What makes you tick?
Over the last few weeks I have been working with students researching art projects, and during discussions I am often asked what makes me ‘tick’?
I have been lucky enough to have had several working trips to galleries and museums over the last few weeks, and amongst these were visits to two of my favorites; the Pitt Rivers Museum, at Oxford University and the British Museum in London. Any time I visit these museums I fill several pages of my notebooks with writings and sketches to support work that I am developing in the studio.
The Victorian layout of the Pitt Rivers is fascinating and brings out the curiosity in me, with all the dark cases full to the brim of interesting anthropological objects from far flung regions of the world and antiquated labels revealing the use of these bizarre objects including carrying a pair of moles feet in your pocket to ward off toothache!!!
The British Museum is always a great favorite of mine and the beautiful artifacts are a superb source of ideas.
As a self-taught carver, seeing objects such as the Lewis Chessmen fills me with admiration for the craftsmen who produced these superb pieces of art and with a degree of skill that I would love to bring into the work I produce. Some of the religious objects from Ireland and Scotland leave me in awe of their intricate detail and decoration.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out and about around some more of our fascinating museums and feed my imagination and language in art. I’m off to New York in a few days adn I’m sure I’ll not be disappointed with the wealth of art I’ll be able to fill my books with!
