our collectors without all the fuss'. She works with an 'ART + ALCHEMY' team artisan who help hand-paint every piece. Each of which are painted onto 1.5" heavy duty wood stretcher bars. They have a gallery wrapped edge meaning the paint continues on the side of the canvas too. Each brush stroke, texture & technique is visible on the canvas.

This is a piece she did called 'Gold Leaf Circles', it is very simplistic & looks similar to the way in which I did my gold leaf circles. I like the broken up effect that allows the background colour to be seen slightly through the central circle. Minimalistic pieces like this are a perfect way to add a small something to walls in your house. This custom piece helps keep the room looking bright whilst also decoratively fitting in with the room & objects around it.

I like the way Nicolette Capuano uses basic lines & shapes to create these minimalistic pieces. The black lines on the canvas in the second piece fit perfectly next to the table / bench below it. Anyone can produce art like this, however, for me I find it hard to keep things super simple. I always want to add more & normally end up adding 'too much' when I try to create abstract work. Nicolette's work has the perfect amount of imagery on each piece for a specific place within a room. This is an aspect I really like about her work.

The third piece below I am not a big fan of personally, it reminds me of connect four. I just am not a huge fan of the colours & lay out of circles. It also reminds me of brail. However, this is all personal preference & her pieces are made custom for certain people & areas. It probably looks much more pleasing in the room it was made to be in.












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