Hi Robyn!
I’m so impressed with the amount of work you’re doing. I decided to try a kind of experimental way of asking questions of your work. If you feel that it is inadequate or that you would like to receive a more formal critique, I’d be more than willing to write more. Just let me know.
Thanks so much for posting and I look forward to reading your response seeing your future work. _A
Started with the Monthly Blog Update >
Explored Links >
Considering the time and clarity of your project and your organizational style, the inability to retrace steps and navigate backward is intentional. It leaves me feeling as though I’ll never fully grasp all of the information that you offer nor will I fully understand the scope or dimensionality of your project. I am forced to work harder just to feel inadequate in the exploration.
Year 2 Proposal >
<Who am I?>
<The intermingling of biological, psychological, philosophical, and sociological definitions >
<Significance of the self portrait>
< self portrayal>
<self betrayal>
<Perception>
<Projection>
<truth>
<Truth>
M505 & M506 Sketchbook >
>What is the Visual dictionary?
<It was a good way to put what had been filling my head during the day while in Ohio onto paper, without being too direct or revealing>
>Why not reveal? Why not reveal it as fiction?
>Do you create work no one but you can see?
>Have you made a self portrait for yourself, not others?
>Is the self portrait primarily social?
>Have you made a self portrait only for you?
M505 & M506 Photographic Paintings>
<What do you find most important/meaningful in the relationships and patterns you are finding in the iterative photographic images?
<Where the slightly pixelated images more compelling to you because they were dissimilar to the more “vogue” uses of pixelation?
<What do you find dissatisfying by the more pixelated images that you are displeasing to you?
<How do you keep from crossing that line?
The question is: What are your thoughts or opinions on work produced under a pseudonym and/or unclear authorship? Can self portraits be produced under these conditions? At which point would a work produced under these conditions no longer be valid as a ‘self portrait’?
<Presentation of self is always considerate of the audience.
<Self portraits are a form of presentation.
<Fiction is sometimes more truthful than reality.
<A self portrait would no longer be a self portrait when the self is no longer considered independent of an audience.
Hello Robyn!
It has been so amazing to see your blog/website thus far! To be able to witness the evolution to this current point, is a rarity and am honored! You have been extremely busy, but I feel like its just pouring out of you like a second breath. Overall, the work speaks to me so much more than last year. The simplicity of the hand, but honest and meaningful touch resonates on a whole new level. As I looked at the galleries, the over-arching theme to me was reducing to a wholesome basic level; visually, emotionally and yet increasing the mental levels. I believe that because I know the rich history of these pieces, I make assumptions, that a viewer not familiar would make. I see each of your gallery sections sketchbook, painting studies process and photographic painting studies process as a whole self portrait, rather than each individual work be a self portrait.
SKETCHES the series based off your trip to Ohio, is raw. I emotionally responded to the series. I was encouraged to believe, saddened by change and brought to a moment in my grandmas house in a matter of moments. The first two sketches (red/turquoise and magenta/ochre) are simply stunning. I can not keep being drawn into the familiarity of them but the new feeling that emerges with them. The black and white text sketches are a beautiful irritation of sorts. The chaos of not knowing and the calming of the abstraction. The balance keeps me intrigued. I would love to see these altogether in a collage sense and see how it would effect the overall feeling of them. The visual dictionary I want to see more of! Maybe creating an actual dictionary of the images. Simple paintings that glorify the shape/design like the periodic table! ha! Robyn Thomas Art Elements! :)
PAINTING STUDIES PROCESS seems to be the next step for the twinning series. I am curious to how these evolve! I can see them as one piece, smaller pieces to a kaleidoscope of twinning and more of an installation, like Somos. OR as individual pieces that will stand alone. Even there commonalities of design will vary and I can see them being more of a metamorphous than a sequence. Good for you for going back to oils! I am not quite there, almost. Bear oil counts right?! I did question if you favored a medium for painting. You use everything and seem to use them all equally, just curious.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PAINTING STUDIES PROCESS is the next level! These “installations”, is that what you’re calling them, are cellular self portrait!!!! It is a brilliant way to display the self in more reflective approach of abstraction. The composition of who we are cell by cell, image by image to create whatever we want. We can take those ‘building blocks’ and design how we want people to see us. We can make patterns, chaos, etc. But it’s all still the same images. Which some what answers your questions you had about authorship/pseudonym and self portraits. I believe that we are given the same images and it’s up to us create what we what want from them. I feel that self portraits can be produced by unclear authorship. I see that maybe the conflict of anonymity would hinder the self portrait stigma but at the end of the day I say if paint as Pixie and paint a self portrait you are Pixie, even if it is you. wowza. does that make sense?! At this point in art history and contemporary art thinking, self portrait is broad that the limitations are almost extinct. The internet streams to such a thin line of information of authorship/identity of creator that the boundaries are almost liquid. free flowing.
A great body of work Robyn! I am excited to see where this all leads and the efforts of slowing down are highly visible in the emotional and complexity of the work that you are producing.
Best,
L
Hi Robyn,
Here are my thoughts regarding your blog and galleries. Thanks, Stephanie
Painting Studies Process
I like the source photo on the wood with all the striations! Am also enjoying the flesh tones in the image. Following the stages through to the texture detail on wood and paper was informative and what appeared to be the end result, very beautiful. The care taken in the patterns shows a sensitivity that I appreciate. The color variations are fun. Still I would like to see one in flesh tones like the photo. I think that would satisfy me more, just as a departure point though. Using those “self portrait” kaleidoscopic details as your starting place is a great idea. The shapes and compositions have an organic feel not often found in geometric designs. Following your work from last year, I have a deeper appreciation for the elements that directly relate to what you completed then and reference your experiences with epilepsy. Without viewing those works with these side by side, I seem to feel more affected by these pieces. I feel more disoriented, which you may or may not be trying to achieve.
You asked, “Does increasing the number of things your working on count as slowing down?” :) Funny question. Seems legit since it now takes longer to finish each individual project.
You also asked,“What are your thoughts or opinions on work produced under a pseudonym and/or unclear authorship? Can self portraits be produced under these conditions? At which point would a work produced under these conditions no longer be valid as a ‘self portrait’?”
I've never had a problem with pseudonyms. I am somewhat more bothered by unclear or flat out unclaimed authorship if I really like the work because I am unable to find more work by that person then. I definitely think it's fine to make self-portraits which do not physically distinguish their creator as you are doing.
Photographic Paintings Studies Process
It was weird to see the photo you took of your self-portrait wall from this summer at SomoS. I don't remember that layout at all. Did you change it ever or was it arranged that same way the whole time?
The new arrangement with huge lips / no nose 4x6's is funny and strange. I'm not sure if taking some out worked best or not. I would have to see both compositions from the further distance to really tell.
Finally, thanks for the great documentation of the workshops you took this summer. It helps me experience ones I was interested in, but took another I was more interested in. I still haven't written up anything from this summer, unfortunately. At this point, it may never happen.
Dear Robyn,
First of all I have to say, wow!!! The amount of work you do is totally impressive, I have to say I’m a bit overwhelmed and I haven’t been able to go through all the information there. I apologies for this, I will be checking your website the rest of the week, because I’m very intrigued by what I have read and seen so far.
Now straight to your questions…
The question is: What are your thoughts or opinions on work produced under a pseudonym and/or unclear authorship?
I think the pseudonym is a resource highly used for many different reasons. I believe the need for doing this might bring a powerful understanding of what kind of human being the artist is, where he/she stands in life and what is the type relationship he/she has with the artwork and the art world.
Having an unclear authorship could be a subversive act but also a humbling one. Are you more interested in the work itself than you relationship with it, that you don’t care to be personally related to it? It could be a more existential relationship with your process, a conscious decision of eliminating your name so the work lives and holds by itself with no direct background but the image presented and the emotions and thoughts the spectator might have at the moment of encountering the work.
Can self portraits be produced under these conditions?
I think a self-portrait can be produced under these conditions. Here we could discuss what we understand by a self-portrait, and if the name of the artist is need or not (I believe is not), but at the end the power resides in the name of the piece, as long as the word self-portrait is tag along there, there will be no argument. Now, do you want it to be named self-portrait? Is it important for the audience to understand that is a self-portrait? I believe in your case it is a key point, because the self-portrait is an extremely intimate statement that allows the public to connect with the experience of epilepsy.
At which point would a work produced under these conditions no longer be valid as a ‘self portrait’?
Well here you got me thinking. I could see that every single work an artist make is a self-portrait of some kind, but I guess if we look at this matter in a very classical way and get rigorous the moment you have an abstract painting and remove the word “self-portrait” from the title, you have managed to take the public in a totally different road. But I have question here, what is a self-portrait for you? What is the key part in it that the audience has to take home? Is important for the work to be recognized as a self-portrait, or would you be satisfied is the spectator experiences all the emotions contained in the work even if they don’t see it as a portrait?
Some notes on the website…
Well here I’m going to be very brief because I’m still processing all the information I got and I need to look further into your site. I promise for the next session I’ll do better ;)
1. I was very intrigued and found extremely interesting that you had a story about a road trip and the idea of driving, maps, road and positioning was so present in your blog and the relationship it has with epilepsy. The need to control, guide when you have no control at all. I don't know if it was a coincidence I started there, but it really stuck in my mind. Is this something present in your work, have you thought about this relationship? I would love to hear more. I think this is something really important in your work and somehow leeks though the rest of your works (I mean the galleries you have on your website).
2. I think it would be important, to review the amount of information you have on your website, perhaps not all is paramount. I say this because when you’re a stranger going through your website it might get overwhelmed and decides to quit before it gets it. For example the images of the process of the work could be filtered and just leave the key moments. I think there are so many amazing things there it would be a shame not to convey this effectively. But it all depends what your goals are for the website, is just for Transart?
3. Regarding the work I found very interesting the gallery of photographic paintings. At the beginning the pixelated images weren’t my favorites because is something I’ve seen a lot, but as you move along I think you're achieving a very unique way of constructing the image with this resource. I very interested also in your last composition where you’re using the eyes and mouth to create a abstraction and how you start taking bits away and then leaving just a few on the wall. Have you though on doing a video or animation of this process?
4. I found really refreshing that all the kaleidoscopic type of images are coming from a physical involvement and then going to a two dimensional work. This is no longer an effect but an experience. Thinking about the notions of the selfie and identity, I think you’re onto something very interesting here. Way to go!
Well my dear, I guess this is it for now, there are so much more to write about, but just let me finish by saying congratulations, it’s amazing to see such commitment and dedication to your practice, it is so beautiful and inspiring!
Besos y abrazos,
O
Hi Robyn!
Thanks for your post.
As you discuss in your paper and 2nd year proposal, a pseudonym allows for a certain amount of either anonymity or presentation of oneself as an alternate persona. In either instance, it allows for a personal distance from the material.
I find the images In Self Reflective compelling. I particularly like the images which combine your paintings with photographic images which appear fugitive. The union of images provides an interesting glimpse into the idea of the interior and exterior view of the self.
I wasn’t initially sure how I felt about the images which included the views of the cell phone. As I continued thinking about the work in the context above, and the culture of the “selfie “which you discussed, I thought that conceptually I liked the explorations of aesthetic distance, but visually I prefer the others.
In Twinning there is really no recognizable self-portrait; in fact some of your images are very abstracted. The images are beautiful and lush, the colours and texture palpably sensuous and rich. I prefer the colour images to the one rendered in black and white, as I feel the colour enhances the impression of animation.
The Sketchbook images in the Year 2 section weren’t there (they didn’t show up on either my cell or my laptop).Looking at the images in the year one archive, I loved the photographs which you had directly sketched on. Again, with regard to notions of aesthetic distance, these works seem so voluptuous and deliciously fleshy, and your interventions drew me further into the work without violating that distance.
The images which you produced using the kaleidoscope program I didn’t find as successful visually. Perhaps they felt too removed from having your touch, somehow too regular. While I found all of your other works to have that sense of the self-portrait about them, these felt as they were at too impersonal somehow. Was it your intention to create more of a remove? The paintings, by their nature having your direct intervention, are more successful in conveying your intent, I think.
The journal aspects of the sketchbooks are wonderful, and the way in which you have incorporated those materials in your other work adds such interesting layers of narrative. In your year one archive, I liked reading the titles of the works as a list, but I was wondering if it would be possible to also add the titles to the images?
I would have loved to have seen and experienced Wanderland! And frankly, I wish I had seen Look In Glass!
· Performance/Installation lends itself well to self-exploration, and you have managed very skillfully to incorporate all aspects of your practice into them…. I’m hoping to have the opportunity to see one of them!
With regard to the production of works produced under a pseudonym and/or unclear authorship:
I feel that works done under a pseudonym are absolutely valid as self-portraits.
There is of course, the old argument that whatever work we produce will have the stamp of the self-portrait. Perhaps borrowing an example from literature will help. Were you to write a biography and publish it under a pseudonym, is it any less biographical? I see the biographical experiences portrayed in a memoir to be the literary equivalent of a self-portrait. Whether it was published under Robyn Thomas or a pseudonym, would that change the experience of the reader? That being said, the choice of pseudonym can influence the distance and suspension of disbelief with which an audience engages with the work (Brecht has a lot to say about this). The author Doris Lessing had also written some interesting essays on the topic of the difficulties of publishing as a novice or unknown writer, after having published a couple of books under a pseudonym (her regular publisher even rejected one of them!).
I’m not sure at what point I would consider a work no longer valid as a self-portrait…. A persona has always felt to me as an extension of self (Erik Ericsson writes about this)… allowing the self to explore and push boundaries unconstrained from the expectations imposed by the roles we assume in our everyday lives (Brecht also has a great deal to say about this, particularly in the Brechtian sense of influencing the degree of involvement of the viewer and the suspension of disbelief).
Perhaps a question to be framed would be what would the adoption of a pseudonym allow you to do that you wouldn’t otherwise do, say, or explore? Do you think it would confer a freedom that you wouldn’t otherwise have? Would it fundamentally change the direction of your work? Or what you are trying to say with the work?
Looking forward to more of this discussion!
Deborah
