June- July 2022
matt emulsion, plaster, marble dust, French chalk, vegetable netting, spray paint, glue, nails on wooden fence slats
48.4 x 60.2 x 1.5 inches
Articulating the relationship between my interventions with materials and the circumstances in which the art-making processes take place is one of the most difficult, yet important aspects of my practice. I do not work in a vacuum and much of my motivation to create art comes from a difficulty with coming to terms with the world around me and seeking to build something of value.
I created this piece, Burnout during the summer 2022. It came at a time when being a long way from home for a long time, I had very few personal connections with people around me and my life revolved around working a low-wage job and living day by day. This was a period with very little hope in the world around me, as my own position seemed to stagnate at a time when the perils of climate change bore down on us all, one heatwave after another. Between the dry heat and rain showers, Burnout took shape in my mother’s garden.
I began to work on this piece after making progress on my other series Anthropomorphisms for a few months. In this instance, however I needed a larger scale and less focus on form to allow for more experimentation with chance interactions between fluids, found objects and atmospheric conditions on a surface with distinctive features and sturdiness to support heavier combinations. Burnout took shape over the course of approximately two weeks.
Materials/techniques:
My mother’s fence needed to be redone. It was falling down and so the landlord brought in two guys to set up a prefab wooden fence. They were nice guys and let me keep part of the old fence which became Stuck in the mud(luv) and one extra piece of new fence they’d brought but in the end, didn’t need and it became Burnout.
It was the largest surface I’d attempted and the sheer amount of space was daunting.
I began with spray paint, then matt emulsion. Both use synthetic pigment suspended in non-aqueous and water-based respectively.
Next, I combined matt emulsion of various colours with plaster and marble dust. Plaster was effective, the marble dust was not. As some emulsion mixtures were of higher viscosity I used French chalk as a means of loosening the paint without making it thinner. I preferred the outcome of using French chalk mixed with pigment in linseed oil, as I did in Requiem for a love| the centre cannot hold.
After the first paint application I incorporated a few found materials including plastic vegetable netting, newspaper, cardboard, nails and glue along the right-hand side of the work to create a unified surface where the fence slats warped in different directions. This was more like building a surface in a three dimensional sense, but I did not fully realise this approach to the plane surface until Stuck in the mud(luv).
One of my motivations in approaching the art-making process through materiality, is the opportunity for incorporating non-renewables into structures that (might) be preserved as a piece of human culture, rather than living a second (eternal) life in the landfill. More than being economical, using trash from the kitchen and house is, in my opinion a good way to find things you weren’t looking for. While I can’t claim to have an entirely sustainable practice, it is an objective of mine and a work in progress.
I finished the work with sprays. I enjoy the use of spray paint because of their versatility in creating shades of pigment all along the opacity spectrum. One person who has seen burnout commented on its chameleon- like quality of seeming to be more silver in the evening light but more vibrant with pinks and reds in the daytime. I liked this suggestion as it recalls molten ash and the glow of embers.
Analysis
Burnout marks a new development in my material literacy. Since night jungle I had been working predominantly on cardboard with oil and pigment; smaller scale with less focus on building up a sculptural surface and more attention to perception and interpretation. Burnout made more physical demands, on my body and space. Taking much longer than works from Anthropomorphisms, Burnout also required a sustained focus on a feeling and idea for a much longer time. This meant a different way of planning and taking decisions regarding the next step in the artwork.
Of the two people who have seen Burnout in real life both have discussed its three dimensionality. In the process of making it, I began to understand in a more nuanced way, the small movements that make large compositions. Sections that interact with and respond to other sections. Contemplating the experience of viewing a work of this nature, through a screen seems incomplete. This brought me to consider the experience of three dimensional objects in virtual space and how best to approach building and modifying objects and surfaces in digital environments.
Conclusions:
Burnout changed the way I approached the act of painting. Beginning with an object and treating it as an object to be developed rather than a surface to be covered, was a revelation. The way I prepared the wood, familiarised myself with the characteristics of the surface and aligned my concept with it, felt more grounded in a context that took shape independent of me, and I prefer it that way.
