AMBER SELWAY
During a trip to see my Grandmother in the hospital a couple of days before Christmas, I recognised that all of the walls were white and the surroundings clinical. In my opinion, it wasn’t really a place that someone would want to be and the opportunity to add some colour and vibrancy to the hospital would be an exciting prospect. It would be great for patients to have some escape from the sterile walls and hopefully make them feel even a fraction happier despite being sick. One of the things that stood out to me the most was the impersonal setting and the lack of anything to actually look at. It would be nice to change this and give people something to smile about. The opportunity to work with others on the course to create artwork is something I am keen to do, and I am looking forward to the challenge.
NEWS & UPDATES
FINDING INSPIRATION
After exploring the hospital and being introduced to different areas I was inspired to get to work straight away. Whilst visiting the Acre Mills Outpatient site, we journeyed up the main staircase, from the top of which you can see for miles, spanning all the way to Holme Moss. These views were what kick-started the ideas for my practice, the ideas came quickly and immediately realised that I wanted to create something that contrasted with the complex studio work I had been creating. I found the layers of the landscape interesting and knew they were full of potential for bringing something new to my artistic practice.Â
I did come across a few drawbacks when trying to access the window in order to take further images, some of the staff needed confirmation of the project which I was unable to provide at the time, however, this was something I learnt from and was able to overcome as I had to schedule another time to take the photographs, one where the designated member of staff was able to accompany me.
DEVELOPING ARTWORK
Once I realised what kind of work it was that I wanted to be doing I started creating straight away. Purchasing a sketchbook in which I could record the landscape, using the idea of a single line to form the horizon line and layers below it. This meant looking at the silhouettes created by the trees and buildings that built up the area and documenting the shapes they create. This turned into a series of continuous line drawings within my sketchbook, working to map out the countryside.
Once I had created a few drawings I began to realise that the drawing on the back of my pages was somewhat visible from the front. To explore this further I laid my sketchbook on my lightbox and photographed the pages, this allowed me to see the varied transparency of the layers and build up a landscape of my own using single line drawings.
ADDITION OF COLOUR AND EXPLORING NEW TECHNIQUES
Once I'd explored the potential of line drawings I wanted to add a dash of colour to my work as this was something I set out to do in my proposed ideas. I mulled over various potential ways of doing this, ranging from changing the colour of the pen I used to create the line drawings to adding block colours. However, I wanted to choose a technique that brought an air of excitement to the work, something that showed the vastness of the planet we live on. I felt that acrylic pouring would be a great way of doing just that. In many ways, this technique provides outcomes that look like patterns and colours you might see in outer space.
I certainly enjoyed the process and I liked experimenting with new techniques and colours to create interesting and visually stimulating outcomes. I also wanted the work to be site-specific and hope to exhibit them in within the Acre Mills site as that is where they were created to go.