The series above is a compilation of digital drawings in a simplistic, sketchy style. In my body of work I respond to the question regarding rebellion;
“can creative acts be rebellious when rebellion has become canonised in art, design and media histories? What would a contemporary creative rebellion look like?”
In my previous poster work, I researched and responded to the abundance of angst and misdirected anger in contemporary artworks about rebellion (especially political works). I hypothesised that a contemporary rebellion would be rebelling against the angsty rebellious works, thus forming a work that was ‘cute’, helpful and calming (and somewhat silly). However, in this body of work I made an active decision to direct my practice in response to this question differently, applying a more personal interpretation. In my practice as an artist, throughout this semester in particular, my practice-led research has caused me to discover aspects of my own practice I don’t exactly like, which provided me with the conceptual basis of my body of work. Essentially, my work responds to my body’s many rebellions against itself, and against my will to create or be ‘productive’. These ‘rebellions’ include seasonal depression, nausea, anxiety, the struggles of menstruation, alcoholism, body image, a lack of energy and numerous others which can be found in my brainstorm. I would argue that these rebellions are not only waged against myself, but towards the conventional figure of the artist, denoting what “a contemporary rebellion would look like”.
My process in creating this body of work began with my response to the question of rebellion and thus the concept of my work. The first difficulty I encountered within my practice-led research was how best to execute and communicate this concept. I feel that the medium of photography would have communicated the atmosphere I have tried to convey however my lack of experience in photography dissuaded me from using it. Along the lines of my self-destructive rebellion against productivity, I opted for a medium that was accessible and easy to transport, my digital drawing tablet. As any artistic practice needs I created a brainstorm/mind map consisting of the many rebellions that I wage against myself on a daily basis. I then began to visualise what these rebellions looked like? What could I use to symbolise them? What aspects of them are tangible? This led me to the creation of the cloud drawings, a series of experiments in which I tried to depict the simplest and most immediate image of my experience with seasonal depression. The experimentation with the cloud drawings then led to the creation of multiple drawings and designs that symbolised more of my ‘little self rebellions’, including the lone wine glass, the knee-hugging stance, and the pad. In creating these drawings I experimented with the amount of lines I used (particularly evident in the post with the pad drawings), the curvature of these lines and the addition of colour to the line drawings. Apart from the various shades of grey used in the lines, the only colour I used was red for the blood. This wasn’t so much a symbolic choice, but that the pad just didn’t really look like a pad without it. The next step in my practice-led research was the decision regarding background colour, which was to become essential to the cohesion of the final body of work. The overall colour scheme of multiple shades of grey not only provides aesthetic cohesion, but a mood and atmosphere to the entire work. I would often use the words grey, foggy or rainy to describe my “bad” days, so I feel as though this choice is both materially and conceptually pertinent to the work.
My process of creating this work through practice-led research has educated me about my artistic practice and myself as an artist, as well as just trying to function as a productive member of society.
(It would seem I’ve come full circle and instead of rebelling against angst, I’m perpetuating it.)
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