Inductions

Summer Project - Immersed

For my summer project, I created a slightly abstract piece using oil pastels on paper, exploring my interest in music. The artwork includes piano keys and elements of my electric guitar surrounding a central figure with headphones on, reflecting how I feel when I listen to music. I named the piece Immersed as I feel it represents how music makes me feel immersed when I listen to it.

The musical notes in the top right of the piece are from An Amalgamation Waltz 1839, the first piano piece I chose to learn independently after stopping piano lessons. This piece helped reignite my connection to music, as I found formal lessons and exams took away from the creative aspect of playing. As a self-taught guitarist, I included my electric guitar to bring together different aspects of my musical interests within the work.

My choice of bright, contrasting colours represents the range of emotions that music evokes for me. Warmer tones such as pink and orange suggest energy, while cooler blues and purples reflect slower and more melancholic feelings.

Although I am dissatisfied with the final outcome, this project was one of my first attempts at working abstractly and combining multiple elements into a single composition. Reflecting on the process, I feel that paint would have been a more effective medium than oil pastels, as it would have allowed for smoother blending and a more immersive use of colour. This project highlighted areas for development in both my approach to abstraction and my choice of materials.

AV / Film Induction - Temporary

For my film induction, I initially struggled to develop ideas, and my progress was limited due to being unwell for much of the process. As a result, I worked primarily with found footage from my phone and filmed several clips from within my accommodation.

The film explores the idea of things being temporary, focusing on how people, animals, and moments pass through spaces briefly before moving on. I filmed ducks by a lake swimming and flying away, as well as birds circling the sky and people walking. I also included the moon, which I view as temporary due to its disappearance with daylight. Many of the clips were filmed from my bedroom or kitchen window at different times of day, emphasising the passing of time from a fixed viewpoint. For these clips, I adjusted brightness, saturation, and contrast to create different atmospheres and emotional tones.

Michael Snow's La Région Centrale was a partial inspiration for my film. His use of extended shots and unconventional camera angles informed moments such as rotating the camera upside down. Filming birds circling in the sky over a prolonged period conveyed a reflective and peaceful sense of nature and time passing, and I featured this clip more than once. I also kept many clips with only slight camera movement to emphasise the passage of time, reflecting my position as an observer watching moments pass while being unable to go out. I played different versions of white noise layered over the clips. Juliet Klottrup also was an inspiration to me while making this film, since her photography work has a soft picturesque quality to it which I wanted to include in my work.

3D Induction - Twisted

For this induction, I was inspired by the work of Rebecca Warren, particularly her expressive and abstract way of presenting the human body. Her approach encouraged me to explore how the body can be distorted to express emotion. Her piece Crocciono was the initial piece that inspired me to try and create a similar style of art.

In my first attempt with clay, I explored the idea of the body twisting to reflect feelings of confusion and pressure. I exaggerated the waist, making it thin and twisted, while the upper and lower parts of the body were heavier. I also made the ribcage, spine and collar bones visible, demonstrating the unhealthiness of societal pressure. In theory, this was an effective way of exaggerating the human form, but due to the imbalance of weight, I had to use a wooden support to prevent the model from falling apart. As a perfectionist, I found it difficult to maintain rough and expressive surfaces, as I instinctively tried to smooth and refine the clay. However, during firing, this piece exploded in the kiln, likely due to trapped air and the fact it was not fully hollowed out.

In my second attempt, I took a slightly different approach while still communicating the same ideas. Rather than physically twisting the body, I created a rope tied tightly around the waist to suggest feelings of restriction and suffocation. The rope acts as a metaphor for societal pressure and expectations surrounding body image, like a controlling force.

I finished the piece using a limited colour palette of light and dark grey tones. The darker grey used on the body represents internal weight and emotional burden, while the lighter grey rope symbolises external societal control, and the pressure to present the ideal version of yourself. Where the legs were hollowed out, I painted the interior a pale pink to contrast the controlled exterior and more vulnerable internal state.

Reflecting on the final piece, I recognise that it is less abstract and textured than I originally intended, and moves away from the features of Rebecca Warren's work. If I were to develop this piece further, I would explore using different shades of grey around the body, and possibly adding red around the waist to emphasise discomfort and suffocation.

2D Induction - Shift

The shape of my 2D prints was inspired by my initial idea for my 3D clay piece, using an hourglass form that could reference the human body and the idea of time passing. Bridget Riley was a key influence for this work as her use of bold, contrasting colours and alternating patterns interested me. Her piece Untitled [Fragment 1/7] stood out to me as it gives the effect of an illusion, which I thought would be interesting to apply to my own work.

I was inspired by this artwork and used my own ideas by drawing an hourglass shape, then creating lines and alternating where I filled in the colour. This created the sense of an illusion, although my work is less precise and neat than Riley's which makes the illusion more subtle.

In two of the prints, I intentionally shifted the sheet of paper slightly offset after completing the print, then reprinted over the image. This process created a layered effect, introducing movement to the piece. I named this artwork Shift, as each print I did I shifted the paper more offset than the last.

Reflecting on the final prints, I am pleased with the outcome, but I would have liked to experiment with different colours other than blue to see whether certain colours have a greater visual effect.

Painting Induction - Untitled (Pink and Blue)

For this induction, I was inspired by the work of Tomma Abts, especially her use of abstract, geometric shapes and the way the colours complement each other in her paintings. After discovering her work, I wanted to experiment with creating abstract and geometrical art as this was an approach I have not previously worked with. I was also drawn to the smooth finish and her use of shading and colour which add a subtle three-dimensional element to her paintings.

The paintings were initial drafts, experimenting with what I can do with the hourglass shape that I have become familiar with through previous induction pieces. I used oil paint on cardboard, to test ideas for the final outcome, since I find it easier to blend and shade using oil paints. Tomma Abts works without planning the final product in advance, allowing the painting to develop through improvisation. I took on a similar approach, without planning what I wanted the finished product to look like.

I later developed the idea into the final piece across four wooden panels, to create dimension and visual impact with the idea of displaying it for the exhibition. I focused on creating contrast between pink and blue, and attempted to create depth by slightly brightening the middle and darkening the outside of each shape.

The colours were chosen intuitively, and after reflecting on this, they also relate to the colours used on the album cover Fine Line by Harry Styles, which had a strong influence on my connection to music. Although the colours are different, they work harmoniously together and create a visually pleasing composition.

Because the shape is based on my initial work for the 3D induction, this piece loosely follows and has a similar meaning to my clay work. The hourglass shape is representing the human body, and pink shapes across the paintings could be a reference to femininity.

Reflecting on the final product, I would have defined the edges of each shape more clearly using masking tape, and added more shadows within the painting rather than relying on the natural shadow that was cast on the wall. I would also paint the sides of each panel to make the work feel more immersive.

Woodwork Induction

For this induction, my initial idea was to create a wooden shelf to support my clay sculpture in an exhibition setting. However, as the initial clay piece exploded during firing, I decided to exhibit my painting. As the woodwork induction was the final induction I completed, I adapted my original plan and focused on creating a simple yet interesting piece of art. I wanted to incorporate the hourglass form that appears across my other projects.

On two wooden blocks, I cut out two triangular shapes, mirrored and stacked on top of each other, forming a sharp hourglass shape positioned in the middle. I then sanded and glued the blocks together so they appeared as a single connected form.

Although I intended to make this woodwork a supportive piece for my clay work, it resulted in being an individual sculptural and abstract piece of art. The end result helped me think more about how artworks are presented and that the way it is displayed can become part of the work itself.

During my induction, I developed skills in attaching two pieces of wood together using a drill, both in flat and angled positions. I also learned how to measure wood correctly and cut at an angle using a saw. Although these techniques were not used in my final piece, they are skills I will be able to use in the future.