Research

Artists

Lee Ufan

Lee Ufan's brushwork inspired me to take on a looser technique of brushstrokes for my piece. Although my piece is not directly influenced by his work, I liked the idea of being able to see brush strokes, which I wanted to carry through to my own final piece. The blue colour may also have influenced my choice of colour, and I find the appearance of fading brushstrokes beautiful.

Alison Friend

In my artist research, I came across this artist who paints animals doing human activities. Her paintings are humorous and playful. In the future, if I were to paint animals again in a similar way to my collider project, I would consider taking aspects of this work to make my work more playful. Since in my collider project I did not paint the eyes, it can be seen to have taken away some personality from the cat that I painted. Instead, I used the cat as a silhouette and a symbol to collide two of my interests together.

Georges Braque

My visit to the Tate Modern focused on viewing pieces that I could draw inspiration from for my own work. Before starting my final piece, I looked closely at the work of Georges Braque, particularly Mandora and Glass on a Table. I was interested in the fragmented shapes, muted colour palette, and the way everyday objects were broken down into geometric forms.

I originally considered using Braque's style as the foundation for my own piece, as I liked the abstract and layered appearance of Cubism. However, I struggled to develop original ideas in this style and found it difficult to create an image that felt personal and creative. Even though I did not use this artist to inspire my art, exploring Braque's work helped me think more about composition, shape, and how objects can be represented in unusual ways.

Cildo Meireles - Babel

I find the piece Babel very interesting to look at, and it was one of my favourite pieces I viewed from my visit to the Tate Modern. The choice of blue lighting creates an eerie atmosphere and transports the viewer to a different world when inside the room. The way the installation combines radios and music from different eras while simultaneously referencing a biblical story fascinates me, and it has made me think about how I could create a piece that refers to multiple sources and allows for different interpretations. This piece has also made me think about how art can be presented within an exhibition setting.

The piece references the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, where people attempted to build a tower tall enough to reach Heaven. This offended God, so he made them speak different languages. As a result, division and conflict grew among the people because they could no longer understand one another.

Without further research, it would have been difficult to understand this reference, but I find it interesting how a biblical story like this can be transformed into art. The connection is clear in the installation, as each radio is tuned to a different station and played simultaneously, making it difficult to focus on a single sound.

Doron Langberg

This piece, Russell, stood out to me at the National Portrait Gallery. I like the lack of detail in the rest of the body, with the focus placed mainly on the face. The patches of colour around the piece offer an alternative way of shading and conveying form without the need for excessive detail. The sketch-like painting method used by Langberg adds expression, while the bright colours help the piece stand out.

In my documentation section, there are images of some of the rough paintings I have made in a similar style, although they are not completely accurate to the style of this work. It has allowed me to explore ideas such as leaving blank space, focusing detail on specific areas of a painting, and using colour for shading rather than depicting forms realistically.

Galleries and Exhibitions

Tate Modern

Each of the artworks I saw made me think about different approaches I could explore in future projects. Mohammed Melehi's Casa uses clean, precise block colours and repeating patterns, which reminded me of my Semester 1 exhibition piece, Untitled (Pink and Blue). Pierre Soulages's painting stood out to me because, despite the limited colour palette, the overlapping brushstrokes and small gaps in the paint created a strong and eye-catching effect.

Burschi's work also interested me, as it showed how overlapping different elements can create a bold and visually striking composition. I also found Rudolf Stingel's work interesting because rather than creating the artwork entirely himself, he allowed the audience to contribute to it. Although I think this creates a beautiful and unusual interpretation of art, I feel the final piece becomes more the work of the public rather than Stingel's work, as the artist mainly provided the large carpet installation for viewers to interact with. I enjoyed interacting with this piece, and it has made me think of how to create interactive artworks instead of only displaying a piece to view in an exhibition setting.

Tracey Emin - A Second Life

I found Tracey Emin's exhibition at the Tate Modern very emotionally vulnerable and eye-opening. The exhibition explored personal experiences, emotions, trauma, love, and healing through expressive paintings and installations. I liked the painting style and rough brushstrokes, which made the work feel honest and deeply personal. The exhibition showed me how art can communicate strong emotions and personal experiences in a raw and direct way, which I found powerful and inspiring.

Lucian Freud - Drawing into Painting

I found this exhibition interesting and it exposed me to a range of different styles and painting techniques. Some of Lucian Freud's works were visually striking and dealt with quite vulnerable subject matter, while others were more traditional portraits.

In his self-portraits, Freud experiments with different textures and approaches to oil paint. In the 1985 self-portrait, the light source comes from above, which enhances the shadows in his face and body. I found the way he builds skin tones using pink and peach shades particularly interesting, as well as how sharply he paints the shadows. This contrasts with the background, which is made up of much duller tones like browns and blacks. In an earlier self-portrait from 1963, he uses a looser, more abstract painting style, with heavier brushstrokes and less defined detail. I found this especially interesting because it showed me different ways portraits can be painted, and made me realise that tone, shading, and lighting can be more important than fine detail. From a distance, the work still looks realistic, but up close the brushwork is much more visible and expressive.

Another self-portrait from 2002 also stood out to me because of the dense, textured surface across the whole painting. Unlike the other works, the background is just as textured as the face, while the clothing is painted more smoothly. The heavy layering of paint is used to build up form and shadow instead of relying on clear outlines or detailed marks, which shows a different way of working with portraiture.

This exhibition included both drawings and paintings. Flyda and Arvid, 1947 stood out to me because the figure appears as though it is staring directly at the viewer, which seems slightly unsettling. I also found the difference between his drawing and painting styles striking. The drawings use minimal shading, colour, and lines in the face, but more detailed marks in the hair and background, which I found interesting and unique. The eyes are also a key feature in many of his drawings and are often drawn in a similar style.

After Constable's Elm, 2003 also stood out to me because of the level of detail in the tree and its textures. I imagine it takes a lot of patience to create work like this, and it is something I would like to experiment with in my own drawing in the future. Overall, visiting this exhibition may have an influence in my future work. The use of texture in painting, including physical texture, colour, and brushwork, as well as drawing techniques such as etching, are ideas I would like to explore further.

The National Gallery

During this visit, I explored the Impressionist movement through works by Claude Monet. In The Gare Saint-Lazare, the steam from the train is brought into the foreground and forms are suggested rather than sharply defined. This links to my interest in focusing on atmosphere over detail in painting.

In Bathers at La Grenouillère, Monet conveys the ripples of the water in an abstract and minimal way. From a distance the painting appears detailed, but up close it is made up of visible brushstrokes rather than fine detail. The brushwork creates a sense of movement, which links to my idea of rhythm and music in painting.

The Fighting Temeraire is a more traditional-looking painting, but the lighting and fading colour in the background create a strong atmosphere. The contrast between the industrial ship and the sunset suggests nostalgia and a sense of time passing, producing a cinematic mood that I would like to explore further in my own work.

In Landscape with Poplars, Cézanne builds structure through repeated brush marks and minimal definition of form. He simplifies nature into shapes, tones, and colour, which is something I find challenging and would like to experiment with in future work.

Artist Talk - Dr Jon Lockhart

This artist talk was engaging and I enjoyed listening to Jon Lockhart speak about his work and creative practice. He explained how his sculptures and installations use a mix of found and made objects, often combined in experimental and unexpected ways. I found it interesting how he blends traditional making with digital processes like scanning and sound, and how his work often encourages interaction rather than just viewing.

One project he spoke about that stood out to me was Together in Electric Dreams. This exhibition explored the relationship between early digital technology, communication, and art. It brought together works that use sound, light, and electronic systems to create immersive and interactive experiences. The combination of visual and sound-based work made the space feel immersive and showed how technology has influenced the way artists approach making art.

His talk made me think more about open-ended art, especially when it involves collaboration or audience participation. Hearing about his experience as both an artist and educator also made the work feel more accessible and changed how I think about art being shared outside a traditional gallery setting.