PRINTS & SKETCHES
These sketches are preliminary drawings for my miniature mono-prints. In this collection of sketches and subsequent prints, I was exploring the idea of combining the human with the creature.
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These monoprints were the first attempt to combine my creatures and the eyes, previously I had only tried mono-typing (which you can see below).
All of these are magenta ink on rice paper, I have chosen the magenta ink as it ties in with my exploration of saturation painting and my first pink painting, "Bubblegum Babies - A Swarm In June"
This merging of themes resulted from research into psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis. Within psychoanalysis, Freud describes the layers of the conscious and subconscious and their behaviours. For simplicity, the creature of Id is instictual and primal, supressed by the Superego which is concerned with societal norms, morals, and conscious behaviours
Monoprinting is the way in which I sketch and plan out new paintings and ideas. I prefer not to sketch in the traditional manner as I have too much control over the finished product, hence why monoprinting works for me as I have less control over the outcome and texture of the pieces.
Balancing these factors is a visual exploration of the research in my dissertation:
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"Concealing the abject for consumption: How artists and the contemporary are market use abjection to lure the audience."
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The prints play on the concept of the internal being invaded by the external, and the moment of succumbing to the invasion of the creature. In this case, the unconscious Id and its visceral and primal actions, are invading and encroaching upon the conscious superego. When considering Freudian psychology, an overstimulation of the superego results in paranoia and anxiety, something I am confronting and controlling through my paintings.
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The grainy finish of these miniature prints adds to the abject nature of my work and its theoretical grounding. Playing with viscerality and ambiguity is what initiated my series of paintings "In Excessive Awareness Of The Self, Comes Destruction Of The Self" and printing with magenta ink helps balance out the repulsive nature of the creature merging with the human.
Below, are my mono-type prints, creating using a reductive process. By removing areas of highly saturated ink, it imitates areas of harsh light like that of chiaroscuro paintings. Traditional painting is a large part of my process and interest as an artist, here I am taking inspiration from dramatic portraits by artists such as Gustav Courbet's “The Desperate Man”. I have found that this process of printing produces more emotive images and they successfully play on the viscerality of the subconscious mind and the emergence of fear and anxiety from the dark, buried deep within the self.
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Researching how the eyes and the direct gaze into the camera in horror cinema has provided me further insight into the use of the direct gaze as a tool in initiating non-verbal communications between my artworks and the viewer.
On this page alone there are 27 individual eyes, of those 27, only 4 make direct eye contact with you. This decision was made to limit the effects seen in cinemas as a result of the direct gaze as well as the altered direction of the gaze guiding the viewer around each work or collection of works.
"...the returned gaze does more than make the viewer see and feel (or perceive), it also makes them intellectually contemplate to create meaning."
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"...when the gaze is returned in horror films, affects of unease or discomfort are produced. As they do this, they do not rupture the cinematic illusion or our emotional engagement because cinema is not an illusion to begin with. Ultimately, the returned gaze is a formal choice in horror that is rooted in certain innate human behaviours."
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"...often thought to reveal the secrets behind the fiction and endanger cinematic engagement."
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- Colin Ben Mackey,
Evil Eyes Look Back:
Exploring the Returned Gaze in Horror Cinema, 2019
Although Mackey is describing the use of the returned gaze in cinema, the effect of such a gaze can be linked to other visual arts and therefore my prints and paintings.
Unlike the feminine gaze, the returned gaze is implicating, alienating, and often disruptive to the illusion. Due to the somewhat disruptive nature of the returned gaze, this is the first reason to which I have limited its presence in my work for fear of it distracting the viewer from the intention behind the work.
On the flip side, the gaze implicates and interrogates the viewer. In the correct quantity, it can initiate the immersion and internal dialogue that is essential to the interaction with my work.
There is a certain degree of discomfort or unease that is inevitable from my subject matter alone, so for the direct gaze to accentuate this is the second reason why I have restricted its presence.
Balancing the characteristics of the direct gaze has and will continue to be a challenge within my practice.