29th of July 2022 - The conception of a moth-eyed Jeremy Fisher
Currently, I'm planning on submitting some artwork to the Zimmerman Art Competition. I'm allowed to submit a maximum of 5 paintings/ artworks. I knew I was limited to a depth of 5cm, with a minimum dimensions of 60 x 70cm upto maximum dimensions of around 150 x 100 cm. Hearing these guidelines, initially I thought I would submit 5 collages, as I was really enjoying the process of collaging- especially with access to my collage wall. (side note: I am finding it very satisfying clearing out the paper reserves I have in the corners of my room, to fill the gaps in my collage walls.) It was only when I measured out 60 x 70 cm, that I soon realized these dimensions were far bigger than I realized- around A1 in size! I calculated that trying to carry A1 paper back crease-free from my nearest town, to our higgledy-piggledy household, and then to the gallery was a simply unrealistic goal. I also didn't like this option from an environmental perspective, as I would be doing the opposite of reducing my consumption of new products, in purchasing a brand-new sheet of A1 paper. In the end I figured it would be better and cheaper to try and salvage some leftover art materials from around the house. Then if I need a portfolio for transportation, I can either save one of my old ones or buy one in Newcastle.
So far I have found an old piece of mountboard in A1 size. It is reassuringly sturdy and thick, though it does have my own and someone else's paintings on it.
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If I do decide and have the time to progress beyond 1 painting / collage, I would lke to see if I can find some old metal or wood sheets for a base material- keeping in mind that it must be under 5 cm in depth. As for now, my ideas for subsequent paintings include:
> A giant Jeremy Fisher Moth eye
> A giant Isaac Newton Moth eye (either alone or with a moth-eyed Jeremy Fisher too)
> Jeremy Fisher with a moth eye fishing in a fantasy extra-terrestrial world.
Thinking about it now, I prefer this solution not only from a practical, cost and environmental standpoint- but also from an artistic and conceptual standpoint. To clarify, using unsual materials will be more likely to fulfill the judges desire of something to talk about and study for longer than 30 seconds, as it will likely yield more unexpected results- more material to study and be surprised by. Moroever, I was thinking of Robert Rauschenburg, and the way he used materials off of the street. In short, he was encorperating the environment of the painting into the painting itself.
As for the subject of the painting, I think my harking back for nature and returning home has played a large part in deciding which aspects of my collage wall I was drawn to and wanted to explore. Namely the plants and animals, and particularly the ones that looked extra-terrestrial in some way (sparked by my interest in the Scavengers short animation, Cecily Mary Baker's Flower Fairies, David Attenborough's Documentaries and the Annihlation books and film) or as if they were part of a Rennaisance painting.
Hence my composition thus far features:
> Photos of the biome that I made for A level Biology ( either that or GCSE biology)
> Various cutouts from the Wisely Royal Horticultural Society, National Trust, Furniture, and Laing Art Gallery magazines. A key cutout being a photographed sculpture of Jeremy Fisher from one of Beatrix Potter's illustrated children's stories.
> Some of my old fantastical wildlife drawings from my Fantastic and Strange GCSE Art project.
The compisition of the collage was also influenced by my experimental collaging conducted in my sketchbooks, where I made moths the eye of Jeremy Fisher.
There are several reasons (that I find rather poetic), as to why I wanted to further explore this motif on a larger scale in my collage:
1.I love moths.
2. Moths would freaquent my room alot; of all these the Cinnibar moth was my favourite. Consequently, I've developed a fascination with them as partly a "dark butterfly", but also a nocturnal animal that travels by stars and is thus misguided by anthropologically induced light- rather like humans being misguided by the light of phones. Part of me has come to reimagine them as my companions on earth, like a patronus in Harry Potter. Alternatively, perhaps if I had a super-power, I could be "Moth Woman". Saying that, my youngest sister speculated that my super power would be taking things from reality and abstractifying them into intangible things - which does actually make a lot of sense with me being an artist.
In any case, my fascination with moths means they are quite literally the apple of my eye. From a more physical viewpoint, I See the light being reflected off of their bodies is making its way into my eye, just as it would be for Jeremy Fisher if he was looking at a moth.
3. I thoroughly enjoy Beatrix Potter's illustrations of quaint fauna life- particularly that of The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher. Similarly, I really relate to Ms Potter's way of imagining narritives and imposing them on the tiniest details of life. She adds an extra layer of colour to life, alternatively it could be seen as adding the 5th dimension of the imagination onto the world. More importantly, through this anthropomorphisation of wildlife I think Ms Potter inspires greater empathy for wildlife, a trait that we surely need more of in this current climate crisis.
4. It baffles me why many people dislike moths, unless they are the clothes-eating ones of course. Though in some ways I find this to be a small form of poetic justice or karma; surely a few destroyed clothes does not compare to the destruction humans have wreaked upon other animal's natural habitats. I've heard some people say they dislike the erratic movement of moths through the air, and sometimes the noises they make, but for me these are hardly annoying at all when compared to the slimness of slugs, or the biting nature of bed bugs and mosquitos.
One thing I did not anticipate, was the way collages scale poorly. When compact they look like puzzles of images or tiny visual poems. On a larger scale, however, they just look like a glorified mood-board, for this reason I am dertermined to paint into the collage to unify all of the disparate parts of the collage together.
Appendix:
Annihilation. Netflix and Paramount Pictures, Annhilation. United States: Skydance Media DNA Films Scott Rudin Productions Huahua Media / Paramount Pictures, 2018. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80206300.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter Movies 1 - 8. All Patronuses - Harry Potter 1-8. Rachel the Great-chel, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwwiMCtviZM.
Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher. Project Gutenberg, n.d. https://libsearch.ncl.ac.uk/permalink/f/15e3e4n/TN_cdi_gutenberg_primary_15077
Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher (Sir Isaac Newton on the left). Project Gutenberg, n.d, https://libsearch.ncl.ac.uk/permalink/f/15e3e4n/TN_cdi_gutenberg_primary_15077
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