Group Presentations

Esmée

Esmée presented work consisting of tattered papers and fabrics with pen and pencil drawings of found objects and people, marker pens colourings, embroidery and loose threads and a mannequin with ripped and folded paper stapled to it. She had all the papers presented together in a series and the mannequin shown separately.

Thematically, she was looking at 'low culture', commodities, mass production, consumption and the effects this had on mental health. She had works depicting McDonalds' chicken nuggets, train tickets, Adidas, homeless men, drugs, alcohol and nudity. One reoccurring motif was lonely or isolated looking men. Some where strangers she had met in the world and asked to draw, and others men she knew, such as her father and boyfriend. In the presentation, some peers asked her about the role gender plays in her work. She discussed feeling strongly towards the lack of awareness, support and exposure of men struggling with mental health issues.

In terms of moving forward, we discussed Nan Goldin as a photographer who is described as 'snapshot', in that she takes photos there and then and puts more emphasis on the people and emotions of the work and less about the formal elements of photography. We also talked about Camp aesthetic, which plays with and combines high and low culture to undermine both terms. We proposed ideas for how she could exhibit work in a professional way that supports her themes and style. At the time we discussed drawing and sewing into canvas material so it can be stretched and presented as such. Since this presentation, for the exhibition we put together, she found old ceiling lights and so used them as light boxes with the work printed onto vinyl and stuck on top. This was extremely successful in the exhibition. The bright light mimics that of the McDonalds sign and has a great plastic aesthetic which butted up against the more upsetting undertones (addiction, depressed) in her work.