Assignment 5- Final Project and Exhibition Plan
Gillian Morris Student No. 511388
OCA Project Title- Transitions- Recovery and Repair from Crisis: A Visual Account of Mental Distress
Name-Gillian Morris
Introduction
Background Outline-Project of Work and the Related Exhibition
I have utilised ten vintage linen bedsheets as the material basis of the creative work. Each bedsheet was dyed varying shades of grey to match grey matter which is abundant in the cerebellum, cerebrum and brain stem and represents the core sites of cognitive functioning, information processing through neural connectivity. The original artwork for this project of work stemmed from research on neuro-networking from neuroimaging techniques to illustrate human identity and the sense of self at its most intrinsic level. Ten vintage linen bedsheets were screen-printed whole, and two bedsheets were used for the sampling processes through a process of building up layers of print to explore meaning and to demonstrate emotion, one series of three bedsheets represent crisis with print while the other series of five bedsheets represent repair and recovery through print and stitch. The eight whole linen bedsheets to be wall mounted as well as framed as a central space to walk through to fully inhabit to interact with from within the exhibition space.
What is the focus or subject for the work and why?
The material use for this creative work stems from the environment and embedded meaning from my family’s generational involvement in the manufacture of linen. The creative process centres upon my own identity and my family’s long held traditions of professional engagement within adult mental health. I am a psychologist and I wish to fully communicate such experiencing at an emotional visual level. I am interested in expressing and evoking basic human emotions concerning distress throughout my print work so the audience can experience something of what it means and feels like, to capture the essence of crisis, of the mental unravelling of one’s sense of self. To challenge societal constructs of mental ill-health, to normalise distress given the rudiments of bias, stereotyping, prejudice, alienation, isolation, disconnection, discrimination, and trauma. To showcase the natural consequences of negative labelling and attribution which apportion much of the blame and responsibility onto the individual and away from societal, economic, political, and cultural domains.
How does it build from previous work?
This current creative process builds upon what went before using screen-printing processes including the related skills and techniques, using natural reused materials like linen from different sources with different meaning and intent. There is continuing intuitive relating with the materials in creative process, to respond to how the materials react. There is an ongoing focus to work in environmentally supportive ways which ensures that there is no waste or it is minimised. The provenance of the materials continues to be prioritised, of only sourcing used materials to maintain their life and to emphasise their worth and value through repurposing and reclaiming from everyday use. Such materials like vintage linen continue to link with the narrative, of the strength, resilience, and robustness of vintage linen, of its prior repair and its continuing capacity to be repaired, to be mended for ongoing use.
How does it fit with current practice and trends, or offer scope for innovation?
Within the realms of contemporary art, I am using more of myself emotionally through personal expression to increasingly challenge the status quo, to address and respond to how mental distress is viewed, to raise awareness to generate discussion, to re-evaluate and reinterpret to help foster change in how emotional crisis is perceived, to move towards telling a story which can be readily heard and responded to, for the audience to see and understand, to convey something which is important and meaningful through my creative process. The project of work and related exhibition offers a new way of relating with the experience of mental health and ill-health to fully engage emotionally within a more immersive process.
What is the scope and possibility for presentation and exhibition?
There are a wide range of possibilities given the overall narrative, scale of the creative process and the project of work. Wasps have helped to support the exhibition at their Artist Studio Complex at Hanson Street, Dennistoun, Glasgow as a large exhibition space was available there which best showcases my work. I am increasingly interested in extending my capacity to communicate such themes, to reflect at depth on how best to communicate this narrative given its overall importance, to promote increased audience participation, understanding, engagement, and interaction with audio, video, psychoeducation, resourcing, and related information which is integrated within the exhibition.
Aims and objectives
Exhibition- “Help me as I am struggling to want to be here”
A Series of Material Statements-Visual Representations of Mental Distress and Recovery (2021)
A Series of Material Statements-Visual Representations of Mental Distress and Recovery (2021) is represented by a group of large-scale mixed media works using screen printing and hand stitching on vintage linen bedsheets. The material qualities of the vintage linen bedsheets and threads are indicative of and help to reinforce the narrative, to tell the story of mental crisis through therapy to mental recovery through their strength, resilience, robustness, and enhanced capacity for repair. The work is autobiographical in nature and depicts real-life circumstances emotionally through the textile artists experiences as a psychologist. The scale of intuitive relating with the materials in process communicate the scale of emotional resonance felt within the therapeutic therapy process itself as a psychologist. Throughout the creative process the textile artist sought to convey her own emotional experiencing, so others can look, to feel to understand something of such experiencing.
The vintage linen bedsheets are imbedded with meaning for the textile artist, of her family’s history based in linen, of a lineage, weighted with provenance, of generations of home and mill workers making linen, of layers of experiencing enmeshed within the material, of personal identity and belonging. The vintage linen bedsheets lent themselves to communicating the narrative, of previous wear and tear, of communicating a range of experiencing through a lifetime and the repetitive need for repair. Of the capacity of the vintage linen bedsheets to encompass pleasant dreams to traumatic nightmares, of bringing comfort, restorative sleep, and relaxation to unravelling despair and spiralling low mood. The aim then is to promote increased insight and understanding of the experiencing of mental distress and of the need for support, compassion, and time, to listen to understand free from labelling, judgement, and recrimination. To help counter the adage man’s inhumanity to man, to afford those struggling with mental ill-health the therapeutic environment to mend and recover. The visual representations from each series of screen-printed imagery with printing inks builds up layers of emotional relating and responding with the vintage linen using colour combinations to best suit the emotional state of either distress or repair. The imagery stemmed from original artwork based upon neural connections as the basis of all communication and understanding. Ultimately the textile artist sought to express the increased propensity for change, growth, and repair, for positive transformation from mental distress. That said the series invites the viewer to reflect upon mental distress and recovery, of their own emotional response to the sequence and to consider how they can help themselves and others to be more tolerate, understanding, compassionate and kind both self to self and self with other.
What do you aim to achieve in the creation of the work?
I have achieved creative work of aesthetic value but more than that I wish to showcase my work to elicit a response from the audience. I want to use this proposed project of work and related exhibition as a means of personal expression, to communicate, evoke and challenge, to make commentary through the created visual dialogue, to evidence a narrative, a story of connected events, of using my own experiencing to help engage and connect, to complete thought provoking work which can affect perception and opinion on the topic under investigation.
What are your objectives for the promotion and exhibition of you and your work?
I see the promotion of me and the exhibition as another creative activity and a priority objective as appearance and presentation are prerequisites for sustaining my creative practice. This exhibition represents who I am, my creative practice with its attached meaning so it is vital that I get myself known and that I am seen as original and unique, to network to establish and extend professional relationships. I have produced professional web-based images, business cards and postcards for use at the exhibition. I have produced a quality artist statement, textile artist curriculum vitae, promotional flyers with related exhibition literature for the audience to get to know me and my work, to produce added interest in what I am doing and why. I have and will continue to promote the exhibition space and use imagery from such creating within the adjacent studio space at Hanson Street Studios to make myself and how I work more known to others. I use social media including Facebook, Instagram, and my online blog/website to promote the exhibition online. I continue to make brief video clips for my blog/website to encourage increased promotion and sharing on social media. Marketing statements have been developed for press/media releases, leaflets, brochures, etc and have also been completed for galleries which focus on the relationship between the theme, materials, techniques, and style. I continue to develop online portfolios.
How will the project and the exhibition contribute to your ability and ambitions to sustain your practice?
Ongoing efforts have been made to attract as wide an audience as possible through the distribution of additional invites to a range of galleries, gallery outlets, curators, private collectors, and other interested parties beyond what the Wasps promotional strategy entails. It is hoped that such an opportunity can be fully capitalised upon to increase the scale of interest in my creative work. I have produced digitally printed literature for the exhibition, to offer access to my artist statement, to make available postcards of my work and related information will be supplied about the work within the exhibition through audio, video and in writing. Data capture systems have been developed for the exhibition for feedback purposes and for anyone interested in my work to leave their details securely for future follow up and continuing contact. I have designed and printed sufficient business cards to be taken away, circulated, and used.
Content
Write down your thoughts for the ideal project you would like to undertake at the moment.
I have utilised ten vintage linen bedsheets as the material basis of the creative work. Each bedsheet was dyed varying shades of grey to match grey matter which is abundant in the cerebellum, cerebrum and brain stem and represents the core sites of cognitive functioning, information processing through neural connectivity. The original artwork for this project of work stemmed from research on neuro-networking from neuroimaging techniques to illustrate human identity and the sense of self at its most intrinsic level. Ten vintage linen bedsheets were screen-printed whole, and two bedsheets were used for the sampling processes through a process of building up layers of print to explore meaning and to demonstrate emotion, one series of three bedsheets represent crisis with print while the other series of five bedsheets represent repair and recovery through print and stitch. The eight whole linen bedsheets are wall mounted as well as framed as a central space to walk through to fully inhabit to interact with from within the exhibition space.
What do you plan to do within the confines and parameters of the project? In other words, what is your brief for the work?
Target- To complete the proposed project of work and to organise and put on an exhibition involving the proposed project of work using full sized dyed and printed vintage linen bedsheets with stitch.
Objective-To create three large scale printed vintage linen wall hangings that visually represent the theme of mental crisis and distress. To also create at least five large scale printed, damaged, and sewn vintage linen ceiling hangings that visually represent the theme of mental recovery and repair.
What are you planning to learn or introduce in the new work and its exhibition?
I now wish to increasingly integrate hand stitching to the surface of dyed cloth however not to embellish for its own sake for decorative purposes in isolation but rather to illustrate different types of experiencing and different emotional states of distress and repair, from splitting and rupturing to mending, strengthening and recovery, to consolidate and increase resilience through traditional sewing stitches. With such experiencing drawn from the emotional engagement within therapy processes such a felt sense has been used to create and relate using hand screen printing and sewing processes.
What is the context for your work and who is your audience?
This exhibition represents my degree show, my final year of work so I wish to communicate the context in which I work and live based upon who I am as a person and psychologist through material relating concerning the environment and embedded narratives using reclaimed vintage linen. Integrated within this is my experience and understanding of mental distress through to recovery and repair which is examined through and within the cloth emotionally and visually.
The key feature of any marketing plan to promote events is to identify who my audience is, then to decide how to communicate with them. Wasps have between 900-1000 creatives using their studio space who will automatically be informed of the exhibition and my work through Wasps own promotional strategy. That said I will be the author of what is communicated with others at the earliest opportunity, to draft my own script. Also, I have led my own promotional strategy concerning content, to ensure I am promoted appropriately alongside my work. My audience will be developed as I become more known but first, I need to become known so the 900-1000 creatives within Wasps will help through sharing information about me and my work with others given my emphasis on making unique pieces of textile art using print, weave and/or stitch which will hopefully attract private collectors. I aim to exhibit more widely so expect to link in with galleries, gallery owners, curators, textile art collectors and membership organisations to develop my audience. Since I also wish to specialise in interiors for residential and commercial premises I aim to liaise with a range of sources, agencies and companies concerning project work, open calls, and commissions through direct contact, specialist websites like AXA Directory, Design Nation, https://blog.theexhibit.io/for-artists-and-curators/ as well as others… https://artcuratoronline.com/ https://www.curatorspace.com/ I will engage with public bodies including the NHS as my textile art is well placed for public spaces and buildings like hospitals and health clinics. Connecting with specialist concerns which are environmentally based and commercial businesses/outlets could extend opportunities including commissions for corporate headquarters, conference suites, exhibition centres, etc.
Who is your work directed towards?
My work is directed to the wider audience including those that visit the exhibition and those that see the exhibition online and via social media. I aim to continue to evoke a reaction through my work in relation to my embedded narrative, visual imagery and material relating. I hope to attract a continuing interest in my work, to create and maintain an audience and to develop a customer base that will want to share my work and to purchase my work. I hope to realise through the scale of original artwork undertaken, of using traditional techniques to imbrue historical/archival materials with meaning, which is loaded with memory.
What type of format, venue, and/or location is appropriate and desirable to you for exhibition?
The exhibition will be held at the Workshop & Artists Studio Provision (Scotland) (Wasps), Hanson Street Studios with the support of this agency. Wasps currently house over 900 professional artists, makers, and creative industries organisations at 20 different sites across Scotland including Glasgow. All artists are regularly offered a range of support including exhibiting and selling opportunities through maker’s markets and art fairs. Wasps staff have extensive experience and expertise organising exhibitions on their sites and usually help tenants and students with the promotion of their exhibitions through their range of online and offline marketing options. Many of my favourite artists are housed within the Wasps studio complexes as it is a significant organisation for supporting artists in Scotland. This exhibition space at Wasps Hanson Street Studios in Glasgow is ideal given it overall suitability, size, scale, and on-site support. My exhibition proposal was accepted by Wasps and October 2021 dates have been offered and accepted.
Wasps mission is to provide space and support activities in which creators can prosper. Wasps vision is to be an inspirational home for creative practice. Through activities and advocacy, they continue to deliver affordable spaces in which the broad artistic community can realise and share its talent and skills. Wasps believe that art can inspire, entertain, educate, and transform people’s lives. Artists and arts charities have the unique talent and ability to create great art that can do this however many survive on low incomes and struggle to make ends meet. So, Wasps was set up to provide good quality, affordable studio space to enable artists and creative organisations to carry out their work with the necessary support.
Promotional strategy
Where will you begin with your promotion strategy?
Wasps staff have supported with the promotional strategy as they promote widely all exhibitions which are undertaken on any of their sites which will include their website, social media platforms and weekly digital newsletter which is circulated to all Wasps tenants, artists, creatives, businesses as well as all relevant public and private art agencies and organisations which also promote such exhibitions on their own websites and social media platforms like Creative Scotland, Craft Scotland, Scottish Contemporary Art Network, etc. Additional press releases have been formulated in advance of the exhibition to advertise the event and circulated to all relevant outlets.
In what ways do you plan to communicate your work
I consider the formulation, development, and production of promotional printed material as another creative activity and a priority objective as appearance and presentation are prerequisites for sustaining my creative practice. I have produced professional web-based images, business cards, posters, and postcards to promote the exhibition and for use at the exhibition. I have produced a quality artist statement, textile artist curriculum vitae, promotional flyers with related literature for the wider public and audience to get to know me and my work, to produce added interest in what I am doing and why I am doing it. I have promoted the exhibition space and use imagery from such creating within the adjacent studio space at Hanson Street Studios to make myself and how I work more known to others through Wasps and my own online presence which will includes all relevant exhibition details.
The textile work is hung on walls and from the ceiling as a central installation to best communicate my work and to facilitate a fully immersive and engaging process. I use audio and video to further enhance the meaning of my creative work, to fully communicate what I want it to say so it can be heard, felt, and responded to by the audience.
Schedule
I completed a full exhibition proposal which was accepted by Wasps and October 2021 dates have been offered and accepted. Wasps formally confirmed these dates. In considering this I formalised and completed my schedule based upon these earlier proposed exhibition dates. I have completed a detailed schedule which envisaged the division and allocation of time in advance of the exhibition given the increased need to complete my creative textile work and exhibition preparation earlier than initially anticipated.
Recording the process
Plan for the recording and evidencing of as many aspects of your project as possible.
I compiled a plan to record the exhibition although Wasps staff also record and photograph exhibitions to promote the event to wider audiences and to support artists. I realised a full plan to record the exhibition and to take photographs of the creative work in situ myself before it’s open to the public. My partner was also recruited to make recordings throughout the duration of the exhibition to fully evidence the exhibition itself and audience participation and engagement given his relevant experience.
Do you need to consider video and photography as a means of tracking, testing, visualising and planning what you will carry out?
As always, I will continue to video and photograph my creative process, the planning of the exhibition and any other related experiencing at each stage of the developmental process to capture the overall sense of what is happening, when, where and how, to be able to evidence contemporaneously my project of work and exhibition process.
What methods are you already employing to record the research you are doing? Are these the most effective ways to track and analyse the research?
I have two research files which are digitally based alongside use of my online blog with a manually based file for ensuring the appropriate storage of all my information to ease access and retrieval as and when required. I continue to research other formats and ways of organising my work which will make this aspect easier for me.
WeavePrint 