Mark Fairnington’s lecture discussed belief and what new knowledge is imbued in a painting: when in the making is new meaning created? This was explored through examining museum collections, such as with detailed paintings of insects the artist photographed through a microscope, and the creation of new landscapes through collage.
Mr. Fairington’s use of photography to capture landscape imagery, and his earlier use of microscopic photography for the insect works, draws on a sense of photographic knowledge and belief. He dismantles landscape photographs, choosing which pieces he would like to use and assembles a collaged image to reference for his painting. This treatment resembles dissection; slicing apart a specimen to gain an understanding of the individual pieces so it may be reassembled into organised information. The point of new meaning may occur in the deconstruction and is realised in the work through the artist’s decisions and marks.
Meaning can be ambiguous in art, due to the artist’s and viewers’ varied experiences. Perhaps there are multiple points of new meaning in every artwork, the painting itself an agent of enlightenment, while meaning is held within the maker and viewers.
In my practice, I dissect lore, symbolism, and my experiences to understand what they are and mean and where those meanings originated. This occurs through internal interrogation and researching subjects with a greater societal meaning. There are many points of new understanding throughout my process that provide new meaning, but they are only part of the work when I make the marks.
Fairnington, M. (2023) ‘Mark Fairnington’ [Lecture]. University of the Arts London: Camberwell College of Arts. 4 October. Available at: https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=7507e4e5-a2fe-4faa-97aa-b094009506fa (Accessed: 4 October 2023).
In Raquel Mendes’ presentation for Come Together, Right Now on 20/11/2023, she discussed the creation of rituals outside of community structure. She explored creating her own autumn ritual which included the baking of ceremonial bread, braiding leaves and flowers into her hair, and using a pinecone as a musical instrument.
Raquel Mendes entered with questions of individual identity and spirituality: How does one interact with ritual when they aren’t part of a religion and is spirituality attainable without community? The actions of baking, braiding with plants, and creating sound with a pinecone speak to a necessity for physical exploration of natural elements. There is something about touch, sound, and smell that anchor ritual and allow it to take on power. There is also an element of creation. Baking bread involves gathering ingredients, physical mixing and kneading, and a time of reflection while the dough rises and bakes: transformation.
The element of creation can also be applied to the growth of community through ritual. The sharing of the baked bread with family and her neighbor coming to converse while Raquel braids both allude to ritual’s ability to build community from individual spirituality.
My own work is the result of personal ritual which is then displayed for the public, bringing to question the necessity of community in individual ritual. I also work with natural materials, seeking materials already based in power - nature - that I handle and shape . My handling of these materials culminates in transformation, the heart of most rituals.
Mendes, R. (2023) ‘Come together, right now’ [Lecture]. Camberwell College of Arts, Ontario College of Art & Design University. 20 October.
In her lecture, How to Develop Your Research and Reflect Critically, Caroline Ingham explained her practice of research and reflection, walking us through her online submission to UAL for her MFA. She put great emphasis upon the role of writing for reflection and the evolution of her work and practice.
Through research and keeping a studio diary, Caroline Ingham’s work about trauma, illness, and bodily doubt evolved from flat oil paintings to 3D assemblages, the later works being greatly concerned with materiality. This progression was sparked through research then reflecting through writing on what she had read, seen, and created. Keeping a regular studio diary seemed to organise her thought process and allow for clear connections to be made instead of being lost in all the information being taken in.
I have discovered, in the last 3 years, how important writing is to my practice. Even knowing so, I am still in the habit of gathering great amounts of information and trying to do all my research before creating and all my formal writing after. I keep multiple notebooks, writing copious notes describing the work and what it might mean, based on my research, before I even begin sketching. This can lead to burnout before I have made anything. Caroline’s practice has encouraged me to keep a weekly studio diary writing about my experiences as they happen, giving the actual creation of work a larger role in the research and allowing for a less rigid, more rewarding practice.
Ingham, C. (2023) ‘How to develop your research and reflect critically’ [Lecture]. University of the Arts London: Camberwell College of Arts. 14 November. Available at: https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=fda5b5bc-5086-4f38-a150-b0be00aca583 (Accessed: 14 November 2023).