Isabella De Santis The Examination of the Self
My work stems from my interest in looking further into the self and how making effects me. Craft and ceramic in particular has a certain need for perfection. This can leave a maker feeling stressed and insecure, depending on how much weight and power they give to the pressures of excellence. Objects we create are an extension of ourselves. I have broken down the different emotions when making, as the stress of others judgement is something that I have particularly struggled with. I want to take control of these negative emotions that I have experienced and display them in a personal way, giving each of them their own texture, colour and pattern. My aim is to create open conversation for other makers to feel comfort about discussing their insecurities in a safe and free manner.
Outlines and Rules of The 10,000 Hours Practice Believe in the meaningful work Confront culture Gain experience Learn storytelling Have the courage to pursue your ideas The 10,000 hours theory put my work into a higher sense of being, taking the control of making out of my hands. This makes me feel more relaxed and able to move forward in my own work.
JESMONITE EXPERIMENTS
My relationship with Craft told through this piece.. What is my piece trying to convey? ANXIETY PROTECTION GROWING LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP AWKARD RIGID My Other Emotions When Making EXICTMENT JOY RELIEF Part of the Process DISACTION CREATIVE
My relationship with Craft told through this piece.. What is my piece trying to convey? COMING TO TERMS WITH BEING AN ARTIST SATIRE FAKE ART CHANGE OF SCALE
Merchandise
I have played with scale and form. Through this exercise I tried to come to terms with myself becoming an artist. Originally, I viewed them similarly to singer songwriter heartfelt songs - my pieces bare all for others to view and critique. The small spiked pieces signify the meaningless merchandise that an artist produces alongside their songs (eg perfume bottles). As I am now an artist myself this is my own meaningless merchandise standing alongside my work.
My Relaxing Blind Drawing
Blind Making I still had a need for perfection, the painstaking hand building spiked pieces are too controlled. Throughout my research I have tried to make it as visually interesting as possible, this is not reflected in the work I have created in the studio. To overcome this problem, I did a series of blind making, in the hopes to make my work more expressive and creative.
Once the colour was added to the piece this increased depth and contrast. This is the first time I have painted with oxide and it has been very successful. The strong resemblance it has to watercolour attracts me deeply to this way of working, as it is something I use in my practice on a daily basis.
Insomnia Where does it spring from? It is important to first understand what could be causing your sleep difficulties. Insomnia can be caused by psychiatric and medical conditions, unhealthy sleep habits, specific substances or biological factors. The questions that are keeping our inner conscience from sleep could be solved by leading a more self- aware life; instead of overthinking the mundane issues Meditation can be used to reflect upon the issues preventing sleep, working on these anxious thoughts during the daytime will relieve the stress experienced at night. Reacquainting ourselves with ourselves Insomnia isn t about not being able to sleep, its about not giving yourself a chance to think. Therefore when it does come to sleeping, the mind is unable to turn itself off.
Why I Blind Draw Blind drawing is something I have always felt a great connection with, as this technique enables me to feel less precious about my work. The need for perfection is broken as I already know that this cannot be achieved. This process enables me to feel more confident about my drawing ability. The experimentation of line allows me to create abstract pieces in a relaxed state. So, my instinct for line and composition can take hold.
I have broken my drawings down in to two parts, the first being line and composition. I m very particular about what pens should be used for what drawings, I even experimented with multiple pens depending on the subject matter that I m focusing on. The second part of this is colour placement for all my drawings, I have carefully considered which colours would complement the composition. I do not want my pieces to look realistic, this way of working enables me to be more experimental and my work to become more abstract.
Free Concentration
The lines of my drawings are the only thing that gives my work structure. By using watercolour the colours have no boundaries, this gives the impression of a forever expanding piece that is only grounded by the physical structure of the lines, giving shape to the spirits of the piece.
Artist Referenced 1 Salvador Dali Concept 2 Jackson Pollock Use of Line 3 Michael Tierney Complication 4 Otobong Nikanga Layout of work
Salvador Dali The Persistence of Memory 1931 Dali s work is know for his vivid and sharp painting with long perspectives. Similar to my drawings, they seem to have no recognisable form but still have a sense of composition and consideration. Dali s work explores how to accessing the subconscious can increase artistic creativity. Bergson, a French philosopher, thought time was something that was not constricted to the striking of a clock but that of a more subjective and contracting space that changed according to our experience. This notion inspired Dali to create a piece of work that incorporates these themes. Dali is attacking the rational by showing the viewer that we do not have a fundamental understanding of time and that the safety we put on these futile objects can be questioned.
My drawings have a dream like quality to them. The part of a dream you can remember is usually vivid and almost realistic, but your mind has altered them with the thoughts of your subconsciousness. It is ironic how I am drawing links with an artist who looked into dreams for inspiration, when most of my work has emerged from my inability to achieve a dream like state.
In Wetin You Go Do? Otobong Nkanga. Three of the spheres narrated statements in English, French and Nigerian Pidgin that were carefully edited and layered together reflecting on life s difficulties and anxieties. This grouping of society is symbolised through the quality of heavy rope, it shows how we are unable to escape certain aspects of social order. The metaphor signifies it is impossible to move forward alone, and how we are all interconnected to each other s lives. It was interesting how artists managed to create such a strong bond with the viewer and the work even with the language barrier, I gained a true sense of empathy from the combination of voice and installation.
As my pieces are about sleep deprivation, I decided to create fresh drawings to express this in a clearer and conceptual way. Flipping the black- and- white, it created a stronger ambience of night- time. Making drawing standout in a unique way that I have not seen in previous drawings. The drawings as a whole seem to have a larger connection as one continuous piece which is lacking in my first drawings.
Simple of Drawing Simple of Ceramic Piece
My Small Slip Cast Pieces
Photography Session This photography session enabled me to arrange my work for the first time as a collection. Highlighting to me the importance of my display for the degree show. This pushed me to be more experimental and work in a less structured way as I knew that this is obviously less important than when I will next be arranging my work in the exhibition space.
Finial Pieces...
As the pieces are about the self, I felt it was important to have a few where the viewer could see certain aspects of me holding my piece to reinforce the connection between myself as maker and my work. A sense of scale is also immediately added as possible as I entrance the frame, communicating to the viewer just how big these pieces really are. I want the work to speak for itself I did not want to draw too much attention away from the skill of making.