Sunday 22 July 2012

funny little animation...

What a brilliant piece of work!
Sadly, I have no idea who made this, but it has so much character. It looks almost like a Quentin Blake illustration brought to life. 
(I hope I haven't just made the ignorant mistake of not knowing this is in fact by Quentin Blake...)

Personal Project

Our summer brief this year (which will be extended over the 3rd year term time) is a self directed project.
'In short this is your time to create and work on your dream project.'
I couldn't be happier to have this opportunity!
My dream project is in fact, on dreams.
I've been looking a lot at Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. Far from being the daunting read I thought it was going to be, after years of lurking on my bookshelf, it has provided some fascinating insight into the de-coding of the human mind's (arguably) deepest mystery.
Helpfully, the book has not been written self-indulgently at all. Freud draws from a range of other figures and beliefs when examining different aspects of his dream theories, which has provided me with a great range of quotes and particularly interesting points to focus on.

For example, I've been finding it particularly interesting to look at the theories behind the source of dream content. Freud, and mostly all modern theorists have declared dreams are a psychological activity- the mental images of the sleeper. Yet, in complete contrast, it was previously common belief that dreams were an experience introduced by a divine agency, to either help or hinder the dreamer. It would be interesting to look at dream theories from times when a less scientific view was applied, and note any connections that are still relevant to modern psychology today...

At the moment I am working on a piece which has developed from a Johann Gebhard Ehrenreich Maass quote:
Experience confirms our view that we dream most frequently of the things on which our warmest passions are centred...the lover is busied in his dreams with the object of his sweet hopes...All the sensual desires and repulsions that slumber in the heart can if anything sets them in motion, cause a dream to arise from the ideas that are associated with them or cause those ideas to intervene in a dream that is already present.

It is a wire heart framework which I'm stitching scraps of fabric over. It's quite a translucent fabric so I think it will be quite interesting to see how it will photograph when placed in front of a light source. It will allow me to place images and words inside the heart that will be visible through the fabric...but still slighty hidden. Like the mysteries of the heart can be hidden, until they are illuminated, perhaps, through a dream...

Friday 13 July 2012

Izziyana Suhaimi

I have recently become a little bit obsessed with this wonderful artist Izziyana Suhaimi.
Her work is unique and distinctive, and something I can relate very strongly to.
Here are some examples of her pieces that caught my eye:
I think there is always something to be said for the simplicity of a good quality pencil drawing. I'm impressed with the way Izziyana has embellished her illustrations (with the dreamy watercolour backgrounds, and detailed colour popping embroidery) without 'refining' her drawings any further. It gives the images a raw and honest quality...and I admire this in the way it lays the artist quite bare- we can see exactly where her hands have been on the paper, the embroidery she has done with her own hands, the original pencil marks she has made, unclouded by the use of technology.

On her blog she states:
I am attracted to the evidence of the hand and its time-consuming aspect, which runs counter to the instant gratification and mass-production centred age of today.
I couldn't agree with this more! Her work certainly does suggest this work ethic- it is very detailed and appears very carefully and lovingly done, not a stitch/pencil line/brush stroke out of place. There is definitely a reward in work that takes such time and dedication, because (in my opinion) it does stand out a mile from the hum-drum of illustration images around us today.
It's encouraging that other people seem to see this too, and Izziyana has been able to apply her work commercially through various interesting collaborations, including working with the creative team on a cover of the independent magazine, Catalog.
The mixture of photo, drawn and embroidered imagery looks surprisingly natural in these images, and not busy or clashing at all. Again, the bold colour of the thread is what really sets off the image, and the overall effectiveness is achieved through the knowing the careful balance of the three elements- the photo, pencil and thread are joined seamlessly.

Here's two interesting little interviews I found through a couple of blogs:

I know I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this lady's work...