Practitioner’s Statement
Darwin to me most definitely has so many artistic elements to it such as the embracement of nature and wildlife. The water in Darwin is abound strict rules to the dinosaurs that roam the water which is the beautiful crocodiles. I was determined to capture this through imagery specifying the beauty in the big dangerous animal.
When assessing the drafting process of my artwork “living in water”, size 26 X 55cm I felt that approaching it with similar key concepts from practical 1 would uphold the thoughts and processes that I had already been emerged in. This canvas was a lot smaller being a 26cm by 55cm canvas with 3 small fabric pieces cut out which helped me focus on detail and much more longer processing techniques such cyanotype. I learnt new techniques and discovered a different aesthetic whilst still expressing the connecting concept which was water patterns and Darwin lifestyles.
My motivation for the practical 2 was heavily influenced from practical 1 and the concept of Darwin culture and embracing techniques of water patterns and the depth of my relationship with water.
Artists who helped me discover the depths of water pattern and all the different techniques that can be used were varied. I was influenced by Judy Watson’s technique of using textile materials and techniques of printmaking and screen printing. I discovered Susan Murie who used cyanotype as an effective way to create an image along with coloured background. After attempting many times to effectively gain an image through cyanotype I persevered and found that embracing the imperfection of the pattern added additional texture to express water and lifestyle. I felt this was a good outcome as it connects to the imperfection of water in realty it’s never still nor perfect and the deep dark blue tones where Subtle enough for me to overlap the 3 fabric cloths with illustrations.
This practical gave me opportunities to perfect my illustration skills and to further investigate more complex cyanotype techniques and even to embrace the imperfections of the blue background patterns that Cyanotype leaves behind.
