THE EXHIBITION

 MY EXHIBITION SPACE

Unfortunately, my camera doesn't work very well but I did manage to take some pictures of them all lined up in the studio space. They definitely work well against the white wall as they all have dark backgrounds. It would have been nice if I could've decorated the space a bit more, possibly with a white curtain, some lights, or a gold circle on the wall to present the larger piece. However, coming up to the end of the year I had ran out of money to spend on my exhibition. I do like how it looks though, & perhaps a busier background would have distracted from the details in the pieces I produced.

I think they definitely work well together & compliment each other. The continuous circles express the circle of life, as they are all related to loss. When I see them all together, I can see the progress in design & outcome & overall neatness of the pieces. I gradually got better at working with string & it is clear to see when I look at the robin piece vs the bluebirds. The linework on the birds is much neater, and the details are tidier but also in a more simplistic way. I do prefer the way the wings of the robin & crane are done compared to the bluebirds though. The layering worked really well & there was less blank space within the wings. Sometimes a messier approach can look better.

This style of work is much different to what I usually create. I am definitely proud of the outcome, & I think the symbolism is visible. More-so in the robin & bluebirds, however the crane still shows elegance, beauty & strength in my opinion. The stance of the bird helps show this.

I placed the lino cut sheets in-between each of the frames to separate them, but keep the neat & organised presentation of the work. I also think the different sizes work really well, as if they were all the same size, they would all blend into each other on the wall. The bigger & smaller pieces separate them from one another.

I do want to swap round the bluebird piece and the circles piece as I feel it would flow a bit better together. The birds can then tell a story, the first one showing good luck & granted wishes, the second being connection between people & hope, & the third being renewal of life. This shows a life cycle in a way, as a lot of people wish for a happy life, with a happy family, which then leads to a connection & bond between two people. However, life always comes to an end, but the cycle repeats. As this is in relation to my grandad passing last year, I wanted to have the robin as a larger piece as it is the most important to me as he once said if he could come back as any animal, he would come back as a robin.

This whole flow & story relate to my original ideas around loss & the connection we have to other people. It also expresses ideas around superstitions & comfort we find within certain beliefs or ideas such as reincarnation & around birds being a symbol of lost loved ones looking over us.

Overall, I am really pleased with this project, It has been more meaningful to me than anything I've ever done. The process at points was really hard for me as I felt I was grieving through art & processing that emotion. I have never used art as an outlet in this sense before & I'm very glad I pushed through the hard points & carried on creating as I really love how they turned out. I normally struggle expressing my emotions & experiences through art, but this was different. Doing it actually meant something & I'm sure if he could see them he would love them as he used to paint birds himself. It is where I got my love for art from, & I didn't even know it until a few months before his passing so I'm happy I got to create something in memory of him & present it as my final project for this course.