back from the brink

getting back to it: its been a funny old time since finishing the MA. i made a conscious decision to take a good break from working in the studio after the intense months of finishing up the masters. i wanted to get to a stage where i would feel ready to return to the studio with energy and curiosity. so, returning recently to the studio, i hope to start tackling some of the ideas that have been gathering. throughout the summer i continued to collect in my usual ways through the lens, in particular collecting short videos. restrictions of movement have lifted and returned again here and perhaps in time i will be able to assess how these restrictions are influencing how i move, gather and make in relation to the landscape. notions of solitude and crowds certainly crop up.

dedicating to a regular practice: i have returned to my teaching and can see how my time might get swallowed up with work and recuperation from work! so i have been trying to set up some structures that might help me commit to regular practice, reflect on my work and reach out to others. i reread my professional practice plan and intend to print it and put it on my wall to keep me focused – always good to have a plan to react to. one of the things i had identified was setting up an artist collective with fellow MAers to support eachother through regular online meet ups. i got the ball rolling recently and we hope to meet up soon. i think this will be motivating in moving my practice along. the act of posting here is also part of setting up a regualr practice and will be adding new ‘post MA’ categories to my MA online journal.

making a start at making: returning to the studio last weekend, i needed to get physically printing and worked towards submitting to the international print exchange which i have been part of for the last 2 years. i picked up the pieces where i left off in related to my ‘room’ series. technically everything went well and i was happy with the print edition consistency. the scale is small and might lend itself to printing wallpaper, especially when i saw the individual prints lined up beside eachother. i think i could have fun with this and relate it to a particular room, a particular history, a particular frame of reference….. an idea to be let stew for a while first. anyway here are some images and video of the process which i have been informed has already arrived in the UK and will be part of the online promotion of this exchange/exhibition in Derby.

next steps: a ‘to do’ list is starting to gather also. items include looking into the opportunities out there in relation to print, video and maybe animation as this is something i also identified as an area for development. i think it might be useful to work towards a submission on a small scale or maybe work away anyhow. i am also thinking that something unrelated to my usual ways of working and ideas might also be useful in getting started (the ‘one minutes’ open call might be a good start as it might lends itself to animation of some kind). some suggestions for research reading arrive in my inbox from academia.edu almost everyday and maybe its time to stop dismissing them and start a little reading related and unrelated to what i am working on. i also need to start reworking my website. ultimately, i think i need something concrete to start on and let it gather momentum. to be continued…..