Critical Reflection and Evaluation
CRITICAL REVIEW – Practices of Research
Investigating the potential theories and ways of thinking surrounding my concerns and practice in the recent years of study have been some of the most rewarding. Underpinning vague notions, ideas or interests with the foundations of accepted and considered theories and discourse have expanded my practical and intellectual knowledge base and concerns. Essentially It has helped expand my relationship with materials and the expansive engagement between the artist and material.
An interest in feminism became a consuming theme within this section of work. I was particularly keen to explore the notion of ‘femaleness’. What did this mean did and it have a standalone meaning or definition that was beyond stereotypical, patriarchal, societal, religious, economic, political definition? This research exposed the pertinent theories of female thinkers from first wave feminism to the most recent.
I became aware of the overwhelming amount of information to comprehend, disseminate and bring forward to a conclusive and comfortable place regarding ’femaleness’. It became a necessary and practical decision to rethink my particular enquiry surrounding ‘femaleness’. To help facilitate this I began a collaborative project that invited other artists to explore their own notions of ‘femaleness’. Whilst this is ongoing, responses to the “Veneration’ project offered up a wealth of new information and insight by other artists that I hope to expand upon going forward. Ultimately to pursue this project on a greater scale involving a wide collaborative conclusion culminating in an exhibition in the future.
Inspired and empowered by the strong female voices I had been studying, I began to find my confidence as a female artist, wife, mother, worker, household manager, and caregiver. I also discovered the potential within the deep, ingrained dialogues between artist and material. This grounded context felt not only personally relevant but also deeply relatable to other female artists who navigate their creative practice while confronting the physical, mental, and societal challenges tied to female experiences and constraints.
Hence the concept of the hidden, under appreciated female domestic worker became a passionate focus of interest. Underpinned by Harraway’s material -semiotic My continued material practice would be led by the objects in the home, the un-noticed the discarded and the forgotten supporting the narrative of my enquiry.
The artists Louise Bourgeois, Doris Salcedo, Karla Black, Marina Abramovic, Sarah Lucas and others worked with the everyday and the ordinary but were able to unfold and enquire into deep trauma, the role of the female, the patriarchy, gender and motherhood for example. I was able to more fully comprehend why and how these artists were able to engage with broader social contexts when enquiring into the theories of Karen Barad, Donna Haraway, Elizabeth Grosz and Judith Butler.
The agency of material, and its connectedness broke down boundaries of social constructs, the material itself being collaborative and active. Select theories from Grosz were deeply entwined with artistic practice
‘…it’s where intensities proliferate, where forces are expressed for their own sake, where sensation lives and experiments, where the future is affectively and perceptually anticipated’. (Grosz . ‘chaos, territory, art. Art P78)
These strong and inspirational females have allowed me to explore with confidence these complex narratives without fear or vulnerability.
To physically place myself in the art work acting or performing with the object was unimaginable some time ago and yet I now saw this as an important aspect in relating to and understanding my practice. My experience of taking part in a busy Art Trail exhibition readily underpinned this. Whilst being physically present and discussing the art with the hindsight of underlying theories on connectedness, the voice of the material, the female experience etc, even the more uncomfortable issues were able to be lifted and exposed allowing more understanding and relatable viewer experience.
To lighten the weight of the issues explored I have endeavoured to bring a dead pan humour to some of my work, inspired by Martha Rosler’s parodied video performance ‘Semiotics of the Kitchen’, ( 1974) and as such It continues to feel fresh and relevant. The bleak machine detritus material I have chosen to explore and investigate has a familiar revulsion to it but also an uncanny and enquiring presence with some light-heartedness intended to soften the narrative.
Going forward I feel I have only scratched the surface of pertinent modern day theorists, however, I have pin pointed other areas to explore that look at further reflections of Haraway and Grosz and the global need explore new ways of living, being and cohabitating; including Jane Bennett and Bruno Latour whose theories also cross over the influence and agency of material reality. Material theory offers a deeper conceptual depth to my practice by highlighting the interconnectedness between materials and meaning, opening space for narrative, expression, cultural, and philosophical reflection.
My expanding reference library of thinkers and theorist will continue to provide a wealth of material whilst studying for my MFA, examining other theorists and practitioners I was not able to fully inquire into such as; Katve-Kaisa Kontturi , Susan Sontag, Elaine Scarry, Luce Irigaray and Simone de Beauvoir.
Female theorists have inspired my recent work but have also underpinned and expanded my existing practice and narratives. This recent course has encouraged me to understand and inquire into this academic resource to reach a more visceral and informed artistic material practice.
The Sharpe Gallery 