Composition/process – static v. Fluid
Single elements on multiple surfaces to construct a continuous image
The role of drawing
I now need to create drawings and prints as pieces in their own right, using them to work through ideas. My intention is to create 360 degree drawings to extract slithers to create fictional environments anchored in reality. I also intend to embark on a more focused study of micropsia and macropsia, scale shifting, changes in perception and perspective, dream and myth making. Before these themes become solid, I need to explore through drawing to reach a balance between literal and conceptual interpretation. There is also potential to play with drawingness in paintings, perhaps using paint to draw with or leaving evidence of drawing.
Sets and series
Larger pieces require more components which could include environmental features, figures, animals and manmade structures. I will continue to work on multiple surfaces, but may also investigate making the same painting twice so I leave room for surface exploration. To reinforce chronology, and to develop a sense of duality in my work, I intend to play with repeating a single figure within the composition; this may tease the viewer and create dialogue around the process of looking. Blending with a sense of narrative and ‘bookness’; surfaces act as pages in a chronological journey which can be subverted and drawn from exploiting post-modern anti-chronological techniques. I am also interested in referencing illustrative devices, which the viewer may recognise and begin to apply their own narrative and links.
Performance, costuming and props
There is an opportunity to return to the question of what makes a spectacle. I want to create suspense and disguise, a sense of reshaping and escaping identity, and in particular, explore the staging of a younger self. By using an element of performance in the collation of imagery, I hope to capture spontaneity and movement to maintain changes made in the previous unit. It would be appropriate to experiment with more gestural painting techniques to mirror this thematic enquiry.
Reflection and shadow
Both reflection and shadow have emerged as exciting elements in the narrative weaving of alternate truths. I imagine creating shadow people, a sense of duplicity, multiplicity and figures unstitched. I am particularly interested in the use of conceptual and compositional devices, for example the curve and its significance in the representation of the feminine. In addition, water and the mirror could introduce greater depth (pictorial and conceptual) and open potential for a greater sense of magical realism. Exploring and recording residue or trails could also establish links between figure and environment.
Alexa Cox Studio 