platform belfast
RDH: NOVEMBER 2021
03/11/21
Some good sketchbook work today.
04/11/21
National Common Sense Day. “Portrait of NI: Neither an elegy nor a manifesto” in the Golden Thread Gallery. Interesting layout, gathering work of a similar ilk throughout the decades together.
Anne Tallentire’s “But this material…” in the MAC; great use of spatial interaction with the work and the gallery space. Some really strong work in “The presence of Absence” exhibition from the MFA 2019 cohort group show in QSS.
Really enjoyed the opening of the “Salonathon Show 2021” in Platform - seeing my work alongside some great artists and meeting up with familiar faces!
05/11/21
Wincing the odd time.
06/11/21
“Portraiture exposes the gap between the interior and exterior selves.”
-unknown-
08/11/21
Didn’t realise the gravity…
11/11/21
What was thought to be a dud - must have turned out alright!
12/11/21
13/11/21
Really good day in the studio. “The Doctor will see you Now” finished! This new philosophy of keeping it loose, not striving for a realistic perfection, which is ultimately unattainable anyway, seems to be working.
I have a tendency of focussing on niggles to the point when the paintings get tight and the imagery too self aware. Learning to let go and step back a stage or two sooner seems to work for me.
16/11/21
Didn’t get accepted but that’s OK. Sketchbook work tonight to get brain working.
17/11/21
Very quick trip up to Derry to see “Tilt [At Windmills]” with work by Jarkko Räsänen, Fionnuala Doran, Paul Moore and Robin Price in CCA and “The Shrinking Universe” by Eva Rothschild in VOID.
20/11/21
Blocking in and working out logistics on three pieces today.
29/11/21
Nervous but that’s pretty much down to the unknown factor.
RDH: OCTOBER 2021
02/10/21
Point of order today: DO NOT OVER PAINT!!!
Think “Rex Aegypti Penultimus” is finished.
05/10/21
VAI GET TOGETHER 2021
Rediscovering private and personal spaces / rituals.
06/10/21
Chanelle Walshe - self organised self-curation.
Duc Van Pham - Breaking down the figures - is this a way of adjusting / adding narrative?
Keynote: Christian Jankowski - “The Hunt” “Casting Jesus”
Beuys - difficult.
07/10/21
Why do we put people in boxes?
Superflex - interspecies living - “Flooded McDonalds”.
10/10/21
Dosed to eyeballs so not going anywhere fast.
12/10/21
13/10/21
Two new canvases begun today. Little and large.
16/10/21
Strong sense of self.
Good progress in the studio today. Didn’t mean for the small one to go Holy.
20/10/21
Accepted into Platform Arts group show!
Getting there with “Lady of the Manor”.
23/10/21
Globalist cheerleading.
24/10/21
Wardrobe fiasco.
“Lady of the Manor” finished.
25/10/21
28/10/21
HALLELUJAH!
29/10/21
Definitely been distracted lately but the blinkers need to come back on.
30/10/21
31/10/21
Early morning tonal work to “The Doctor Will See You Now”. Slow and steady progress but definitely best to stop when I did to give new layers a chance to dry.
Merry Halloween.
RDH: SEPTEMBER 2019
01/09/19
02/09/19
‘Arena: Kusama Infinity’ - such a great artist!
“While the dead show dead art, living artists die.” - Yayoi Kusama
Hope springs eternal.
05/09/19
Great talk and workshop with Action Mental Health. Really positive and interesting feedback from the crowd.
Called into the Ards Art Centre for a quick chat and a little look at two shows opening; Gavin McCrea’s installation and Patrick Horan’s paintings.
At Late Night Art Mark McGreevy’s ‘Flop Sweat’ in the MAC is marvellous! Brilliant use of colour. ‘Knick Knacks and Whatnots’ by Cameron Morgan in University of Atypical is excellent. Blown away by the work on display in the Golden Thread’s “Noise of Silence: Japanese Art Now’ especially Yusuke Asai’s huge mud installations.
06/09/19
“Ferryman” is unusable.
07/09/19
Finally finished the middle panel from the originally conceived “Pioneer” triptych. Think it stands on it’s own merit.
More progress to the the ‘Cooley’ piece.
11/09/19
Sketchbook work tonight.
12/09/19
Really enjoyed “Memory: The Origin of Alien” documentary.
“At the Mountains of Madness” by HP Lovecraft.
“What will humanity find when they look in the dark places?”
15/09/19
Studio work - some additions of spray paint to ‘Cooley’ piece. Walked away before digging too far.
Little panel piece, “The Horror! The Horror” Speed is it’s friend. Wooden supports are responsive to gestural work - less so with the charcoal marks - more layers needed to achieve tonal quality I’m after.
16/09/19
Wonderful article about my time up at Action Mental Health.
17/09/19
Increase in productivity lately. Could it be a confidence thing? I’m working no more or no less than the slump periods. Is it a case of a fine tuning of better judgement when more at peace with practice? Plenty to look forward to in the coming months.
19/09/19
21/09/19
Notes: immediate drawing line combined with more deliberate painterly marks. Cross pollination.
“LW” = by removing the instrument of trauma can it be viewed in a miraculous or redemptive light?
Not spelling out the narrative - Great to sit down and chat about work and ideas with GM.
Visit to PS Squared and “How the Image Echos” show.
Sea Holly Gallery is absolutely stunning and wonderful work on from the 545 pop up group show. So good to see elements of the much loved Orpheus building back in an artistic sense.
22/09/19
24/09/19
Quarantined.
28/09/19
Studio work and “Dress Rehearsal Study” is getting there. It’s weird how every time I paint children they end up completely terrifying.
Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’ is utterly amazing. Beautifully filmed and will stay with me for a long time.
30/09/19
RDH: FEBRUARY 2019
01/02/19
Slight change of tact…
02/02/19
03/02/19
05/02/19
Lagging behind.
06/02/19
Applications submitted.
09/02/19
DISTRACTIONS leads to NOT DOING WORK leads to FEELINGS OF GUILT leads to DISTRACTIONS leads to NOT DOING WORK leads to FEELINGS OF GUILT leads to DISTRACTIONS leads to NOT DOING WORK leads to FEELINGS OF GUILT leads to DISTRACTIONS leads to NOT DOING WORK leads to FEELINGS OF GUILT leads to DISTRACTIONS leads to NOT DOING WORK leads to FEELINGS OF GUILT leads to DISTRACTIONS leads to NOT DOING WORK leads to FEELINGS OF GUILT leads to … etc etc.
How do you combat this?
“Discipline is key" - JG
Break the cycle by physically setting time aside for practice. Depending on the day of the week and other commitments, the type of productive work will differ.
10/02/19
12/02/19
16/02/19
“What’s for you won’t go past you.”
Reworked pattern and colours on clown today.
17/02/19
Great to get painting today albeit a little later than I would have liked.
Counting works - didn’t realise there were so many!
23/02/19
Belfast. Great to see the last day of ‘The Question of Feeling at Home’ in PS² - curated by Moran Been-Noon. Bonus to get a run down from Moran about the show and to see Cecilia Bullo’s work in the flesh! Been excited to see it since her talk in the DLR LexIcon last year. Next was a visit to Belfast Exposed for the ACNI collection show with a solo show by Linda Conroy in the upstairs space. Conroy’s work is disturbing and utterly absorbing at the same time. Removing notions of the individual from religious ritual resonated with me personally. Then it was on to ‘Porous Plane’ by Lennon in the Golden Thread Gallery. The sheer scale and vibrancy of the work was immense. In the information leaflet it says that “no knowledge is required to enjoy the beauty of these paintings” and that Lennon “invites each of us to find ourselves and arrive at our own inclusions”. Leaving room for the viewer is something I’m particularly keen on.
Lastly onto the wonderful ‘Alternate Perspective’ in Platform featuring work by Aimee MeLaugh and Karl Hagan. Both reflect on ‘memory, people, places and trauma’. The grandeur of history painting coupled with highly personal and intimate narratives. Wonderful painting exhibition.
25/02/19
Project profile submitted.
27/02/19
It’s the journey not the destination.
28/02/19
Nearly into third month and nothing really to show for it. Plenty of works in progress but not enough progress being made.
RDH: 01/11/18 - 30/11/18
02/11/18
… all but done…
03/11/18
Do I need a foreign colour? “Afore the Stoop” went in a slightly different direction than first thought. I think I had that quote by Helen Johnson still ringing in my ears about imagery possessing different surface qualities and being on different registers on the same picture plane.
The buzzard is still; hovering overhead while the still-life is in flux. Melting in on itself. To not just merge separate imagery on the one canvas but to treat them differently via technique. I’ve done this regularly in the past but never to this extent before and definitely not on this scale. There’s loads going on: blocked areas, melting, washes and burning/corroding of the surface for texture.
“Confessional” is a different beast altogether. It’s going to be a slower process - building up washes of colour, drawing elements back in followed by more washes until it comes to an end or a crossroads. So far so good. It’s not really a colliding of images. It’s the notion of what a negative of a pattern could do to another image.
Refreshing to see organisations opening doors. The model is being altered.
04/11/18
Kept hearing the shrieking of a buzzard every time I went to work on “Afore the Stoop”. When I looked it was perched on top of the tallest tree at the end of the lane and then glided off.
06/11/18
Some sketchbook work. Not a lot of time but that’s my fault.
09/11/18
HELP!
10/11/18
For studio work: cautious steps or daring leaps? Annoyingly close to finishing “ATS”.
Submission writing hurts my head.
11/11/18
Films to watch:
Finished “ATS”. Still bits that annoy but for the sake of not destroying it entirely, I don’t mind the imperfections.
Help has been indispensable.
12/11/18
Still waiting on magazine.
13/11/18
Egon Shiele Documentary - transcending the idea of the body as beauty.
15/11/18
Nothing.
16/11/18
Belfast bound for curator talks but looking forward to visiting some galleries first.
17/11/18
Work is being used as an example to show other artists about finding your own voice. Chuffed.
…someone has been keeping an eye on my progress and that is something!
Another trip to Belfast for more galleries and then a Speed Curating event.
18/11/18
It has been a hectic but brilliant few days. Yesterday I called into Platform to see Gerard Carson’s “Submersible Extractions” and a solo show by Dryden Wilson. I followed this up by a quick look at the Barbara Hammer exhibition and Patrick Colhoun’s project space work in the Golden Thread Gallery. Then it was time for the speed curating event at Belfast Exposed.
… do research. What artists i admire….
…Strange. Nothing negative. Just nothing.
A lot of information. A real painter?
19/11/18
“In Defence of Representation” essay by Tristan Garcia.
In western philosophy the representational object is either a copy, a sign or a duplex.
“… according to the semiotic model, there is no representation without signification, that is to say without interpretation.” - Tristan Garcia
20/11/18
“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” - Screen (1973)
“The Victim” - Saul Bellow
21/11/18
Tried sketchbook work - failed miserably.
23/11/18
Projection onto fog screen.
24/11/18
Thunderchild?
Line of connection between viewer and work - GO’H
Ask the question: what do you see?
25/11/18
Yesterday I eventually got painting around lunchtime - back and forth with ‘Confessional’ but progress made. Great talk with GO’H about ‘the gaze’.
Leaf blowing.
27/11/18
Need to select paintings for Framewerk Christmas show.
28/11/18
“The Trouble with Painting” - ICA (YouTube)
“What you’re interested in in the world will feed back into what you are interested in as an artist.” - Alison Pilkington
…speaking about dreams, a quote from Alison Pilkington’s drawing seminar from the RHA really stuck out. I’m paraphrasing here but the guts of it is this: talking to people about why you make the work you do (or about your inspirations for that matter) is like talking to people about your dreams. People aren’t overly interested when someone else describes a dream. It’s subjective and personal and it’s all but impossible to get the experience across properly.
29/11/18
A difficult few weeks to come.