Finding Deeper Meaning

Some of you know that I teach Art to secondary students and that this year I set myself the challenge of following the year 12 curriculum I teach. We are half way through the year and I have finished my folio of exploratory work. Yes, it has been beneficial from a teacher’s viewpoint, as going through the course has given me a more realistic view on the complexities of the course and what is achievable for high school students. I have more compassion for my students when they fall behind, give up or rush through some parts of the process because I did this too! The course demands a deep artistic process and I will admit I struggled at times to keep up with my own work brief. But I stuck to the same deadlines I gave my students and managed to produce 92 pages of developmental work in my folio (I was aiming for 100 but I’m pretty happy with that effort). I’ve learnt a lot through the process, but I have two main take-aways that I wanted to share for anyone wanting to deepen their art.

1)    Gathering inspiration is worth the time and effort.

All artists get ideas for artworks from somewhere. My mistake has always been not to document it properly. I take photos when I go to galleries, I look at a lot of art online, but I’ve never really spent the time collating this in my sketchbook, which meant I never connected it to my own work in any way. The course required me to do this and I will admit it took quite a bit of time putting in all into my folio. But it’s been more valuable than I could have imagined. Something magical happened through the process of sorting my inspiration and influences. I started to see connections between the things I was drawn to and could start to articulate the reasons why. I evaluated other artist’s work in more detail which meant I could get specific about what it was that I was trying to do. I started to see that I had been absorbing artistic influences my entire life but hadn’t studied them enough to get clear on what it is I actually liked. The style of my work has blended the styles of Art Nouveau with stained glass windows to create simplified illustrations that honestly remind me of coloring books. This shouldn’t be a surprise since coloring was my favorite past time as a kid. As a result, I’ve ended up with a style that feels like me, but also refreshingly new. I would not have ended up here if I had not taken the time to collate my inspirations in a way that I could see it all at once and reflect on it. If you’re starting out as an artist I urge you to spend time doing this. It really helps.

2)    Meaning develops over time

My work has been devoid of meaning for a long time and part of the reason I took on this challenge was to deepen my work’s themes. When I started this process, I was exploring my response to the question ‘what is sacred?’ Stained glass windows were the catalyst to this idea as I wanted my message to fit the aesthetic. I hadn’t thought much on my response to this question other than it is nature that is sacred to me. To communicate nature as a sacred living being, like many before me, I personified her as Mother Earth. I appropriated Christian imagery and substituted figures such as Jesus and Mary with an aboriginal Earth Mother. I did this simply to communicate my connection to place but this is where my work started to take on more meaning. Depicting an indigenous figure with Australian flora and fauna, mixed with Christian imagery, I seemed to be exploring Australia’s colonial past and the domination of white Australia over our indigenous people and their land, as well as my own ‘white guilt’. Further to this, the theme of Australia’s extinction crisis evolved out of the crucifixion scene. I’m hearing more and more about how Australia is losing its wildlife at an alarming rate and so I participated in the Black Finch Project as a form of activism. This is not where I thought I would end up. I started out with perhaps a spiritual intention and have finished with work of a more political message.

It’s NAIDOC week this week and this year’s themes are voice, treaty and truth. I feel that my work aligns with these themes and it certainly has me thinking about how our country is going to work together to heal our aboriginal communities and build a better Australia for everyone.

My relationship with my work is still evolving and I’m sure it will deepen as I continue to work with my imagery. But for now, I feel positive about where my creative genius is taking me! I guess what I'm trying to say is good art evolves so don't rush it.

Until next time,

Erin