Rachael Burke

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 -  Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - Week 4 - 6 / Create a body of work exploring and developing ideas generated from any aspect of week 2, 3 or 4.

Back to painting on canvas - testing oneself, breaking though the fear. Trying to keep it loose and inject elements of color, however not too much at this stage. Trying to slow things down and be considered but also spontaneous, going with those surges of emotion, connection (I think painting is a mixture of both deliberate, intuitive, considered, spontaneous. This work is also taken from family archives (Auntie Janet on her death bed or should I say place of rest, solace, accompanied by her gorgeous teddy made lovingly by her sister - this teddy gave her much comfort and was a constant presence through her illness.

Pink a little over-powering so need to tone it back - put the painting on a flat surface and added a layer of light pink paint diluted with water.

Used pink (photo of rag) as I was utterly obsessed with that color as a child, I use to draw and color in with pink felt tips and black graphic pens - everything was Pink, Pink, Pink which is interesting as I am not a particularly girlie girl. I remember a pink bouncy ball my Mother bought me which was the perfect Pink, I was totally in love with the color. At some point I would like to do an entire work paying homage to Pink.

Used red pen to define the drawing (most important to have visual clarity). Observed the painted under layers of grey and white and off white, great to show depth and variation of tonality. Followed by a layer of acrylic ink - then loose white paint over the top.

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

Now adding loose/sketch type marks over the top - with the intention of keeping it childlike (using black house paint).

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

Added additional black paint to the background behind the pillow.

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

Added a layer of white paint to tone down, make more ghost like and to try and keep the work loose.

Upon reflection the above two whited out images work quite well as a painting in it’s entirety. I like the fact that you can see the under painting and mark making. The marks around the eyes are a little square, but I like how the paint kind of works like a mask.   

Added some black hair - went over the eyes again then applied a black acrylic wash over the top - forming drips, blending into the background - this is when the painting came alive for me, capturing a rawer emotional state. There is a long way to go but this feels like I am beginning to build the framework.

Painted black crosses to build up the bedding - then added them to the overall background of the work, potentially too much, distracting the eye. When you rub back the black paint on the cross with water it leaves quite a lovely mark (almost a transparent imprint of the shape) very useful for building up layers,  taking them off, partially obscuring). 

Added two additional characters as the negative space, well the work didn’t appear balanced, there was too much space between the character and the teddy bear, the teddy bear seemed to be floating in space. Also the bed spread appeared to be a dominant feature and I want it to be more integrated.

I am finding the adding of paint/mixed with water really effective. The paint is drippy and loose on the canvas, it helps when trying to distort the figure - You then grab a rag and wipe off excess drips that you don’t want - but more importantly you can blend/merge it into the canvas - will have to add more paint at some point as to provide contrast/light and shade. As discussed with Noel - sticking to a restricted color pallet at this stage, if need be I can add elements of color by way of collage or paint.

I think the painting is beginning to work - however the faces do need a bit of pairing back by way of gentle painterly application - adding/obscuring.

The faces were very patchy so just slowly building up faces and bodies, with the intention of keeping it loose - now working more on the composition.

Added additional white paint to the faces as I was starting to become more precious - I want to distort reality not represent it. Darkened the top background, removing the pillows, trying to make better use of the negative space - also raised the top of the bed spread further up toward the characters.   

(Above Images - Rachael Burke)

Upon reflection I do think I have built the faces up too much - obscuring the lovely painterly marks underneath.  PAINTING IS HARD!!!!

Figuring out if I am at the collage stage. I think I need to look at all the mark making (painterly application) first, making sure it is where I want it to be as I don’t want to wet the collage elements. Also need to make the decision as to whether I clothe the characters.

PAINTING IS HARD WORK AND A CONSTANT TEST OF FAITH. IT IS A REAL STRUGGLE TO SLOW DOWN ENOUGH TO MAKE CONSIDERED AND EFFECTIVE DECISIONS - I WORK QUICKLY WHICH I KNOW IS FINE FOR ELEMENTS OF THE PAINTING PROCESS. I MUST REMEMBER THAT THE CREATIVE PROCESS IS A MATTER OF FAITH, TRUST AND PATIENCE.     

Decided to start cutting faces from found photographic books as I do feel I have reached a point with the painting - I am getting a little lost and I don’t want to over do it as giving myself 7 days to complete this work. I also think if I collage elements on to the painting it may help with figure out if I need to add/remove paint. I am getting so impatient, I need to slow down and persevere. 

(Above Image Rachael Burke)

As soon as I start cutting I see assemblages everywhere - the below image is cut out facial parts thrown on the couch - thought it looked quite interesting and of course, beautifully random.

(Above Image Rachael Burke)

So I then began to make a series of black and white assemblages by way of quick construction - they are not glued down. I then photographed them. I do think they are very effective and dynamic. I know I used photography quite a lot toward the end of year 2 - It is definitely still a medium I am drawn to. As I mentioned at the end of year two I would somehow like to combine photography with painting and collage by way of mixed media - to this we aside is worth the experimentation.

(Above Images Rachael Burke)

I enjoy this far more than painting an entire painting as it suites my spontaneous nature, HOWEVER I will go back to creating my large mixed media work and I will APPLY PATIENCE. I do think this holds great value - it is slightly painful (at times) but that indicates it is worth it!!!!!

Was contemplating for the next work using acrylic ink/acrylic paint and found photographic image (I do have to watch my supply of materials at this sparse/shut down time) - I guess it will forcibly take my work in new exciting directions as I will have to be totally resourceful by using what materials I have available. I do consider resourcefulness to be part of my art making methodology, and I am not just saying that in order to save cashola. We are an over-indulgent, throwaway culture and I certainly don’t want to unnecessarily contribute to that!!!

So I am back to the larger scale work - this time mapping out my collage elements (of course I am not gluing them down at this early stage) - I am only using facial elements, hands and arms - they rest of the form will be painted, therefore it is crucial to make sure the composition is balanced and fills the canvas effectively and proportionately. As you can see in the below image previous painterly application is being utilised.

Below images inspired by photograph of Mama and her Sisters and the Teddy on Janet’s bed.

(Above Images - Rachael Burke)

The characters have been glued down - i then decided to use vivid pen to map the outside of the figure. I chose to do this as a way of marking out and isolating the figure from the paint and to see what the contrast of the crisp graphic aesthetic of vivid looked like against the loose application of paint. Another we nod to childhood drawing, of coloring in the lines.

(Above Images Rachael Burke)

After conversation with Matt I realised that I have been going through the motions - not pushing myself into new territory stylistically.

I couldn’t ascertain if I was using the vivid pen to quicken the process up as I had been too-ing and fro-ing with this work for over a week. I applied vivid to the figures giving hem clothing of sorts (as portrayed in the original photograph). The vivid was too dominant, it appeared to be combative, not working in conversation. so I added additional marks to the surface by way of dots/and small surfaces of black paint to make the work cohesive and it give the surface a little more complexity by way of texture, plus my Mother and her Sisters were complex creatures with many layers beneath the surface.

(Above Images - Rachael Burke)   

I have been pondering about what it means to be safe in the work - whilst I certainly am not painting or creating by numbers, and there is a level of challenge and decision making - i was not excited, nothing seemed to be driving the work forward. So I tried to connected with the canvas more organically, trying to break through making it perfect, doing so with the application of White paint. Painting expressively and vigorously, firstly in an attempt to integrate the vivid with the paint (partially obscure it) but mostly trying to connect intuitively with the the work - It felt good.

I started by applying a light but vigorous application of paint over the surface of clothing, the dots previously made gave the canvas a raised surface and I was pleased with how it looked - I just kept going/obscuring the black vivid lines - increasing the amount of paint - decisions were being made in a raw and more connective manor.

As the other two characters had less built up surface on their clothes (as at that stage I had only created one character’s attire - I decided to paint their clothes by way of applying black paint - I became impatient waiting for the paint to dry so just kept going, painting over elements of the surface until it turned grey (all of my Mothers family had grey hair) - this worked providing a distorted, shadowy effect on the surface of the canvas. Distorting the figure is relevant to  expressionism as a way of conveying inner-feelings. It is also relevant to conceptual ideas in my work - obscuring the character/not bringing them entirely into view/concealing/revealing/transitory/emerging - coming forth with trepidation - wanting to be seen and unseen.

The surface was beginning to look interesting , you could see some of the layers underneath (what sits beneath the surface could be seen as a metaphor for self) - with the paint over the top/again a play on the hidden and revealed.

(Above Image - Rachael Burke) 1000mm x 780mm (large scale)

I then had the feeling that the painting could go no further, it could if I was to add light and shade around the figures, by using grey and black paint (which would have been an interesting metaphor for the light and dark of the self). However, I decided to to follow my instincts and began to cut through the canvas - the feeling of cutting up dolls cloths, or cutting through skin. I guess I gave up the image in it’s entirety as a whole work to make multiple works and to work more intuitively (I have never been drawn to completed works on canvas - something I should have done more of this term) - I think I am still hung up on a series of getting it all right. 

I sat on the deck with my scissors feeling like a child at play - now starting to get excited about the work, the uncertainty of where it was going - the joy of working spontaneously. I cut the figures out and placed them in my bed with my pillow behind them (once again the original photograph used was of all my aunties in the bed) - I will remember to document all photographs considered and not considered. The photographs didn’t read well (I didn’t take one SORRY MY BRAIN) the painted bodily form where to disruptive and combative, disrupting the work, disturbing the eye. The collage elements worked well. Cutting the figures from the canvas makes the figure more defined present in the world. Where as distorting the figure works with the conceptual ideas behind the work.

I decided to return to the plastic bag methodology I used last year as I wanted to see how a mixed media image read inside the bag. Where they as strong and as interesting as the found photographic images manipulated and placed inside the bag?

I chose a pink plastic bag as a nod o my favorite childhood color (PINK). The photographs had a slight carnival feel to them, they had a chaotic energy (my amazing Mother and her wonderfully eccentric Sisters had a chaotic energy - so that could be useful for developing and deepening concepts around childhood landscape). However, once again I didn’t like the painted bodily form inside the bag - they may have looked better inside a black bag (which sadly I didn’t have access to). I am enjoying the work with color in the background - gives another dimension to the work.

Again after talking to Matt, I re-read the brief and the first thing I thought was RE-READ THE BRIEF AND KEEP RETURNING TO IT DURING THE COURSE OF THE TERM!! It talked about developing a strand of work. I know this term was to be considered more of a diagnostic term - trying different methodologies and ways of working - I was going to attempt to do an emotional connective abstract painting (Tracey Emin style) - but again got trapped in the makings of what I know, safe, too safe - This is not beneficial to my growth. I needed to look at the methodology and outcomes chart and get excited about trying different modes of making.

I cut the hands and faces from the painted bodies - they were now redundant. What would have been interesting is if I had access to Sanji at SKAR image lab as he could have enlarged a found photographic image of my choice and we could have implanted the characters, adding additional collage or paint. I can still do this with the faces I have but they will have to fit into A4 or smaller page in a book, and once again this is a revisitation of a methodology last year.

Adding one of the black ad white faces to a ripped image of Clauda Schiffer from a fashion magazine (again, I used fashion magazines last year) the MO brief chart had auto-biographical/childhood/representation/deconstruction. Whilst the deconstruction/reconstruction is relevant as it relates to the construction of identity.. Perhaps deconstructing and reconstructing the human form by way of collage is about assembling and piecing together fragments of identity. Exposing the hidden and excising the revealed. I think of it as the shedding of skin. Also as a child I constructed my own version of reality - However, I still wasn’t meant to making work about the nature of representation and beauty, relating to concepts I explored last year. The Red background of this work is dynamic - it also relates to my Mother and her Sisters favorite color, they were red a lot, as well as red lip stick - Red is the color of passion - it is also the color of “stop” and “danger”.

  i am quite drawn to the “Style” collage - Again it potentially refers to the nature of representation but it could also be read as the shadow self (light and dark) the exterior and internal self. I guess if it is taken out of a fashion magazine it leans again toward beauty/ageing - the nature of representation (again a re-visitation to last year) arghhhhhhhhhhhh!!! The black and white  contrast is strong aesthetically/again light and dark/two sides of the self. What I do like with this work is the introduction of text - which I think is particularly relevant to the concepts I explore in my work.

“the discipline of using your negative emotions and turning them into something beautiful - that is a great life lesson to use”.

I cut the teddy bear out. I really like this image of the teddy - The way it is constructed with multiple layers and maniacal eyes - it appears rather sinister. The human foreheads I used for the teddy ears gives the feeling of a genetically engineered human/animal (laboratory). I then placed the teddy head in a found photographic image - I loved the macabre feel of the black and white image - the use of light - it felt still, silent, the tension felt palpable like the teddy was on the precipice of something - the teddy definitely has a foreboding presence/something you couldn’t quite trust, yet a teddy was something that was meant to bring you comfort and reassurance - Now we are getting to the heart of things. I only thing that didn’t read well was the baby - with no racial intention whatsoever, it was the wrong color/race and I should and can still turn it into an adult which would make it more interesting and aligned with childhood trauma. I have not glued the image yet so there is the opportunity for reinterpretation. (I am still using similar modes of construction and methodologies - so even the work may be more conceptually moving in the right direction so that is a form of opening up I am still not opening up and expanding in other areas of making). 

(Above Image Rachael Burke)

Found an image of a baby suckling on it’s Mama. I thought I would try and use different materials as I am wanting to explore childhood I thought I would use pastels. Layers of crayon, blending, merging, then scraping back - then painting over with white paint again, then scarping back.... (concealing/revealing). I then tried to place the image in a book but it wasn’t reading well with anything, I should have been patient and returned to the work the next day, perhaps incorporating it with a drawing or something different, yet I kept cutting until I had nothing interesting to use. Impatience and not knowing when to stop to consider future possibilities within the work. i have been trying to consider why I use certain materials and how I apply them to a particular surface. Crayon a visual ode to childhood/the joy of coloring giving something life and expression/the expressive nature of childhood). I applied it directly and quickly as if trying to make something appear. I also smudged the crayon, trying to integrate it but also trying to rub away parts of the surface - like peeling back a layer of skin/or childhood disappearing.     

(original found photographic image)

(Adding crayon)

Scratching back/scars/devoid of life force/concrete/internal sadness sitting on the surface of the skin - All ideas I explore in my work.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 -  Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - Week 4 / 1 x 20 hour artwork.

There was thought of re-visiting my second two day artwork as it was not finished, however, I do think it will be more valuable to start a new one. I feel the need to be looser in my approach, more raw as originally expressed in my statement of intent. After I attended John Water lecture it is time to be more playful - I also feel the need to introduce splashed of color. Will re-visit previous 2 day artwork at a latter point as there is plenty of value and insight to be gained in the process of completion.

Again making a mixed media work employing found photographic imagery from “A day in the life of America” book - the imagery is glossy and is reasonably heavy - this is beneficial for a number of reasons - firstly it responds well when you apply paint on top of it and it glues down with a smoother finish (images from most fashion magazines are too light and when you apply glue it tends to bubble/crumple). Must be mindful when gluing glossy imagery as can tend to smudge - One must take ones time.

Cutting out a variety of images/babies/men & woman hoping to add a multitude of characters, perhaps with the notion of narration in mind. If I am trying to conduct narration what is my story/concept - what am I trying to say? I have a lot of imagery and the placement of that imagery needs to align with the intention for the work - harder than you think!!

Started placing the figure. In the first instance they are too separate, they are not in conversation. Trying to pull things back - explore the notion that less is more/make considered choices - slow things down.

Cut out shorts and t-shirted man as filled to much of the space and I didn’t want to collage/paint in too greater detail - to get to caught up in it all at this stage.

Decided to change the scale as too much space to fill, will use the bigger board for a painting + the board felt a little serious and I am trying to free myself up (possibly restricting surface in my head). A little note to myself - It is not about the work being successful, it is about exploration/playing/experimentation.

Added a layer of White paint for the image - trying not to be too heavy handed.

(Above Images - Rachael Burke)

Peeled back surrounding collage elements to contort/distort the figure. The Jesus like character works well in terms of paint application as I was able to work more expressively due to having more space to paint (as the face was a larger scale). Added layers of heavier paint to the faces - scraping off by using meths - this was a methodology I employed last year.

Taking photographs of the works singularly or paired as two works well in terms of negative space - potentially useful in terms of reproducing into prints.

Used sandpaper to sand around the edges of the work to make the edges around the torn imagery integrated - in preparation for painting around the contour of the work.

(Above Images - Rachael Burke)

Conversation with Noel & Christina in relation to this work and previous two collages on studio wall.

Looking at the deconstructed face framed with the pink baby calendar - they liked the raw cutting into the frame - saying it showed emotion, interacting well with the work- also an injection of color anchors us to the work.

Noel talked of a number of works being on a white background - fine for some works but perhaps there needs to be a different use of background color.

(Above Image Rachael Burke - Plain White background)

Christina talked of collaging additional images to elements of the work - eg a brick wall/some form of architectural form - gives the viewer something else to focus the eye/work with. Also I think it adds to the narrative of the work.

I thought the paint on the faces appeared to be a little clunky, Noel and Christina disagreed. So now I intend to concentrate on the background/layering - collaging.

Trying to bring form/imagery to the background of the work - quite challenging as a big negative space to fill, almost need to lay down the background first/make the characters, then placed them in the established background. I also have a limited or dwindling supply of found photographic imagery so will use what I can then perhaps make the work more cohesive by drawing. Again when photographing elements of the work they look great, maybe interesting to photograph specific elements and potentially hang them as a body of work - may even look at Sanjay (SKAR Image Lab) enlarging them - hanging them as on continuum - a little like Wangechi Mutu has done (Below)

(Above Wangechi Mutu image installed on a wall)

(Great use of color for framing work - The image bursting out of the grey boarder onto the white) -  ** VERY EFFECTIVE**

Sorry not quite sure why this is upside down - Looking at the way this is created and hung as a continuum (this could be potentially useful for the end of year exhibition).

(Above Images Wangechi Mutu)

Added a light acrylic was over the white negative space - didn’t add or use additional acrylic ink as the board I am using is quite warped and the ink will bleed into the imagery - Note to self ** Make sure you use a suitable surface.

(Above image - light acrylic ink wash - and some additional collage elements)

Christina also suggested Acrylic medium gel gloss which you can use for gluing collage. Apparently you apply to the back - leave for half an hour - apply another coat to the back before sticking it down -  then you can gel over the image - this will help avoid bubbles and give you an over-all better quality finish * I think Golden do a good medium gel.  

Feeling  compelled to cut this up but I am not going to, I am going to continue building up the background. Adding drawing lines in graphic pen to build up the background - basically intuitively taking the line for a walk - bearing in mind spatial balance (narrow lines, wide lines, heavier & lighter lines).

Trying to keep the lines quite organic/raw - not to precious - keeping in context with the rest of the work.

Added another layer of acrylic ink over the lines and previous ink - the previous ink has some lovely patterning on it so trying not to be too heavy handed as to cover the under-painting completely. Quite like the negative space around each figure. The line drawing brings the work back to the childhood landscape a little more.

Waiting and observing the acrylic ink as it drys is interesting, there are darker heavier patches around some of the figures with a jagged edge where the pigment rests, this works really well aesthetically - will apply more ink - taking control of placement, guiding the medium to where I want to be on the work (the heavier, shadowy parts or lighter area’s, learning to manipulate and understand the medium gives you more control which is pleasing).

As mentioned earlier the board is rudimentary and a little warped so the ink tends to run to the middle. Next time I will make sure my materials are far more superior.

Applied more ink - the medium keeps rolling into the middle as the board is warped - this does not allow me to make interesting, dynamic marks over the entire surface of the board. LESSON LEARNED.

Made the decision to deconstruct the entire image - cutting around the figures with the intention of collaging them onto found photographic imagery. Tried multiple books and images but they didn’t read well, not working on any found image - the characters were created on quite heavy think board (I did use a stanly knife to cut through the middle of the board to take some of the weight off but the images were still too chunky, in no way refined.

Deconstructed further by removing the heads from the bodies (such fun) - this worked better in terms of placing the heads in certain photographic scenes - not all the heads worked - until finally it came down to this one lone head on this found photographic image - taken from a book of photographs on family. There is something about this work that as a Francis Bacon feel about it (if I can be so bold) - perhaps it is the color scheme, the way the head sits on the suit, the frame the head is held in. I think this is a simple, powerful work - which can be read in a multitude of ways. I feel it is quite a political work. One entire week of working to achieve this - but I think it was worth it and guess what IT SOLD!    .  .

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

[rachaelburkeme2]

John Walter

British Artist - participating in the “Queer Algorithms” exhibition at Gus Fisher Gallery - March 2020

Went to a brilliant lecture at Elam - In conversation with John Walter. His talk was multi-faceted, dynamic and super interesting. There was much to retain, much to ponder - he is clearly has an inquisitive, curious, sharp and intensely imaginative mind.     

For me he reiterated how crucial humor is to his work, how humor worked as an invitation, a common language that draws people in. Whilst he has made some incredibly large and complex works he says that sometimes we don’t need to get caught up in the laborious side of art marking, something really small and simply constructed/deconstructed can be incredibly vital. Made me realise the value of playing and having fun in the studio.   

I have pasted his art statement - or writings in relation to his practice as it is well written, direct in it’s approach and extremely accessible - May be useful further down the track.

Statement:

My work begins as a visual diary, which rapidly gives way to a form of autoethnographic painting; I create pictorial fictions that conflate my personal narratives with the voices of others. Images and phrases gathered in books become the building blocks for surreal hybrids, which then become scaffolding for larger drawn compositions, then paintings, videos and ultimately installations. My early work was concerned with painting and although I now work across a diverse range of media that includes  artist’s books, sculpture, print-making, animation, moving image and Virtual Reality the way in which I use these media to interrogate my subjects is still fundamentally pictorial. I build space out of colour, gesture and line in a way that is distinct from sculptural, architectural or cinematic space.   However, I have often used spatial design to curate my diverse output into a larger whole and help it find a place in the world. Initially this took the form of gin bars that I would host. Dressed as a fool my presence would empower audiences to ask direct questions of me about my work, which then enabled me to disseminate my ideas more effectively. My interest in generosity extends to using popular imagery to deliver non-mainstream ideas to viewers in ways that they will find entertaining. As host my performances are a form of drag that is jestered as opposed to gendered; this has the effect of producing a new kind of queer space in which discussions about existing subjects can take place in unforeseen ways. I have referred to the production values that I use to achieve this as "shonky", by which I mean the unfashionable, the awkward, the provisional, the non-canonical and the imbalanced. Around 2012 I began to apply my maximalist approach to  the subject of HIV in what  became Alien Sex Club (2015). ASC addressed HIV as a crisis of representation and challenged the predominantly 'Queer Minimalist' genre that has been used to address the subject from  Felix Gonzalez-Torres onwards. Holism characterises my thinking. My deepened interest in viruses has lead me to work firstly with Professor Alison Rodger on ASC and subsequently with Professor Greg Towers and his lab on CAPSID (2018), which addressed the virus as a nanomachine instead of a social problem. Collaboration has become a scaling-up of my matryoska-like artistic practice to an interdisciplinary scale. My artistic practice is increasingly defined by this complex approach to working at multiple scales simultaneously. Collaborating with scientists has informed my  current interest in viruses of the mind. I take an increasingly Darwinist view of human production informed by   Dawkins notion of the meme as a unit of cultural replication equivalent to the gene in biology. I see myself as a breeder of images, applying scientific analogies to the selective pressure of designing art in order to increase its 'fitness'. In this sense I am a kind of rare breeds art farmer using top-down design processes, bottom-up notions of emergence and algorithmic processes of machine learning in combination in order to evolve the next generation of my own work faster and more efficiently.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 - Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - Week 3 / 2 x two day artworks.

I have decided to revisit work # 3 (4 girls) working on a bigger scale - using hot press board. Apparently better for using graphic pens on as a little firmer surface and less grooves in the paper. Rather than draw directly onto the board I thought I would gesso it first to see how the pen behaves on the surface (it was great), also thought gesso would be good encase I was going to add paint to the surface.

Did preliminary drawing in pencil - 4 bodies is challenging but the way I wanted to portray the characters allowed for anatomical variation. Went over the drawing with graphic pen, incorporating landscape in the work - I am wanting to place my characters in different settings, good technical practice and also adds to the story.

With the preliminary drawing complete I am st a slight loss as to what to do next. Break through fear/don’t over think/experimentation is most important. There is definitely a conflict within when I complete the illustrative drawing - something is pulling me away from the methodology but I will keep going and see where it takes me. Buying a new board may also add to the feeling of not stuffing it up - however good materials is vital to the art-making process.   

First Work (preliminary drawing)

(Image - Rachael Burke)

Landscape elements added

(Image - Rachael Burke)

Applied paint with relative hesitation - used grey and white as under coat. Found it challenging to paint between the graphic lines as not my normal  rhythm. I am usually quite a quick, reasonably high energy painter - painting between the lines is a little disconcerting but teaching me the art of slowing down/being a little more concise. Still uncertain if I want a flat painterly surface. As I have a time restriction I may make the figures the central (painterly) focus and keep the background quite illustrative/graphic. This work is modeled on the four girls taken out of the Woman book with babies heads on their bodies (work inspired by Henry Darger). My approach is somewhat different then what I intended, with defined black contours instead of the figure bleeding into the landscape as in the smaller work.

(Image Rachael Burke) - First layer of paint added (a little more murky/leaning toward khaki then I would have liked).

Added additional layers of flesh color with white slowly building layers and bringing forth life. Don’t want the paint to be to built up as the surrounding surface and illustrative work is flat (although might be an interesting exercise to make more if an impasto surface to provide an extreme contrast).

Used collage elements for the faces from Fashion magazines, deliberately trying not to be too grotesque as I was TRYING to make the work read as a little more innocent but I actually ended up making the characters hold more of a toughness/survival element, but again they seem to be withholding something/anticipating something - always bending toward melancholic.

  (Image Rachael Burke)

Added a bit more line work to the bottom of the work to anchor the characters, to not have them floating ambivalently in space. Also added some graphic marks to their faces, this brings a cohesiveness to the work as well as  potentially referring to mapping.   

(Image Rachael Burke)

(Image Rachael Burke)

(Image Rachael Burke)

I felt compelled to add more collage elements such a grass for the bottom or flowers for the top but I have run out of allocated time and I think in this case perhaps less is more.

I think there are some positive aspects to the work in terms of drawing techniques, plus application of paint great for finding my way back into applying paint - Personally the collage element falls short in term of complexity and interest. On the whole the work looks quite pleasing but lacks what I perceive to be authentic energy. 

Misread the brief - once again a reminder to read and re-read the brief, a close reading is essential. We have to do two x two day art works so I get to re-visit my first work (as above - the four girls/woman). I decided to use acrylic ink on some of the surrounding landscape and bodies - reiterating and creating atmosphere. I found myself being to slap happy with the acrylic ink, I should have slowed down and been more considered (the acrylic ink on board, however had a wonderful flow and sat well on the surface - Applied wet brush to the board immediately after acrylic application forming drips, the grey ink provided various moody tones which worked well.

(Above image  - Rachael Burke)

Upon reflection the drips dominated the figures, distracting the eye so decided to add fleshy tones - firstly to cover the drips and also to merge the acrylic ink lines around the figures. Applied white layer of paint over parts of the trees, leaving some of the graphic mark making, also bleeding out elements of the painted trees, so you just have slight contour. Applied too much paint on the bottom of the work, tried to remove with turps - then got slightly bored, feeling the work had gone as far as it could go - In hindsight, or upon reflection I should have the left the work as it was in it’s entirety.

(Above work - Rachael Burke)

Was I not satisfied or subconsciously being experimental? - Lets go for the latter. I then cut out all the faces, added a little more paint and more graphic lines around the facial area, sticking the first face to an image taken from a health and vitality beauty book written by Elle Macpherson -this relates more to my concepts from last year centered around beauty and the nature of representation.

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

The merging of collage and paint is quite clunky - the painterly surface needs to be way more refined - it didn’t help that I cut out the faces from fairly thick board. I finally inserted the work in a found baby calendar - changing the working from “my first year” to “my year” - trying to add humor as well as look at alternative ways of installing work.

Second deconstructed images - placed in Elle Macpherson beauty book.

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

(Above image - Rachael Burke) - For me this particular work feels a little Cindy Sherman.

Same image - deconstructed again and placed in a fashion magazine. To me looks and feels like a Egon Schiele self portrait - obviously in a contemporary context - this particular work relates more to my field of inquiry of the mask/the interior-exterior landscape. I am enjoying the elements of drawing added to the work, although, the pen work in this may be a tad dominant.

(Above images - Rachael Burke)

This was another small deconstructed image using a cut out baby face from this image.

After another application of paint and placed in a found photographic image from a graphic magazine - transformed into this.

I do like to use good old fashion trickery - as mentioned previously I consider myself to be a pre-photoshop constructionist.

Looking at the work of:

Annegret Soltau

Looking at the work of Christian Rex Van Minnen

These illuminating worlds extracted from a Rex Van Minnen interview particularly resonate with me - I think this is applicable to my work, something I would like to push further.

IMPORTANT

humor is very important to me. I’m a big fan of stand up comedy and comedy that leans into the absurd. I value the discomfort and destabilization that genre offers. In terms of visual art, I’m interested in art that describes emotions that are difficult to define, that space between beauty and horror, or humour and terror. They are dynamic gateways to self-knowledge.

Second - two day artwork

It has taken me a few weeks to get back into the methodology around research. When I am working it is important to document each stage of the process whilst it is fresh in your mind - photographing each stage in unison.

Decided to re-visit the family photograph of Mum at your Sisters beside (as per previous illustrative drawing). I chose to work on board, enlarging the scale (two coats of gesso and two coats of white paint). I thought I would tackle acrylic ink as it has been a while, however, once you are familiar with how the ink behaves on the surface (testing various quantities of water for desired effect) the marks in ink creates can be very interesting. You need to so a great deal of practicing to have command over the ink as it can be very fierce and destroy a work in no time at all - or at least completely dominate it. Found approaching the drawing on a larger scale more challenging - upon reflection the scale of the dog was not great (really need to slow down and observe and get the drawing where you want it to be before applying any paint. Applied light ink was to the surface.

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

(Above Image - Rachael Burke)

Decided to go over the pencil drawing with another more contorted line - raw, evoking urgency and emotion. Pencil marks on the faces correlate nicely with the collage - mapping, masking, layers and lines.  

(Teddy Bear - Rachael Burke) - gentle and urgent mark making

Over-lapping, slightly askew lines, more unconscious drawing I guess. Added collage elements to the face, keeping with the black and white imagery to re-iterate archives, deconstructed faces from various photographic books, partially placed on painted face to give the effect of a mask/conceal/reveal. Added another layer of Acrylic ink to slowly build up the surface - very challenging to manage the water ink ratio (may need to do some test patches on board) - as when you apply more water the ink bleeds out, when dry provides vein like/ bleeding skin aesthetic, great for emotional/psychological intention.

(Image - Rachael Burke) - Again gentle and more determined mark making with with pencil and graphic pen.

(Image - Rachael Burke) - Again gentle and more determined mark making with with pencil and graphic pen. 

(Image - Rachael Burke) - Again gentle and more determined mark making with with pencil and graphic pen - Doesn’t dominate the light ink wash.

I then decided to fill in the clothing on my first character - (as previously down with illustrative drawing, only using collage). I initially used blue pen to make the patterning which didn’t read well for me so I went over the blue pen with black graphic pen. Added additional collage elements which seemed to make it all to busy and distracting. 

(First phase of the patterning - simple ink wash and black graphic pen to cover blue pen) - simplified/understated work that blends.

(Added Collage squares and dots of white paint)

Then decided to take them off adding more black patterning with pen and white dots using the end of a paint brush - added paint/took off some black marks/added more paints until maintained desired effect. I am not sure if I like the build up of patterns - it all seems to busy, perhaps detracting from the work - also a huge amount of work - achievable in the time frame we have been allocated.

(adding/removing) - It all gets a tad confusing.

Approached the other characters clothing differently - minimal patterning. Gently tracing around the patterns made by the ink, added additional horizontal lines. This effect works well - cohesive/not detracting from the face.

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

For some reason (I believe in an attempt to get it finished - putting myself under pressure) I decided to use graphic pen around the circumference of the faces - this was a mistake as the pencil was strong yet delicate - a nod to strength/vulnerability. The graphic pen is too dominant and takes over the interesting marks of the acrylic ink. I needed to stop the work as I have run out of allocated time (two full days). There is plenty to do to resolve this work so I will revisit it in due course. A good lesson in the art of  allowing the time required to make the work to the best of your ability - I did make rash decisions/rushing through elements of the work which never feels or looks right. Whilst I challenged myself with creating  multiple characters, and with the use of acrylic ink I still feel like I am not playing enough, having fun with it - I am getting caught up in the outcome/in the finery of it all.

(Above image - Rachael Burke) - Uncompleted work

I think the work evokes a narrative, has psychological  undertones and potentially could be autobiographical, although it feels more universal. I think the works conveys variable layers of emotion in each character which is pleasing. This work shows emotional nuances.

THROUGH THE GATHERING RESEARCH RE-VISIT YOUR STATEMENT OF INTENT. REFLECT ON PROBLEMS/THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS/YOUR PRACTICE IN GENERAL. - STRUGGLES/POSITIVES!

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 - Week two. Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - First Critique - Tuesday 10 March 2020.

Notes:

- Characters are waiting for something (Related to Work # 1) - Being more raw but extending from methods explored last year.

- Narration? Illustration, exaggeration, descriptive, psychological .

- Obsessive childhood nature - Historic (Related to Work # 2 - Graphic Illustration)

- Enjoyed the liberation of the process (Related to Work # 2 - Graphic illustration)

- Risen from the dead (Related to work # 1)

- A video tape that keeps playing in your mind but has become the focus, a static image (interesting point as I saw it as having momentum - replay). Strange feeling knowing you’re going to become a woman with a different body (or that you will inhabit a different body). Residue of memory - Creepy? (perhaps look at American horror story - television show) (These notes relate to work # 3 - of the four girls.woman)

- The horror doesn’t feel like a happy thing, disconcerting

- That you all stand in a certain way and smile but perhaps there is more behind it. Initially really friendly family portrait but the more you sit with the work, the more it reveals deeper context (Related to work # 2 - Graphic illustration)

- Work on board

- Scale is great (work # 2 - Graphic illustration) * more line on the same scale???

- So good that the teddy bear seems like another person, interesting that the teddy bear and the dog have been treated the same. ** Interesting Lexi picked up on the placement of hands on the teddy bear/hands on the dog/one of the characters hands holding onto their arm - anxiety/needing anchoring/uncomfortable.

- Use family archives and images that are a bit more removed from you!

- Other use of materials (Newsprint taped onto the wall, Wallpaper, Brown Paper possibly used by Henry Darger.

- Look at different kind of effects/context between painting and collage.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 - Week two. Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - 3rd/4 hour work.

NOTE TO SELF - TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ALL PROPS/OBJECTS:

I found a baby calendar at an op shop -  12 photographs of 12 different babies for the first 12 months of life. All babies were in various positions, smiling and laughing, there was slightly unnerving about the imagery. I thought it might be a good platform to use as a means for further conceptual investigation -  I have been using Mixed Up Childhood for reading/visual referencing.

Mixed-Up Childhood addresses one of its most difficult dilemmas - childhood. It has been said that childhood is something that we as adults invent in hindsight. And that is what essentially the artists in this exhibition are doing. Some remember childhood as an age of endless innocence and play; others re-encounter it through their own children or children at large; and for others still its a disquieting memory best repressed or challenged into fantasy.  

I was particularly drawn to the work of Loretta Lux. Lux Employs photography, painting, and computer manipulation, Lux alters the images, extracting extraneous details, distorting proportions, and setting the children against mediated backgrounds that exist somewhere between Old Master paintings and cheesy studio-portrait backdrops. Whilst I do not use any form of digital manipulation I am drawn to her work as it almost blurs the lines between painting and photography. As mentioned previously I would like to merge found photographic image with paint and collage so Lux is a good reference, especially whilst in the experimentation phase as I am trying other modes of expression, trying to move away from grotesque, more into realism. Lux’s photographs are also a great point of reference for my use of family archives. The below image could almost be me or my brother as a child.   

   (Above image - Loretta Lux)

(Above Image - Loretta Lux)

** Apologies I forgot to take an photograph of my op-shop calendar

First phase of painting on top of the babies in the calendar, using acrylic paint.

  (Above image -Rachael Burke)

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

The imagery was quite small - and whilst they looked visually interesting they didn’t speak in terms of concept, why where they painted over, what was the reason for the transformation. So I decided to liberate the babies heads from their bodies. I turned to my pile of woman books and found a series of young woman in various stages of transformation from girl to woman hood, this was more aligned with my concepts, in particular as some of my future works relate to my Mama and her sisters as young girls on the cusp of womanhood. I collaged the babies faces on to the girls bodies - they took on more of an adult aesthetic but with a resonating innocence that was pleasing.

(Woman book - girlhood to womanhood)

(Above image - Rachael Burke - Collage faces)

The imagery takes on a slight Henry Darger feel. As I want to start painting multiple characters/people I thought it might be useful to collage them into a landscape to see if the smaller test image might work as a larger scale painting.

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

I quite enjoy the contrast of the paint and the found photographic imagery against the realistic backdrop of the landscape.

(Above Image Rachael Burke)

As a means of further experimentation I decided to apply paint to the background - quite light application, then rubbed off with a bit of meths, to give the feeling of archival photograph and perhaps to provide a veneer or possible fragmentation.

(Above image - Rachael Burke)

If I look back on last years “Painting in the expanded field” I have taken a similar approach in terms of methodology - however this time I am using multiple characters and am using the image as a spring board for a larger work, so yes, I am treading in similar territory but....never fear.....I also not!

, 

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 - Week two. Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - 2nd/4 hour work.

Wanting to experiment, to push myself out of a particular way of making I decided to do a line drawing, a graphic line drawing at that!. Using a family photograph taken of my Mother and her sisters gathering at their beloved Janet’s bed whilst she was terminally ill and not far from death. I would like to title the work “One Day In September”. I chose to do a line drawing for a number of reasons; firstly it is well out of my comfort zone or usual approach to art making. Secondly I think it is an important exercise to keep your drawing hand and eye in. Having a point of reference like a photograph is great as it hones your observational skills, allowing time to consider form, composition, perspective, negative space. Thirdly I thought a line drawing might read as a type of line in a coloring book - something I use to do a lot as a child - coloring in and black line drawing was a childhood obsession.     

I have been reading “Mixed up Childhood” as a way of investigation artists who explore the vast, complex landscape of childhood. I particularly enjoyed Henry Darger for his simple lines, deconstructed anatomy, uncomplicated color and the naked/laid bare humans who appeared delicate in stature but internally robust.

(Above - Henry Darger)

(Above - Henry Darger)

However, when I started the drawing on paper the work seemed to resonate more with Wangechi Mutu’s graphic drawings, her preliminary preparatory sketches. I like the simple elements of collage - they co-exist beautifully with the line. I think this is a great point of reference as I will refer to Mutu again when I begin to merge paint with collage, ink and drawing.

(Above - Wangechi Mutu)

(Above - Wangechi Mutu)

(Above - Wangechi Mutu)

(Above - Wangechi Mutu)

Stage 1 of the drawing:

My beautiful Mama and her sisters.

(Above - Rachael Burke)

(Above Rachael Burke)

For me the work does not carry enough weight emotionally, is not particularly characterful or psychologically engaging. I enjoyed the stripping back to the bare line, to witness the power of the line but the work needed something elese so I began to draw patterns, shapes and strands of hair. 

(Above Rachael Burke)

(Above Rachael Burke)

The additional patterning added a richness to the work but still felt imbalanced so I decided to add small elements of collage - this elevated the work and provided more individual, personalised identity to my characters - prior to that they appeared  empty.

I did find myself getting totally involved in the work, exceeding 4 hours (was 5 hours by the time I left the building) - I have a bit of gluing to do tomorrow but will limit my time to 1 hour. I am trying to portray a real cut and paste approach to the work - the rudimentary approach of the collage rubs up well against the linear defined graphic line. 

Family archives were deliberately employed as a means of conceptual investigation - The physicality of intimacy intrigues and interests me/the positioning and posing for the camera - the facade of the exterior the role play/as opposed to what is laying out in our interior world.

Additional photographs

(above images) Additional collage and graphic patterning..

Completed work with more additional collage and graphic enhancements.

Final work in entirety

Graphic or illustrative art is certainly not my normal terrain and I find it conflicting and challenging, however I enjoyed the process immensely (perhaps because I felt the process). The work was time consuming, taking about 8 hours (whoops I know it was only meant to be 4). I am not sure if this is an approach I would take on in it’s entirety but feel that parts of this methodology may be advantageous when making mixed media works employing collage, paint, photography. It was wonderful to draw again, re-enforcing that I should keep my hand and eye in. Whilst I feel that this work doesn’t quite give the emotional connection I was looking for it still tells a story, has an array of characters and has a slightly naive aspect to it. It would be interesting to experiment with acrylic ink or gouache on a work like this., I think it would take me somewhere again. I think if I had more time allocated I may strip back the collage aspect to be more sophisticated in it’s aesthetic.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 - Week two. Research, Methodologies and Outcomes - 1st/4 hour work.

7200 Fine Arts Studio M.O

To produce an experimental body of work that focuses on specific methodologies and outcomes.

Key thoughts

- First term is diagnostic/exploration

- Push your lines of inquiry

- Challenge your own practice

Conversation with Christina

Key thoughts/notes

- Gather material

- Don’t define

- Don’t amalgamate/keep separate at this stage.

- Freeing up drawing/painting/different materiality -crayon/monoprint etc

- Landscape of Childhood

Conversation with Christina - I need to take more risks/would like to play with paint again. Talked about the mask/fragility/vulnerability/larger than life characters in my Mother’s large Jewish family - Amour against trauma. This influenced and informed the landscape of my childhood, and whilst I don’t want to make work directly related to trauma, I would like to gather fragments of memory/visual vignettes - I always said I would tell my Mothers story, which is turn is my story.   

We looked at Tracey Emin interview as part of our research workshop, it was interesting witnessing her as a now middle aged (hate that terminology) woman. She was direct, vulnerable and honest - there is still for her an element of fear when first or returning to the canvas. Whilst there is reticence, her work has a level of urgency and confidence - It is raw and emotive, she uses a restricted color pallet. I thought the following paintings could be a good staring off point. The looseness of the paint, the layering, some of the mark making evident underneath, removed/added - perhaps this approach could reference layers, the hidden/ the revealed (which is a large component of my work). 

I decided to cut out the canvas from the wooden frame, firstly because I wanted to treat the canvas as if it is paper as sometimes canvas can make me nervous, too much pressure to get it right. I thought it best to restrict the color pallet to black and white, again to simplify the re-connection with the medium and a nod to the archival representation of black and white.

I wanted to use pen/vivid to draw make child like marks - I also used acrylic ink to add defining lines and to bring form. I removed the acrylic ink with a wet cloth to smudge/remove - then added white paint to redefine contour/form. ** Apologies I forgot to take photo documentation of the work in various stages of the process - still reengaging my brain).    

Through periods of the art-making process the work was loose and child-like then I found myself making the faces more realistic and painterly - kept removing paint with added water to reveal layers previously made on the canvas. 

I had real inner conflict with the raw/slightly loose imperfect (in my mind) paint on the canvas - I was feeling uncomfortable, uneasy with it only being paint - I tried to accept the work as it was when the four hours was up but couldn’t let it go - desperate to add collage/albeit only small elements. Wanted to move away from the grotesque which I think I have achieved. These two characters appear to be witnessing something/both with an element of trepidation/unease.

First Work

(Enjoying the acrylic ink underneath the rubbed back paint)

Evaluation from the list:

- Psychology

- Construct/Deconstruct

- Identity

** I think this particular work or field of enquiry merely illustrates existing knowledge.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Year 3 - Week one. Research, Methodologies and Outcomes Workshop.

Pairing off we referred to the methodology/outcomes/field list we had been given to help evaluate our artworks. We had 5 minutes to construct a small blurb.

I evaluated Georgia’s work. My first attempt was considerably wordy - long/dense sentence construction.

First attempt:

Georgia’s work explores notions of identity, the deconstruction and reconstructing of memories and nostalgia that mimic and inhabit our psychological spaces influencing patterns of behavior. (mimic doesn’t quite fit within this context).

Second attempt:

Georgia’s work explores notions of identity, the reconstruction and deconstruction of memories and nostalgia that influence patterns of human behavior (shorter but broader).

On the evaluation list - I listed the following as elements/components that related to my work.

Methodologies - Observe/ Construct/Deconstruct/Narrate

Outcomes - Critique/Parody/Irony/Humor

Field - Psychology/Memory/Childhood/Identity/Autobiography/Feminist - Post

Evaluation from Georgia:

Rachael’s art explores identiy and challenges social and political norms by employing reconstruction and deconstruction through the medium of collage for a provocative and humorous result.    

Notes from workshop.

Tasks for Methodologies and Outcomes

Workshop/Week 1 (Year 3)

 Re-examine a work or series of works from last year and consider the work in relation to your original intention. What was the content of your work? What ideas, themes, or concepts were you aiming to communicate? Why did you choose this as subject matter to investigate? How did you think the formal qualities and methodologies of making underpin or assist these ideas? What is the work’s contextual territory or what “conversation” is it having with particular fields of contemporary art practice?    

Rather than look at my final photographic work for end of year exhibition I have returned to works explored in “Painting in the Expanded Field”.

My end of year exhibition examined contemporary female identity and the nature of representation, challenging cultural depictions of woman and the female body by deconstructing and reconstructing beauty’s sanctioned structures such as youth and flawlessness, redefining gender stereotypes of beauty, femininity and sexuality.

These limited depictions all have their roots in the male gaze, whereby the female subject often looks back in tacit complicity. I was seeking to disrupt the male gaze by shifting the power dynamics between the photographer and the photographed, perpetuating a raw and honest expression of female identity that in the past has been dictated by male artists who depicted the female body as an erotic commodity.      

Whilst the subject matter holds interest and informs aspects of my work, I feel it is not the authentic reason or intention behind my work. The methodology of tearing glossy images from fashion magazines, physically distorting them by way of scrunching, then placing them in a black rubbish bag to photograph in various stages of unfold was an exciting methodology, transforming the glossy, airbrushed image into a visceral, emotive image. However, I feel using this methodology in isolation is potentially limiting.    

Essentially, the content of my work is related to identity and selfhood, the human condition – Appearances, fragility, vulnerability – the human capacity for truth. I have chosen the below works as a means for further investigation.

There are multiple reasons for referring to these works. Firstly, I would like to employ multiple mediums - combining paint, collage, found photographic image as well as experimenting with the black plastic rubbish bag methodology by way of facial imagery collaged onto a painted bodily form.  

Assemblage/deconstruct/reconstruct could be considered as the layers or elements we present or don’t present to the world. I think my work’s focus is on revealing our interior world and how we appear when we wear our vulnerability on the exterior.

 The process of unmasking has its analogue in the careful assemblage of elements we present to the world, and in a world unmoored from universal cultural markers such as gender, the interior can become the façade and the exterior the truth. My work is more about revealing our interior world, how we appear when we begin to unpeel the mask, when we wear our vulnerability on the exterior.   I am interested in what happens when we cast light on the shadows of the interior? When we begin to unpeel the layers of self-protection, wearing our vulnerability on the surface where there is nowhere to hide.

I am also interested in how beauty is perceived; how do we decide what is beautiful and what is not? Better to say that I find human fragility and vulnerability the most intense representation of beauty. It is as if my creations are drowning in the amniotic fluid that lies between their secret selves and their manufactured construct.

 My characters are often grotesque/absurd – this relates to my thoughts around the absurdity of life - We’re all products of what we want to project to the world, staged to play a role in the

theatre of life. Often my characters wear masks, this derives from my interest in Jung’s view of the persona being a complicated system of relations between individual consciousness and society, a kind of mask designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and, on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual. Secondly, and in all honesty, the mask was ever present in the landscape of my childhood.    

For as long as I can remember I have been an observer of people. An intuitive child growing up in a large Jewish family on my Mother's side, ours was a colourful, theatrical - predominantly female family with a strong sense of otherness. A family of characters that harboured deep traumas and secrets, who wore many masks as amour against fragility and vulnerability. This informed  

my fascination with the real and the fictional/the manufactured and authentic. I would say my work is deeply psychological. In relation to the context of the work I would like to look at family archives as a point of reference.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Weaknesses

My propensity to get caught up in the execution of my work. I am an obsessive, perfectionist, sometimes afraid of getting it wrong.  I get caught up in the finished product, what it would look like as a series, often visualising the work as an exhibition. Whilst I do experiment, I feel I need to push experimentation further, try different approaches to the work, rapid, loose, imperfect, perhaps less considered. Tap into the unknown realm of consciousness were truth resides. Let go!!!!

Strengths

A strong sense of intuition and imagination, the ability to make work that is true to who I am. The world does not need more pretty pictures, or pastel abstractions to hang on rich people’s wall. We need connection, empathy, authenticity and truth – all elements I believe I can bring forth in my work.    

My art family – who am I in conversation with

I am influenced and interested in female artists across many artistic platforms; Cindy Sherman; Patti Smith for the poetic way she sees the world, her incredibly visceral writing, her unflinching curious nature, but more so for the way she lives and maintained an authentic creative life;

Marlene Dumas as there is something so incredibly honest and direct about her work. Her paintings strip away anecdotal detail until all that is left is a haunting gaze where the emotional epicentre lays bare. They hark back to the days before big questions about life and death and evil gave way to the drone of gender theory and identity politics.

Diane Arbus who worked to normalize marginalized groups and highlight the importance of proper representation of all people, who saw deformed humans as the aristocrats of the world.  

Olivier de Sagazan “"I'm not what I believe to be, I have to go behind my face". Primal and disturbing, de Sagazan’s work is an investigation into what we might think of as bare life – the excluded, the nameless. “I have always been flabbergasted”, says de Sagazan, “in seeing to what degree people think it’s normal, or even trite, to be alive”.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Final Installation for examination and exhibition.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice.

After much editing and deliberation, I have chosen three works, as opposed to two. The works flow together to form a strong sense of visual coherence, however they each function as a separate photograph. Hanging them as a series of three gives the work narrative; a beginning, middle, and end sense of a story without being too definitive.

I have drawn inspiration from Cindy Sherman’s method of installation;Simple, effective, spacious, theatrical.    

This time I drew up a plan of my studio space - marking out where the works will hang, with all associated measurements. This was hugely beneficial in terms of visualizing the work and and a safe guard against inaccuracy. I am mathematically dyslexic so Oleg helped me with the first two installs and I did the third.

I tried to upload a series of photographs documenting the methodology I employed using a torch and the plastic bag. Tumblr are obviously having issues, it is the night prior to deadline and I have already had to retype a considerable amount of information lost. So I am afraid the methodology will have to be omitted from this research. 

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice.

After much editing and deliberation I have chosen three works, as opposed to two. The works flow together to form a strong sense of visual coherence, however they each function as a separate photograph. Hanging them as a series of three gives the work narrative; a beginning, middle, and end sense of a story without being too definitive.

I have drawn inspiration from Cindy Sherman’s method of installation;Simple, effective, spacious, theatrical.    

This time I drew up a plan of my studio space - marking out where the works will hang, with all associated measurements. This was hugely beneficial in terms of visualizing the work and and a safe guard against inaccuracy. I  am mathematically dyslexic so Oleg helped me with the first two installs and I did the third.

Looking at methodology

Deconstruction (above image)

Deconstruction (above image)

Deconstruction (above image)

Deconstruction (above image)

Inside the plastic rubbish bag (above image)

Reconstruction inside the bag (above image)

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice. Final Installation.

After much editing and deliberation I decided to hang three works. I was initially only going to hang two, but three seemed to provide a strong sense of visual coherence. The works also function as separate photographs.This triptych offers narrative, loosely forming (in my mind) a beginning, middle, and end sense of a story, hopefully, without being to definitive. 

I was initially going to print the works in large scale format (79cm x 138cm) - When hanging the test work at this scale, the work seemed to loose impact, looking more like fleshy abstractions, you lost the potential to view the work more intimately, almost secretively. The photographs were less poetic and more pix-elated, giving more of a graphic aesthetic which is not what I was trying to convey.

Went back to original scale of  73cm x 129cm - Which was absolutely perfect. 

Looking back to this work of Shermans for installing the photographs. Simple, effective, demanding the viewer engage.

Spoke to Oleg about inserting the photographs between two slates of wood - measured a 30mm border at the top. The sides of the works will be boarder-less to provide contrast, and theatrical power.

This time prior to installation I drew a picture of my studio, with all applicable measurements - hugely helpful to get a visual sense of the work and hang accurately - Measurements are absolutely not my thing as I am mathematically dyslexic. Oleg helped with the first and second and I installed the third, a good and important exercise for the future.  

Plastic bag/photographic image methodology:

deconstruct

deconstruct

deconstruct

deconstruct

place in the plastic bag

reconstruct in the bag.

image straight from magazine on the right (natural skin tonality) - On the left, once lit with torch (enhancing the fleshy tonality of the skin.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice. Deepening the Research. Looking at Girl on Girl - Art and Photography in the age of the Female Gaze.

40 Artists Address the Female Gaze in 'Girl on Girl' Photo Book

There’s more strength behind the lens than ever before.

The future of fine art photographyis definitely female , at least according to Charlotte Jansen's new book,Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze. For Jansen, who is an editor-at-large at arts publication Elephant Magazine and the director of independent curatorial label NO WAY, the "female gaze" is not defined asjust the counterpart to the objectifying "male gaze," but rather, as a gaze that seeks to questionwhy we look at women the way we do, what we can learn by looking at women in different ways, and how by looking at images ofwomen photographed by women we can begin to undo eons of objectification.

Jansen also believes "the more we're exposed to different types of photographs of women—more women that we will ever meet in real life—the more we can learn," and her book features interviews and work of female fine art photographers, many of whom are millennials who photograph other women. A diverse group of 40 artists including Zanele Muholi, Petra Collins, Lalla Essaydi, Mayan Toledano, VICE photography editor Elizabeth Renstrom, and more, shed light on their views of image-making: why do they photograph in the way they do? How do they see their work challenging the visuals of what Jansen calls in her introduction the hetero-patriarchy? What were they taught about how women are photographed and how did they want to change that?

Given that we are now in a time, Jansen says, when women are taking photographs of women more than ever before, Girl on Girl offers insight into the world of this new female gaze. Women like those in Jansen's book are challenging female representation in visual culture, and perhaps with their ideas in mind, we can begin to challenge the current standards of female visual representation ourselves.

Check out a selection of images from Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze, below:

Lalla Essaydi, Bullet #11, 2012-13. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Maisie Cousins, Sticky Lips (from S.E.X.), 2015. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Izumi Miyazaki, The moment I become an object, 2015. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Nakeya Brown, from Hair Stories Untold, 2014. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Petra Collins, Untitled #23 (Selfie), 2013-16. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Mayan Toledano, Lulu, Ali and Sofy, Long Island, 2015. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Elizabeth Renstrom, Lisa Frank Blues, 2012. From Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze by Charlotte Jansen (2017). Used with permission of Laurence King Publishing.

Notes made from reading the book:

The above photograph by Mayan Toledano Sherris taken in Palm Springs, 2014 made a huge impact. A half naked young woman. The flawless, golden brown skin of her back is decorated with a cornucopia of tiny, sparkly stickers of rainbows, stars, kisses, dolphins, butterflies. Simple cotton underwear - powder pink to match the bed sheets she lies on - clasps to the cheeks of her bottom. Across the knickers a single word is printed in pink: “Feminist”.

This photograph initially made me angry. But at the same time it was making a huge impact and I came to see the feminist knickers as the beginning of an imperfect but very important process of emancipation. It seemed to capture the cultural predicament of the age of the female gaze: how should be look at woman?

There is a fundamental pleasure in looking at woman that is undeniable and unavoidable and tends to complicate the central place woman have in visual culture. In the past, photographs of woman were made by men for a capitalist economy to favor the male gaze and feed female competitiveness. Female visibility is therefore a fallacy: We see photographs of woman every day, but we are used to looking at them in a few specific contexts: on products and billboards, in shop windows and magazine covers, in erotica and pornography. They appear online, in the thick and fast slew of the trillion photographs we collectively produce and share every year. Yet photographs of woman are far more provocative and complicated than these viewing circumstances prescribe.

At times, there seems to be little difference between how woman photograph woman and how men photograph woman, but woman have the right to self-objectivity and to exploit without critique just as men have been allowed to do since the earliest forms of art emerged.

Were conditioned to expect pleasure from looking at the female image in the commercial photograph, and in the non-commercial photograph (if that exists), we expect to find a comment on femininity or feminism, however, the popular rhetoric of “raw” and “honest” photography of woman perpetuates as an alternative.

Additional notes for further reference:

The physionomic photographer documents the face and the body in order to give an insight into the inner character of the subject. 

Julia Kristeva’s idea of the abject, what we find repulsive because it lies between object and subject and thus disturbs social order and conventions of identity.

To me creating truthfulness doesn’t require truthful representation.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice. Installing photographs.

Looking at the way Cindy Sherman installs her photographs. I know there are many more female artists that are installing work in super interesting ways (documented in research further back) - But I have come back to Sherman as I like the methods she employs, particularly when hanging larger scale works. The space she creates between the works. How the works sing spatially in the gallery. For my series of nudes I think they demand to be hung traditionally.

(Above installation slightly askew- slightly inconsistent sizes, This decision, I imagine aligns itself to Shermans concepts). Something I need to consider in the future.  

(Really enjoy the space between images and the diversity in size).

(A view of the entire or most of the show - very different ways of installing on each wall - in relation to each series of works).

(Above installation - I particularity respond to in terms of the scale of the works,  how they hang no far from the gallery floor. The space created in between the works, they demand space as they are colorful, theatrical and heavily patterned works. I lean very much toward this way of installing for my end of year exhibition - classical and powerful).

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice. Notes from conversation with Richard.

The miss Universe images looks like it relates to the 90′s/Popular culture/America - It reminding both Richard and I of young American beauty queen Jon Benet, who was supposedly murdered by her parents. Perhaps indicating I have been referencing someone in particular or a moment in particular.

(Above image - Jon Benet)

(Above image - Lorraine Downes rephotographed by Rachael Burke)

In terms of installation of the Lorraine image - Richard was throwing around the idea of teenagers room/poster or having the image playing on an old style television.I think it is really important to hone in on my ideas/how the image reads/critique my own work to that of my peers/place it within a contextual framework. There are two stands I am contemplating (Lorraine and The Nudes)

I have decided that both strands do not co-exist - it is one or the other.If I was to look at Lorraine I see a frightened child/fragmentation of identity/quest for perfection/ideas around beauty and representation - I do find it intriguing that through manipulation of the image the then 19 year old Lorraine Downes has reverted to a frightened  child.In regards to installing the image in a plastic rubbish bag (as previously discussed) - in terms of the disposable nature of beauty/the plastification of self, extending my methodology - but perhaps that is too obvious. Perhaps if I was using the black and white photographs (Particularly that of the elderly man which looked like an ultrasound) - the black bag could be seen as embryonic/ the womb/the abyss/the dark caverns of the psyche.

Things to think about in terms of a body of work - which is generally used for exhibition.* What are you referencing?* If you are looking at the works of Ingres. How big is the original work? - Generally French/Italian masters were of a very large scale.* Look at the era      Richard mentioned that my nude works were not traditional type portrait or landscape so could be potentially printed in a more square format which would mean they would need to be cropped. This wouldn’t be an issue of it aligned itself with the intention of the works, however, it would loose an important component of the figure and the dark negative space surrounding the figure, which is an important element of the work, in term of giving the perspective of looking in.

I have decided to use the nudes in the end of year exhibition (as explained earlier in my research notes),

I have made the decision to hang the works without a border as it is a dramatic contrast against the white walls, as the work has an element of theatricality. Also there were no white borders or matte frames surrounding the paintings by the masters.  Richard mentioned to be bold and brave. I have no problem with being bold, making large scale works, but through all my testing with scale, you can only go to a certain size without the works losing something, they lose a certain connection or power. Will play with a larger format and see how they read.Richard also mentioned that when we make a body of work by way of shooting photographs in particular, it is very easy (and my default setting if I am honest) to pick the works that you respond to, that are aesthetically (if I can use that word) pleasing. But perhaps it is more interesting, or more important to look at the work in a broader sense. What doesn’t work? What looks and appears uneasy/fractious? - Play with scale, could the less responsive works be smaller and hung together so you get a sense of how the bigger works came to be.

[rachaelburkeme2]

Studio Research: Fine Arts/Term 4 (Weeks 8-14)/Semester 2 - Exhibition Practice. Deepening the research.  Looking at the work of contemporary painter Jenny Saville.

Looking at Saville’s work as a means of studying the female form and the underlying context/ideas behind her work. Below are extracts from a book I obtained from the library -  The most comprehensive monograph to be published on figurative painter Jenny Saville, one of feminism's most celebrated living artists whose monumental portraits continue to question our accepted ideals of beauty and disrupt the boundaries of race, gender, and identity.  

- Saville’s paintings to not allow a disinterested glance.

- Once you look you’re hooked. At the same time they do not force themselves on the viewer. They draw out something that is repressed or obscure in the viewers experience and bring it to light. ** This is something I absolutely desire to bring forth in my work”

Important: - The  effect of Saville’s work is to breakup and tear apart our self-image.

From the standpoint of that earlier tradition of which Bacon may have been the last great exponent, an art that erodes the human self-image may seem may seem an expression of nihilism ** Yet in eroding the picture we have crafted of ourselves,it is an art that serves an interest in truth **

** The struggle is to see more clearly, and the dismantling of defense mechanisms is a necessary stage in the shift of perception.

** Savilles paintings of the human body allow the viewer to look out of the human world.

Savilles work ventures into the most forbidding zone of human experience but for that reason it cannot be seem as finally nihilistic. In exploring this seemingly barren but actually highly fertile region, jenny Saville is exploring what it means to be human today.

(Above image Jenny Saville)

I feel this painting resonates with my nude works The tonal qualities of the flesh. Compositionally - You can see the woman’s rolls, her flesh pushed/confined uncomfortably in the space. You can only see half of her face, her eyes are closed, averting any “gaze” - the painting seems almost voyeuristic - like we are witnessing a private moment of emotional conflict/trauma/conflict/surrender - a moment of humanness.