To start off with, I wanted to say that this a more personal post for me. I love sharing my advice on styling and historical influences related to my artwork, but I haven’t before chatted about something quite so vulnerable. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this was very much a part of my artistic process, and I wanted to share it.
In my experience, the emotional reality of making new work swings wildly between two very opposite points. On one hand, you have the exhilaration of creative inspiration and the excitement of the new. The polar opposite is the confusion and fear when you think it’s not going right. And while I am thrilled about where I am now, to be perfectly honest, I spent most of the year more in the later state.
I’ve spent much of the past year developing work in what has been a new medium for me, as I’ve pivoted from three dimensional sculpture to collage (more on that in a moment). But before I alighted upon the 3D collage medium, I didn’t quite know where I was going. I did not want to restrict myself to making work only using processes I’d used before, and I felt committed to pushing myself towards something new and honing in on my craft. But without knowing exactly what direction to take at the time, I was just afloat in an ocean of fear. Creating art can be a vulnerable process in the best of circumstances, and when you’re paralyzed with confusion, experimenting and failing and not knowing where you’re going, it can be a little paralyzing.
But within the uncertainty, there was this kernel of idea. The principles of sculptography remained consistent, I trusted in my talent as an artist and photographer, it was just a question of how to express that. The many failed attempts were likely due to the process of experimentation in an isolated environment which ultimately resulted in low self confidence. But trusting the process and opening myself up to using the failure as part of the journey which allowed it to become motivation rather than a destination, helped me move forward. And then the break through arrived, and now I’m not just excited to have my new series Photo.Synthesis to share, but a brand new style for me, that I’m incredibly proud of.
Out of the mistakes and the chaos of creativity, I arrived at a lightbulb moment. Which was, as I mentioned, putting aside three dimensional materials and beginning to sculpt in paper. The collage is a historic format and what my sculptographic background has brought to it, is a hand rendered technique. The multi-layered composition is created only through photographing materials individually, cutting out photographic prints, layering them and reshooting in various formats. Each item has different light sources and shadows. The effect almost looks digitally rendered but it is handcrafted.
Behind the scenes creating 'Botanica' - ‘Botanica’ is a capture of immobile surrealism. The dioramic tableau transports the viewer to an oceanic scene. Playing with ideas of location and dimension based on the non-analagous combination of images and textures.
(Release date September 2018).
So, after so much trial and error and what felt like many setbacks, I’m very excited to share the new work and this new direction with you!
See you soon!
Anna xo