Self Initiated Brief

For my self-initiated brief I have chosen to explore an abstract use of colour, focusing on texture and marks. I want to work with a loose hand and develop my mark making skills further, my aim is to push out of my organised comfort zone and work towards creating a range of paintings and photographs that have an impulsive sensation. My objective is to work with a wide range of inspiration, looking at abstract paintings, photographs of ink in water that capture the free dispersing colour, exciting natural colours and textures, for example the kind found in rocks, mineral and gemstones. I want to use this unit as an almost final opportunity to experiment with different media, hoping to explore different areas throughout the development process, from dying fabrics, both digital and screen printing, then possibly bringing in other medias I’ve briefly used before, for example embroidery or the laser cutting.

With my intentions in mind, some of the artists I aim to take inspiration from include a range of different practitioner. The abstract paintwork of Gerhard Richter, layering amounts of acrylic paint on top of images as if almost to distort them is really interesting and something which I think will heavily influence my work, especially the blended yet rough marks he achieves with his paint. Similarly the work of Matthew stone, and also Yago Hortal. Hortal’s work has a more vibrant energy, using more acidic colours is a little out of my comfort zone and something I tend to try avoid, however I really enjoy the aesthetics of his work. It has an exciting vigour and movement to it, and movement within the design is also something I plan to take into consideration so I think he would be a very worthwhile artist for my research. A couple of photographers which help inspire me in a similar manner are Kim Keever and Alberto Seveso, both photographers have collections which focus on the movement and shape created when dropping ink in water, something I have always wanted to try achieve. I feel like capturing the split second of that movement and exploring the shape it creates is interesting and provides abstract shapes which I think I can use to help push forward any design development.

 Yago Hortal 

 Alberto Seveso

For this project, I would like to see where the designs take me in terms of context. I feel like the designs will probably sway more towards a fashion-focused context for the initial stage of my development. However this is definitely the project I hope to progress into my Unit X Final Major Project, and for this I plan to branch out with my designs and tailor collections suitable for different outcomes. For example, one collection suitable for fashion, a collection more suited to interiors and maybe some larger format designs intended for commission spaces.