Monday, 18 April 2016

Dagrun Iris Sigmundsottiris

Dagrun Iris Sigmundsottiris


Dagrun Iris Sigmundsottiris is a contemporary artist living and working in Iceland. Iris is inspired by the woman, her mind and body. The concept for most of her work is the endless battle that often happens between the two.[1]

Dagrun’s work is largely inspired by nature and is often shown as an escape where nature and the person become one. Fashion magazines are another influence in her art making, where reality often gets second place. That really interested me as much of my work is about the blur between reality and fake images in fashion magazines and that reality does often get second place when it comes to the sleek glossy magazine images.

Nothing Inside’
Collage 12.2 H x 9.1 W x 0.4 in1/2", Collage: Paper on Paper. Gouache, cut and paste on watercolour paper.

What I love about the two selected images is the combination of paint and other mediums with the collage. I like how the abstract drips of paint and shapes add or detract from her collages and how Dagrun uses negative space. I find that her inspirations are similar to mine and that the images intrigue me as to what the artist’s thinking was when Dagrun made these pieces. I am finding that more abstract and impressionist works are inspiring me more than direct collages and I love the combination of various mixed mediums with collages elements whether it be directly from magazines or a paint drip cut out from another pages (the pink paint on ‘Splash’ see below).

'Splash'
9.4 H x 6.3 W x 0.4 in, Collage: Other on Paper. Gouache, cut and paste on watercolour paper.

[1] http://www.saatchiart.com/dirissigm

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Friday, 15 April 2016

Bank Street Arts Exhibition Progress

Bank Street Arts Exhibition Progress

Below is the first stage of the piece, I decided to cover the canvas in different papers to give the canvas more texture. I thought that it would make the canvas more interesting and give it more depth rather than it being just a flat background.
Canvas 1m x 1.5m, paper
 Below is the second stage of the canvas, I painted over the paper with acrylic paints (black, blue and red) which all flowed nicely together. I decided on darker colours as most of my collage would be very bright and skin tones would look better set off against a dark background.
Canvas 1m x 1.5m, paper & acrylic paint
 Below is the first layout of my collaged images that I tried, I thought it looked a bit sparse and it wasn't giving the effect I wanted it to. After some feedback from my peers I went on to add more collaged images.
Canvas 1m x 1.5m, paper, acrylic paint & collage
 Below is the next try with more collaged pieces, it looked less sparse but it did not feel overwhelming or chaotic which is the intention behind the piece. After some suggestions I went on to try the third iteration of the piece.
Canvas 1m x 1.5m, paper, acrylic paint & collage
 Below is the final text of layout for my collaged images, I really liked layering them on top of each other. This layering gave the piece a more chaotic feel, I decided to produce more images to layer to cover almost the entire canvas.
Canvas 1m x 1.5m, paper, acrylic paint & collage

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Wednesday, 13 April 2016

Experiments With Collage

Experiments With Collage


A3 Collage

A3 Collage

A3 Collage

A3 Collage

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Thursday, 31 March 2016

Laser Cutting Experiments

Laser Cutting/Engraving Experiments

I did a laser cutting/ engraving workshop and I decided to take an image I produced and turn it into a laser cutting and a laser engraving. I really enjoyed the process of making the pieces and I decided to layers some existing collage pieces underneath both the engraving and the cutting to see what kind of effect it had. I really like how the laser cutting works with collage elements underneath and also the laser engraving worked fairly well but I think it could be improved by making more collages that have less white in them to show up the engraving.

I plan on doing some more experiments with possible video projection and more collages and paintings to layer underneath.
Collage and Laser engraving (A4)

Collage and Laser engraving (A4)

Collage and Laser engraving (A4)

Collage and Laser engraving (A4)

Collage and Laser cutting (A4)

Collage and Laser cutting (A4)

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Thursday, 3 March 2016

Blacking Out

Blacking Out

Instead of blacking out the entire face I blacked out all but the eyes and mouth. The eyes and mouth are the most pulling part of the images alongside the body, I found it interesting that by blacking out the rest of the face it made little difference to and perhaps enhanced the allure of the image.


A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Sunday, 21 February 2016

Allure of magazines

Allure

When I look at magazines I get sucked in by the allure of the images. I used the arrows I used to illustrate the sexual half-open pout that so many images use and the eyes also look out in a suggestive manner in many of the images.

A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

A4 Magazine page and permanent marker
 In these two images (see below) I tried to point out the cliché elements in the images and the connotations within the images, for example the lipstick looking very similar to a cigarette.
A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

A4 Magazine page and permanent marker

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Thursday, 18 February 2016

Embroidered Anorexia Quotes

Embroidered Anorexia Quotes

As I was looking through the source material I had, I thought about what would happen if I put quotes from Anorexia sufferers directly onto the glossy slick magazine pages that embody the 'healthy' lifestyle we should all aspire to. I did four experiments all with an image from a set of Chanel advertisements. I decided to use pink thread as it is a 'feminine' colour and also because it contrasts very strongly against the black and white. 

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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Friday, 5 February 2016

Crit Group Feedback 03.02.16

Crit Group Feedback

Collages: 21 x A3 Pages 

(See images below)


  • Liked distorted ones, legs the wrong way etc. Dysfunctional [No 15]
  • Liked 3D on top of magazines [No 10 -12]. Liked shadows (makeup sponge), reminded of Clone helmets (Star Wars) due to the angular non-human nature. Liked incline with hands.
  • Liked [No 10] best due to angles, tampon doesn’t fit body? Alien, side view better.
  • Tampon heavy as an object.
  • Liked shape of pill packet.
  • Thread separate powerful as an image? [No 19-21] Dissects image (Picasso?) [No 19]
  • Focus on face [No 21]
  • Humour of the proportions, floating, head in pain? Continues pose, effortless pose, contained.
  • It’s about what I use in terms of the 3D objects.
  • Some distort, some add, thread could be on a front cover of a magazine.
  • Say that we obsess over looks (media not women).
  • Problem to disrupt magazines, hard to subvert. The question of desire and allure?
  • All have an ideal of what is attractive culturally.
  • What would they be like as part of a bigger piece?
  • Tampon doesn't work.
  • Connotations are very heavy (pill packet).
  • 3D doesn't work as well for some people due to the placement and choice of objects; the objects are too obvious and continue the form.
  • Keeping the glossiness, not subverting/ attacking them.
  • Need to decide if I'm sculpting a construct or simply a montage.
  • What would happen if the images were placed in an environment? Paper feels temporary, try placing them in a picture painting?
  • Play bigger with more materials, wilder! They need to be released.
  • Put back in a magazine? Test them.
  • Photocopy bits, blow up and create my own landscape, recognise as figures they all are. 
  • Sense of body is a projection. Play bodily e.g. if knee hurts make it bigger in the collage?
  • Hannah Hoch (similar to her work, good!).
  • Piece: Pile of pills a woman would take in a year.
  • Dale Holmes: PhD graduate, how to construct an image: cut-paint-cut.

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage and embroidery A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage A3

Collage and embroidery A3

Collage A3

Vikki Stevens is an emerging artist interested in many areas including body image, mental health and abstraction. Her latest series of work aims to show how images and perceptions of women are “put- together”/ manufactured, and how these images and perceptions affect how women feel about their own body image. Vikki’s ideas for her artwork are expressed in mediums such as paint, collage and sculptural objects, mostly incorporating repurposed images from magazines and found documents. Artists such as Tracey Emin and Hannah Hoch have a large influence on her work. Both the personal perspective and distorted images play a major part in creating pieces that discuss personal as well as cultural issues within mainly the western world/media sphere. Stevens is planning on developing her work into a more abstract sphere to investigate feelings that she has herself and how she can communicate them by using and developing abstract techniques, continuing with collage as a starting influence. Currently the materials and processes she has used in her past work and the work in development are having a large impact on how the work develops and the message behind the work is entirely open. Rather than having a stand out message Stevens is now moving towards a more indirect way of working, focusing more on feelings rather than statements. Current concerns within the work reflect how Stevens feels about herself in day-to-day life and how outside influences affect her and her work. More specifically Stevens is dealing with feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and how she feels as an individual in the world. Artists such as Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, Yago Hortal and Steve Salo are having a large impact on the current work in development.

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