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MA Final Show 2020
This project centres around personal psychoanalysis over the course of 2020, reflecting on my anxiety, the COVID lockdown, and my gradual emotional progress. I aimed to use materials which reflected not only the restrictions of the pandemic, but also the attitude of the 20th century Italian Arte Povera movement: they challenged the high-gloss definition of fine art, and sought poetry in the objects surrounding us. I aimed to use materials which might have been discarded had I not intervened.
Chapter 1: Melancholy
Initially, my work reflected my attitude: searching for escape from everyday life. I became drawn to puddles, and the reflections within reminded me of a portal to an alternate, ethereal universe. I became fascinated by nature and dreams, and the solace they provided me. By surrounding myself in nature or locking myself in my daydreams, I was able to escape - but in doing so, I wasn't improving my situation, just avoiding it.
Chapter 2: Contemplation
As COVID-19 arrived in the UK and the lockdown began, many became immersed in our immediate domestic surroundings. We were forced to pause, trapped in a repetitive cycle, yearning for excitement. Within this stasis, events emulating the world pre-lockdown continued, highlighting fundamental issues within our society's infrastructure; in a situation where many had very little to do, these issues gained more attention than they might have in ordinary circumstances, and exposed opportunity for reform.
Chapter 3: Hope
I eventually reached a point of personal optimism that I had never felt before. Equipped with new tools, I saw a change in the way I addressed life. To sustain this I turned back to nature; having looked at humanity's reaction to the pandemic, I wanted to explore how nature had changed. Found imagery showed international trends of adaptation, and these led me to further photography of nature reclaiming its space. In these images I saw a twisted optimism.
Final Piece
Convergence
I wanted my final piece to feel open-ended, and forward looking. I decided to finish with a drawing -it felt poetic, as I had started this project with drawing and choosing this way to end it felt like I had come full circle. My attitude to how I made this drawing had changed, however - I had gone from being meticulous and obsessed with the final result, to a drawing left partial and unfinished.
I chose the title CONVERGENCE, to reflect my analysis of these three stages, these different parts of me. I knew that my work wasn't done, and the darkness I’ve felt before will never be totally gone, but I had finally found balance.