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Unit 3 Assessment

LO 1: Present evidence of a body of work that demonstrates a systematic enhancement of your knowledge and understanding.
(AC Realisation)

I had been concerned that over the period spent studying for this MA that I had done a lot of experiments but not actually produced anything resembling a 'body of work', during the low residency week a customer sent me a picture and I realised how much I've made since those early prints of 2021 and how my work has progressed. Body of Work shows the picture (which is purely linocuts).  This was rather a 'wow' moment! 

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I decided before I began the course that I was going to focus on one place for the duration of it.  I wanted to deepen my exploration of place and expand my technical printmaking skills.  My first forays into etching and lithography began almost straight away as detailed in Lots of experiments!. Making reduction linocut with caustic soda etching (part 1) details taking something I'm comfortable with (reduction lino) but adding something new (caustic soda) I then went on to add a second plate and further experiments with caustic soda as detailed in Spring Term Reflections & lots of work!. This type of experimenting has continued throughout the course, I can't help it - it's simply the way I seem to work, I'm constantly wondering "what happens if...?".  Over the two years on the course I've recognised and learned to embrace this, I've noted how learning a new technique expands my thinking in the other techniques, in Reflections of late I talked about how using soft ground to take impressions of plants in etching (which I was new to) lead to using caustic side painted onto ferns on lino (which I'd been using for longer).

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Unit 2 saw me dive into a deep exploration of place theory, Cezanne's obsession with Provence and Neil Bousfield's explorations of the crumbling Norfolk coast he calls home.  Interviewing Neil Bousfield about his place centred printmaking practice was an amazing experience that I will keep returning to for years to come.  I hope to build a rapport with Neil and stay in touch since I've learned the value of connections with other artists through having an inspiring cohort on the course.  

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I recently had a stand at the 5 day RHS Wisley craft fair which was an amazing experience, mainly because I have never been surrounded by so much of my framed work hanging together before. In  Wisley, fairs and new ideas​ I talk about how explaining the making of a print to a stranger made me fully realise again what I'd put into it.  I find that a fair amount of my work is post-rationalised in some ways, something that I'd previously thought of as a bit of a sin, but now I can see the value in realising something that was probably always there, I just didn't fully understand or appreciate it at the time.  I often think I know what I'm making and why but I find I discover more about the forest in the making and then I realise even more about the making afterwards in the forest.  I have come to understand this as part of the process-based research that I have discovered throughout this course; each piece enhances my knowledge and experience of the forest, which then feeds back into the work and sometimes things I see or hear in the forest will explain something I've previously started exploring but didn't fully understand.  The making and the immersion in the place have become a symbiotic means of understanding. For example I'd made a few little squares with collaged prints and stitch previously but couldn't really explain or understand them.  Now I've realised I was mirroring what I'd been looking at in the managed forest where the trees are planted in rows, so I made a piece specifically about this, see Grids and Squares and Grids & Squares 2.  These pieces show how my understanding of what I am seeing and what I am making are intrinsically linked and how I am becoming comfortable with making finished works in a much more abstract style to communicate ideas rather than just leaving pieces like this in sketchbooks without fully understanding them as I had done before undertaking the course.  I have moved away from only making representational images of the forest to zooming into specific plants or groups of plants, examining colour and noting the changes throughout the seasons.  In Looking back to move forward I have pulled together images of lots the finished prints, collages and bundles that I've made since October 2022 with some thoughts about it all.  

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I feel quite proud that I have achieved much of what I set out to in my Study Statement from unit 1.  My big realisation has been that this is going to be an ongoing project that I'm not sure will ever be 'finished'.  Interviewing Neil Bousfield for my research paper yielded so much richness beyond just what I needed for the paper, for example the fact that he reads a lot, is constantly learning and researching and keeping up to date made me realise that I want to keep up the research momentum that I've started during the course.  I have a stack of reading materials next to my bed and usually at least two 'art' books on the go (currently Landscape into Eco Art by Mark Cheetham and several bookbinding and making books).  This is a new habit I have developed on the course and one that is so valuable.  It is exactly what I was looking to get out of the course - the ability to put the depth into my work via research, previously I just didn't really know how to do that, now I feel I have a solid grounding and a lot of ideas about what I want to read, research and discover on an ongoing basis. 

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In one of my tutorials last year Jonathan echoed my words (or rather I think he echoed my meaning in far better words) back at me: 'it was important to see the feel of it​'.  This has really stuck with me ever since.  The idea of making something aesthetically pleasing which has a deep meaning but aims to capture the feeling of what it represents rather than be a direct representation of it.  This is what I keep aiming for overall in my work - seeing the feel of it.  I don't necessarily need anybody else to be able to immediately grasp this but I do hope that if I told them this phrase and asked them to look at my work while holding that phrase in mind that they might understand what I mean, especially if they are familiar with a place similar to the one the work is about.  I feel so much more satisfied with the work I produce now because I feel there is so much more depth to it, and that each piece is part of a bigger story.       

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LO 2: Synthesise and critically reflect coherently on your process whilst providing evidence of an active independent and/or collaborative practice.
(AC Process)

Experimentation is central to my printmaking practice, it happens almost before I know it's happening.  Having learned first hand from Neil Bousfield that there are technical experiments within most of his prints I now feel more comfortable with my desire to continue expanding my technical knowledge in so far as it allows me to push the work forward.  Since December I have attended several courses and workshops:

These are just the explorations and experiments I've been doing during Unit 3. I have been equally experimental throughout the course.  I looked up all the blog posts I've written which I've tagged 'experiment' (I think I also have a few posts that should have this tag but don't for some reason!), they chart my experiments with etching, lithography, multiple plates, caustic soda, AI, fabric, monoprints, books and lithino.  Within those categories are further experiments such as the different etching grounds and using materials found in the forest with soft ground which then led to using them with caustic soda on lino.  I believe the most important aspect of the experimentation for me is not just the thing I'm experimenting with but the further thoughts and experiments that are then prompted.  I noted a lightbulb moment I had in Tutorial 3 7/6/23 when I realised how all my experiments influence each other and how I was using practice based research methods with the subject (the forest) being an equal participant. It's also worth noting that occasionally the materials are the experiment, in Wisley... I think I'm ready I used a small reduction linocut to test a new paper.  Since this was going to be the first demonstration I'd ever done at a fair I decided to keep the experiments to a minimum, but it seems there had to be something experimental! 

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I think discovering practice-based research has been the biggest developmental leap I have made throughout the course.  In Post Grad Show - Mud Prints I talk about collecting prints directly from the forest, colour hunting and noticing the speed of the changes when foraging for monoprint materials.  I feel like the time in the forest is just as important as the time spent making a plate.  All the research I did about place for my research paper in unit 2 feeds into the different areas I want to explore in the forest.  This was the driving force behind being brave enough to start confronting the timber extraction directly in the lithographic print I made with Chris Orr and for the Grotto print.  This is a theme that I want to continue to explore in much greater depth - I've only scratched the surface so far.  As soon as I have completed the piece for the end of year show I plan to remake the engraving plate for the print I started with Chris and test and print the edition before the summer holidays start.   

 

I am aiming to bring together all that I have learned and gained over the two years in my piece for the graduate show.  In  Final Show - Tree progress​ I talk about the lithino experiments and white ground etching plate I made.  In End of Year Show progress update - Monoprinting I talk about the importance of the monoprints because of what they represent.  My trees (I really hope there are at least 2 plus a log!) will include every type of printmaking technique I use - reduction linocut, etching, lithography, lithino, collagraph and monoprint.  The reason for this is that it's important that the piece represents me as well as the forest.  It represents the symbiosis of my printmaking practice exploring the forest.  I cannot separate the two, without the place I wouldn't know what to print.  I decided before I started the course that I would only make prints about the forest for the duration of the course and while I've sketched in other places I haven't produced any prints about any other place for two years.  It seems only right that given the opportunity for a huge 'finale' piece to mark the end of the course that it should summarise the whole course and everything I've learned so far, therefore it has to include all the print processes.  I'm pleased that (true to form) in the making of this I've managed several more experiments so far (and I've not yet completed the printing for it quite yet, so I fully expect more!) so it's a completely genuine reflection of everything that I've learned over the course.  The piece will be the embodiment of the importance to me of reflecting, experimenting and making exactly what I want to make, how I want to make it; this, coupled with the opportunity to present 'print' in a 3D form, without a frame, is fabulous and I'm really excited about it!  I'm also really excited about the opportunities it may open up to me in the future.  I'm planning for it to have a life beyond this exhibition, either in its original form or altered, recycled and re-presented in a new form which will echo the ever-changing cycle of the forest.

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LO 3: Summarise and evaluate your overall progress and formulate a constructive plan for continuing Personal and Professional Development.
(AC Communication)

I created a 5 minute film about my practice and its development over the last two years which can be viewed here.

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After the MA outlines more of my plans for what I intend to do after the MA starting with a course exploring West Dean from a 'place' perspective. Having built a place based practice I plan on expanding what I've learned to include other places I feel connected to.

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I would simply love to have a solo exhibition at some point.  In Print at the Park Exhibition I outlined a plan to pitch and prepare for this possibility at South Hill Park.  I think this is one of my best opportunities for a solo show as they seem very open to supporting local artists and I'm familiar with the venue and the people there.  This is definitely something I would like to aim for alongside continuing to apply for open calls such as the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, various opportunities at Bankside Gallery in London (home to the RE), and other open calls and opportunities as they arise.  I also plan on continuing to sell my work directly at fairs but am moving towards bigger curated art and craft fairs such as the RHS Wisley and the Farnham Festival of Craft which I was delighted to be invited to have a stand at later this year.  One day I'd like to be accepted for Print Fest in Cumbria.   

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I have learned the value of having connections with other artists, not just printmakers, and want to nurture the relationships I've developed throughout the course.  There are also other connections I've made along the way with some amazing printmakers such as Chris Orr, Neil Bousfield and Mary Dalton.  Staying connected and building new relationships with galleries, curators and other industry professionals is an important part of my professional development.  I am in the 'printmakers chat' channel on Discord which has a global reach and is an incredible place to show work, ask questions and make new connections with some amazing people who may also be helpful professionally; for example John Coe, the founder and editor of Pressing Matters is also a member, I've been musing over the idea to pitch a feature about completing a Fine Art MA as a printmaker to him.

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Overall, I have got more out of this course than I ever envisaged was possible when I applied.  Before I started the course I was enjoying playing with printmaking techniques and had realised I only really wanted to make work about specific places I loved.  Now I understand what an art practice is and I can communicate that practice to myself and to others.  I have grown so much, not just as an artist but as a person.  When someone asks what I do I can tell them I'm a printmaker and (if they let me!) what that means and how all encompassing it is in my life.  I've always been excited about making prints but I think I'm even more excited now.  I have the best job I could imagine, because it's not just a job, it's a life - I'm living an artistic life and I'm doing it with depth, conviction and understanding.  The more I learn the more I realise how much I don't know and that there is so much more to learn and understand.  That's just the most exciting thing - I have a lifetime of inky discovery and learning ahead of me and always will! 

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Note: The assessment for this unit is presented under the three separate learning outcomes but I feel there is a fair amount of overlap in what I have presented therefore rather than state the same thing twice, or repeat links to specific blog posts, much of it should be considered holistically as covering more than one LO.  Particularly the evidence of experimentation and courses presented in LO2 also links to LO1, and some thoughts presented under LO2 link to future plans and therefore LO3.

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