Frida Kahlo

From Tate Modern's exhibition guide (9 June-9 October 2005):

"The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) is now regarded as one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century...

Severely injured in a bus crash in her youth, Kahlo took up painting when confined to her bed. Kahlo’s life was changed forever by the accident and the portrayal of her body, wracked with pain, is a recurring theme in her paintings. Kahlo said that there were two accidents in her life –  the second was her tempestuous relationship with the renowned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. It is in her iconic self portraits, unrivalled in their poignant beauty, that Kahlo depicts both her isolation and also her indomitable spirit and sense of self...

Kahlo draws upon a diverse range of influences, including Surrealism, ancient Aztec belief, popular Mexican folklore, Eastern philosophy and medical imagery. For example, her chosen format of small-scale oil paintings on metal, inspired by stylistically naive devotional paintings, reflects her Catholic heritage. Yet Kahlo subverts this language by creating taboo-breaking subject matter, dealing with the frailty of the body, birth, life and death."

Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

Self-portrait with Monkey, 1938

The Broken Column, 1944

Damien Rudd

From Damien Rudd's website: http://www.birdsofpanic.com

Objects of intimacy (2011)

A person’s pillow is their most intimate object. For this project I have photographed 5 pillows from 5 different people. Each pillow is at a different stage of transformation relative to its age and frequency of use. 

With these images I aim to show something that is generally hidden. To view them is to see a part of the owner; the history is the relationship between the owner and the object. The pillow is moulded and transformed by the markings of bodily fluids so it becomes as individual and distinctive as that of a fingerprint. It is no longer an innate manufactured object, but is now impregnated with life and mutation.

Each pillow was photographed in the same manner a forensic scientist may examine criminal evidence. The hidden and discreet is now open for public close study. When an individual’s pillow is relieved publicly, it causes a sensation of embarrassment and shame. In our culture, the exertion of bodily fluids is considered distasteful. This is especially true when it may be associated to sleeping in one’s bed (unlike what one may do in the bathroom.) Like other forms of perverse viewing, it is for this reason we find pleasure in viewing it. We are all able to relate to this phenomenon, as each of us owns a pillow as we do underwear or any other object of intimate privacy. 

Our reception is created in the mind's eye, we imagine what we cannot see, that which only existed in the past. We find it somehow disturbing, yet fascinating, as it is one human occurrence that unites us and emphases that in the end, we are just merely human.

Some encouragement

Betty

Gerhard Richter's painting is a combination of realism and colour tests. His 'squeegee' technique distorts and smudges his images, as well as making the colours themselves his subject.

I encountered Richter's Betty at a Tate exhibition about two years ago and I still cannot forget the impression it left on me.
The feeling that the girl in the picture would turn her head and look at me made me very still. I held my breath as I wondered who I was - as the viewer - looking at this person. What was the artist's relationship to this girl? Such a sense of softness; each strand of hair painted as if the artist's hand was caressing her head.



Betty, 1988

A personal favourite

Rachel Whiteread is a British artist who inspires me greatly. 

Her often vast sculptures are created by casting whole buildings or large structures.

House, 1993
Concrete structure

I thought I'd share this video of her talking about the things that she is interested in and all the odd objects that she collects. She also discusses her drawing approach, which is highly varied.

A drawing from Whiteread's Tate Britain exhibition, 2010-11

Original video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEpnkNdYQ_0

Feeling inspired?

I remember what it was like.
Sitting in the art room, covered in paint (most of the time), gazing out the window and then back at a blank page in my sketch book.

Nothing.

The harder I stared at that page, the harder it was to imagine what I'd fill it with.

Waiting for inspiration to come is a risky business because, 9 times out of ten, it just doesn't. And you're left still looking at that piece of paper, or canvas, or space and wondering, 'What am I even doing?' (I'd recommend not asking yourself this question in those sorts of situations - that question alone has been enough to lead me into many art related meltdowns.)

This is the moment where I would like to step in.

I decided to start this blog in the hope that I could help (if even just a tiny bit) to prevent those moments where art students become stuck for ideas and the world suddenly seems very unexciting.
Because, if we were honest, we've all been there.

This will be a space of innovative and exciting art. I shall do my very best to seek out art work and ideas that inspire me and (hopefully) inspire you too.

But first, you should know one very important thing:

Like I said, being inspired doesn't come from watching the clouds roll by (well, that might have helped Constable) or sitting in front of an empty page. (Or even in front of this computer screen.)

Inspiration comes when you get up and do something.
Anything.
Read a book, take a walk in the woods; travel to somewhere new.
Visit a gallery, visit the circus; visit your Gran! (Gran's always have exciting stories to tell, not to mention lots of photographs and funny objects hidden all over the place.)

So, I dare you.

Go and get inspired.

Sarah xo