Chiara Williams
I am interested in how my existing work develops within new outlines or confines - those imposed by the journey, by the van and by my new identity as a mother. Strict principles of space, scale, time and priority will all begin to establish a kind of dogma, to which I will have to adapt and from which I will have to create.
Logistics include the space available in the van, the scale and variety of media/materials I am able to transport and collect, and the time I have available to me (when not driving, nursing or fending for ourselves).
I have not made much work since giving birth to Delphine, so I am not sure how my altered identity will inform the content of my work, which until now was closely concerned with social and cultural constructions of beauty and value and the homogenisation of female beauty, but, I am inevitably finding myself much more interested in notions of the sacred feminine and the myth of the goddess.
Media: research through collecting, photographing, assembling collage, paint, drawing
website: http://www.chiarawilliams.com/chiara-williams.html
Logistics include the space available in the van, the scale and variety of media/materials I am able to transport and collect, and the time I have available to me (when not driving, nursing or fending for ourselves).
I have not made much work since giving birth to Delphine, so I am not sure how my altered identity will inform the content of my work, which until now was closely concerned with social and cultural constructions of beauty and value and the homogenisation of female beauty, but, I am inevitably finding myself much more interested in notions of the sacred feminine and the myth of the goddess.
Media: research through collecting, photographing, assembling collage, paint, drawing
website: http://www.chiarawilliams.com/chiara-williams.html
work in progress 12 - 21 July
I brought with me a few started paintings and source materials I'd been interested in for a while. These seemed to make more sense to me now. I finally finished some pieces I'd been working on and started altering others. There are film stills from The Graduate, photos of me in a swimming pool taken by Jay, and what I call my collage paintings, derived from various imagery sources including magazines.
I pinned up some of these on the side of the van and again on the white walls inside. We brought some great magnets for this purpose. I realise a common thread in these paintings is leisure, holiday, lost time...the swimming pool and the sense of floating seems to fit quite well with the slightly aimless nature of our van trip, as well as perhaps a continued resistance to the idea of 'growing up' or doing things sensibly...
I pinned up some of these on the side of the van and again on the white walls inside. We brought some great magnets for this purpose. I realise a common thread in these paintings is leisure, holiday, lost time...the swimming pool and the sense of floating seems to fit quite well with the slightly aimless nature of our van trip, as well as perhaps a continued resistance to the idea of 'growing up' or doing things sensibly...
work in progress 22 - 30 July
I started collecting some images on my camera phone.. These are not works in themselves, but might become part of a painting or collage at some point. For now they are simply fragments..
Blue keeps reappearing, whether colbalt, ultramarine, sky, lapis. I keep coming back to the sea & sky, the virgin's mantle and the vivid skies from frescos and altar pieces. Architectural forms within landscape and images of are drapery and fabrics are also starting to reassert themselves.
So, my collection begins with, below: chairs in a cafe by the Atlantic ocean; the shape of the blue sky above the Chateaux des Milandes (once Josephine Baker's residence); and in the little town of Penne D'Agenais, perched atop the highest hill, we came across the Notre Dame de Peyragude. It is built upon the site of some remarkable caves and an anecdote involving a little shepherd girl who sought shelter there and met the virgin mary herself...
The steps and forms within these caves bear a remarkable similarity to the steps and atmosphere in one of my oldest dreams...imagery which I have often returned to but never fully resolved.
Blue keeps reappearing, whether colbalt, ultramarine, sky, lapis. I keep coming back to the sea & sky, the virgin's mantle and the vivid skies from frescos and altar pieces. Architectural forms within landscape and images of are drapery and fabrics are also starting to reassert themselves.
So, my collection begins with, below: chairs in a cafe by the Atlantic ocean; the shape of the blue sky above the Chateaux des Milandes (once Josephine Baker's residence); and in the little town of Penne D'Agenais, perched atop the highest hill, we came across the Notre Dame de Peyragude. It is built upon the site of some remarkable caves and an anecdote involving a little shepherd girl who sought shelter there and met the virgin mary herself...
The steps and forms within these caves bear a remarkable similarity to the steps and atmosphere in one of my oldest dreams...imagery which I have often returned to but never fully resolved.
work in progress 31 July - 6 August
We have had what is effectively a week-long residency (29 July - 6 August) at ID Projects, St Angel, Haute Correze, courtesy artists Phil Ilingworth and Natalie Dowse. At the end of the week we held a trial exhibition - see our Stealth Gallery page for more info and pics.
Below are photos of what I exhibited. The show included about 7 new pieces created while here in Haute Correze and 3 pieces created on the road over the last 3 weeks. There are many other works created over the last 3 weeks and documented in previous posts above, but for various reasons they were all either unfinished/unresolved or simply didn't hang well together, so I left them in a portfolio underneath my 'wall'.
The new works created here were done very quickly, but are in fact a culmination of things I'd been procrastinating over for some time. I've been cutting out and collecting images of drapery for about 2 years now, with a view to building some complex compositions, and spent most of my time endlessly moving the elements around, never committing to glueing them down! I finally decided to bite the bullet, be a bit less precious and just try some out.
The decision to use drapery was originally inspired by artists like Poussin, who use the folds of cloth to create the pivotal drama and colour in their paintings. I collect drapery from magazines like Vogue - so in keeping with my previous work - but this time the female figure is partially or completely removed.
Below are photos of what I exhibited. The show included about 7 new pieces created while here in Haute Correze and 3 pieces created on the road over the last 3 weeks. There are many other works created over the last 3 weeks and documented in previous posts above, but for various reasons they were all either unfinished/unresolved or simply didn't hang well together, so I left them in a portfolio underneath my 'wall'.
The new works created here were done very quickly, but are in fact a culmination of things I'd been procrastinating over for some time. I've been cutting out and collecting images of drapery for about 2 years now, with a view to building some complex compositions, and spent most of my time endlessly moving the elements around, never committing to glueing them down! I finally decided to bite the bullet, be a bit less precious and just try some out.
The decision to use drapery was originally inspired by artists like Poussin, who use the folds of cloth to create the pivotal drama and colour in their paintings. I collect drapery from magazines like Vogue - so in keeping with my previous work - but this time the female figure is partially or completely removed.
work in progress 7 - 25 August
We've been on the road and then with family for the last 2 weeks, so not much actual work made. I've been mainly doing research and reading. Having mentioned Poussin in my last post, I happened to come across (in Saint Etienne Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art) a lone magazine on Poussin, rammed with his paintings and so much better than a book, as I won't feel bad if I end up cutting any of it up. Hopefully will have some work finished for my next post.
scrapbook 26 August - 30 September
errr, nope, no new work finished - too much going on, but here are some images I am keeping for reference...
work in progress 1 October - 31 Dec 2015
at work on the road and in the new flat
paintings
surfaces scrapbook - stuff that might end up in a painting
object scrapbook - stuff that might end up in a painting
scene scrapbook - stuff that might end up in a painting
work in progress 1 January - 31 March 2016
and work exhibited at Red Van London Pit stop April 2016
work in progress 1 April - 31 May 2016
I've mainly been working on the SOLO Award 2016 - since the launching the new open call at the London Art Fair, along side work by 2015 winner Kyung Hwa Shon - and continuing research and planning for my new space Chiara Williams Contemporary Art which had a soft launch in London in April. Part of this research includes meetings and talks with curators, gallerists, museum directors, collectors and of course, artists! In May I had a number of encounters with Sicilian artists...see the blog here.