Really nice to prepare work for a submission that is both open and inclusive in other words ALL WORKS to be included!
This one also caught my eye because of the subject matter - TREES! I also really liked the collaborative element of putting all of the works together to create an experimental, illustrative forest which would take the form of a virtual online map and physical exhibition at Sluice (Vernacular) Expo at The Minories, Colchester in June 2024.
The brief was to make a piece of 2D work no bigger than A4 (photography not included) in response to an actual tree with a location reference ie postcode or What3Words and description to be submitted alongside.
My chosen subject was the giant sycamore tree that stands in the field next to the garden and my art pod. It felt known to me and with the short deadline approaching I gave myself an afternoon to go out and 'respond'. The inclusiveness of the submission freed me up sufficiently to do just this - I had no plans other than to use some of the found materials that were available to me on site. My intention was to create something quite raw and spontaneous directly in response to the tree as it was in that moment.
I rubbed my paper into the surrounding earth, took rubbings from the tree, scrubbed leaf pigment in to the paper, took twigs from the tree to mark make with ink. I also made several direct observational drawings from the tree itself.
After an hour or so of gathering materials and information I took it all back to my art pod to further reflect upon.
I then considered how to construct "a piece" from all of this that would fit the brief while remaining true to its original source material.
I decided to do some tearing and then collaging pieces back together in a way that symbolised the cycle of nature, growth and decay. I was quite pleased with the initial result but then had the idea to add some text to convey a stronger message emphasising the found materials that I had used to construct the piece. This might possibly have come from the fact that I had been very recently working with a group of students to include text in their work. This can be a problem with teaching as ideas and approaches have a habit of creeping subconsciously into my own work. This can of course be a good thing but then also not so good!
I still had a day before the deadline to post off the final submission so I lived with it alongside another of the drawings that I had made (above right). Which also includes found materials and on reflection I can see is a far better drawing!
Reflecting upon my submission I am not very happy with the piece that I finally chose to submit. Despite the intended freedom of my initial approach I ended up with something which felt contrived and unrepresentative of my work.
I can see how the selection that I made was a self conscious one. I was trying too hard to make something that I thought would be a good fit rather than just allowing the work to evolve in its own way . It reminds me of how I have felt on the one or two occasions that I have made work for commission. For that reason I decided to never again!
With all of that said it has been a valuable experience from which I have learned a lot about my approach to art practise and open calls. Mainly to feel more confident and justified in my approach instead of making work for outward validation that I think others will like.
A Final Reflection
Small Works Gallery have managed and curated this project brilliantly with regular Instagram updates sharing all of the work submitted and then some fantastic gallery shots of the live exhibition which was very considerately displayed and documented. I appreciate that there was lots of hard work involved and that it has been a wonderfully inclusive project.
Seeing my work through this lens and within the context of others has helped me to feel more confident and positive about my choice of submission. I can see that my piece really is quite different to some of the other more conventional approaches and for this reason stands out in an interesting way. I think from the outset this is subconsciously what I was hoping to achieve. Also it did get lots of 'likes' on the Gallery's Instagram page.....the need for validation again!
