ARTISTS STATEMENT

This body of work is inspired by musicians, a subject that I became increasingly interested in whilst studying for my BA Hon’s Fine Art. Music is something that many people feel that they can relate to, whereas they may feel that they cannot relate to art. This may be because they think that art is over complicated, complex, both of these I want to avoid in my work. I have used my own photography and found imagery to base my work on, manipulating these to create the desired effect.

To simplify the imagery I use line and halftone, minimising colour to only what is required. Halftone has a specific quality that is associated with newspapers, it is an effect that when the image is small you do not notice that the image is made up of many dots, when you enlarge this image you notice these dots of varying sizes that make up the picture. The halftone has the quality of being quite nostalgic and gives you the feeling that you are looking at someone famous. With my most recent work I have been selecting a small area and painting the halftone, this abstracts the work making it a challenge to work out what is going on.

This technique doesn’t radiate the flamboyance that some musicians radiate; this is why I have been experimenting with introducing an extravagant material into my work, experimenting with surface, media, paints and techniques. Glitter has the ability to reflect light so is ideal for areas of light. This doesn’t always work, and it depends on the chosen image.

The subjects that I use are not always famous; some are local bands that are starting out, which is why you may not recognise them. This provides a challenge; do I know who this is? Does it matter if I know who this is or not? What does it feel like to be there? Is this person important? I hope that the techniques I use trigger some of these questions and are as entertaining and thought provoking as music itself.