Longing...

After a fallow period the desire for drawing, the longing to feel pencil on paper becomes irresistible. And so a fresh start in the studio this week.

Somehow connecting with this the chance to see four of Bill Viola's video works at The Sainsbury Centre Norwich.
http://www.scva.org.uk/exhibitions/current/?exhibition=93"

'Catherine's Room' comprising five video screens is a slow, sensual depiction of the passage of time. No drama, no theatrics but beautiful to watch. Whilst 'Ascension' is shockingly dramatic and literally left me gasping for air. A fully clothed man in cruciform shape falls into deep dark water.The amplified sound of bubbling and gurgling water adds to the sense of horror, yet I could not look away.

There was an immediacy and tactility about these works that recall the act of drawing, tapping in to that point of longing.

Picking a way through.

This week I have started to pick my way through the 'stuckness' that always seems to beset me following an exhibition. Over time I have learnt that it is only in the making of work that I can find my way through the pain of silence.

 '... we are involved with a dialogue with our medium...material is a means of communication. That listening to it, not dominating it, makes us truly active, that is:to be active, be passive.'
Anni Albers,'' Material as Metaphor,'' in Selected Writings on Design.

'bag'

Tuning in , listening, holding in the stillness...something is whispering out there.

Tracey Emin at Turner Contemporary

Turner Contemporary on the Margate coast is a wonderful gallery space.It is cleverly designed to keep the eye mostly focused on the works of the artist(s) on show but nevertheless paying homage to the ever changing seascape framed by the vast windows.http://www.turnercontemporary.org/exhibitions/tracey-emin-she-lay-down-deep-beneath-the-sea
Although I much admire Emin as a woman for her honesty and guts I was yet again disappointed that her work is so self referential and dare I say it unsubtle. The show was cleverly curated. A small selection of nudes by both Rodin and Turner shown alongside those of Emin suggested a broader reading and greater depth.
Mmmm that is as maybe  but it still begs the bigger question... I for one am still puzzled as to why Emin has been afforded the accolade of showing in this great space especially so closely followed by her show at The Haywood?

Come on Tracey, have a generous heart and give some of your other fellow women artists a chance!

Effaced

Doldrums.

The great pageant of boats moving up the Thames today to celebrate the Queens Jubilee is in some contrast to my own feelings of stagnation and lassitude.
Being in the doldrums inevitability follows an exhibition. The same old questions...nag,nag,nag.

Basket...case.

The usual silence answers.