MFA Residency Summary - Semester 3

        This past semester was a time of great experimentation with my work, both in terms of materials and style. While the subject of my work remained to be that of my children, I spent the semester exploring different paintings surfaces, mediums, methods of applying paint and mark making in order to better back up my ideas. The work that I brought to this residency consisted of three large paintings, two mediums paintings, and several small paintings and sketches. Each of these paintings were done on wood panel and using primarily oil paint. Some of the new aspects that appeared in this work at the residency were my new use of the wood panel instead of canvas, the large vertical format, the interior scenes and also the addition of drawing and transparency. Up until this point I would work only on canvas in a primarily horizontal format. My previous paintings were also much more about the paint than drawing and my methods of applying paint were limited to brushes and palette knives.

By the end of the semester I was personally very pleased with the new direction of my work. However I began the residency not knowing what kind of feedback I would be getting since this new body of work is unlike anything that I have previously done. By the end of the residency I ended up getting a fairly even mix of both positive and negative feedback. It was very interesting to see how what one person viewed as my strongest painting was viewed as my weakest by another. It was because of these opposing views that much of the feedback that I received contradicted each other and I am now faced with the task of choosing what to listen to and what to ignore. Some of the contrasting feedback included continuing with the texture vs. eliminating the texture and also making the figures come forward vs. continuing to make the figures fade into the background or even disappear completely. I was also faced with several different opinions of my continued use of black. Some of the additional advice that I received, whether helpful or not, included:

·         Experiment with the final presentation of the work

·         Try different ways to prepare panels prior to painting

·         Look at other artists who have tackled similar themes of interiors and motherhood

·         Draw like a child, use kid like mediums (crayons?)

·         Make better drawings

·         Get rid of the heavy black lines

·         Try even more outlining with black

·         Put the palette knife away and try focusing more on transparency

·         Push the thick texture further

·         Continue with thick and transparent combo

·         Continue layering

·         Experiment with mixing blacks with other colors and create a chart

·         Figure out what I like about black

·         Try replacing black with other dark colors

·         Show more variations within blacks

·         Try using just black and white

·         Continue limited palette

·         Use full color palette

·         Try beginning paintings with just black/white and then glazing with color

·         Try not centering doorways and instead show more of outside the room as well

·         Figures need to pop forward

·         Get rid of the figures and focus on the space

·         Make a decision about the mark making (either draw or paint)

·         Push the drawing/painting combination

·         Try going weirder

·         Try going more abstract

·         Try pushing distortion further

·         Literally let my children enter my work through collage of their drawings etc.

·         Go larger

·         Go really small

·         Give better clues as to what is going on in the painting

·         Think more about light sources

·         Play more with ambient light and shadows

·         Paint with harder, less loose lines

·         Make more chaotic marks

With the exception of recommendation to look more at other artists whose work is similar to mine, the majority of the feedback that I received at the residency was more about the way that my work was created, instead of about the ideas. Clearly everyone had very different opinions of what was working in my work and what needs improvement. One of the few aspects that everyone agreed on was that the vertical format was very successful, although some disagreed about what size vertical pieces would be best. Personally I like the idea of going even larger, which is something that I will be trying this semester. Some of the aspects that of my work which I personally felt were the strongest, prior to this residency, included the outlining, the incorporation of drawing and the mix of thick paint vs. transparency. Because this is what I am interested in I will be continuing to push these aspects in my work for this semester.

One of the new ideas that I found most helpful was the suggestion of beginning my paintings in black and white and then glazing to add color. I feel that this could be a way to improve my use of black without giving up black completely and it is something that I will be trying this semester, but first on one of my older pieces. I am also very interested in the ideas of focusing on the space outside the room and also possibly incorporating some aspects of collage, such as drawings that my children have done. As far as the figures, I feel that my stringer pieces were the ones where that figures became part of the space. I do not wish to completely eliminate the figures from the space, but I feel that they should have a presence and yet not be the main focus.

As far as research and artists to looks at, I was given a very long list. I have become aware that I need to do more research on the themes of motherhood and domestic spaces in order to strengthen my ideas and support the context of my work. Some of the books that were suggested in order to better research these themes include Anne Truitt’s Daybook and Witold Rybcznski’s Home: A Short History of an Idea. I will also be looking at several artists who have also addressed these themes in their work as well as artists who paint in a style similar to what I am interested in. Some of the new artists suggested at the residency include Peter Doig.

Leon Golub, Robert Gober, Sigmar Polke, George Rouault, Marsden Hartley, Eric Fischl, Balthus, Lisa Yuskavage, Sally Mann, Jim Dine, Elena Shumilova, Casey Arbor, Odd Nerdrum, Bo Bartlett, Cynthia Packard, Damon Lehrer (mentor), Willaim Kentridge, Martin Kipenburger, Ernst Kirchner, Maira Kalman, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Bonnard, Vuillard, Jon Imber, Hopper, Matisse, and De  Chirico. It was also suggested that I continue to look at some of the artists that I began researching last semester such as Philip Guston, Marlene Dumas, Max Beckman, Giacometti and Jenny Saville.

My work is unavoidably personal as it is clearly about my life, my home and my relationship with my children. However, my challenge is that I do not want my work to only be about me as I am not the only one going through this often chaotic journey of parenthood.  I need to continue working toward finding a way to make my work both personal and relatable. I was told during one of the critiques that I need to keep painting what I’m painting but to try different approaches. This, along with my research, is what I plan to focus on this semester. I am very tied to my ideas and I feel that with more research of these ideas, as well as some adjustments to the way that I am showing these ideas, I will end with a much stronger body of work that can relate to a much broader audience.