Instructions from artist Alison Carey – part 1
Instructions from artist Alison Carey – part 2
The Ditto Project invited artist Alison Carey to contribute instructions to the investigation. In response to this, Alison gave an extensive account of what she considered to be the core process behind what constitutes her work. The challenge then was to follow her guidance through the myriad of themes and influences that fuel her art.
Contextual Prep Work
Read the following
Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime by Jeremy Gilbert-Rolf
The Sublime and the Avant-garde by Jean Francois Lyotard
The First Man was an Artist by Barnett Newman
A work of your choice on feminist theory
Familiarize yourself with the work of the following artists
Marlene Dumas; Anselm Kiefer; Egon Schiele; Bill Viola; Marina Abramovic; Mark Rothko; Casper David Friedrich; Barnett Newman.
Image Sourcing and Assembly
Gather from any available sources images that relate to the following:
Female Bodies
Fashion shots; dancers; glamour shots; strippers; friends and family; any images where a woman fulfils a clear role or stereotype.
Most importantly, it is important to photography yourself in an interior space fulfilling these stereotyped roles (lighting should be strong and acidic, background should be minimal and generally blank. This gives a highly stylized image with a sense of artificiality.
Settings
Forests; lakes/pools; disused spaces; outdoor nighttime; imagined spaces; violent landscapes and natural disasters.
Escapes
Ladders; lakes/pools; ropes; diving boards; bridges; train tracks; any element which can be used to link one body to another.
Practice arranging these elements on a ground. It helps to make preparatory drawings in order to create good compositions.
Compositions should be either:
a. Close up on figure in exaggerated posture
b. Containing landscape elements with figure placed off-centre and at a distance. It should have at least one escape element.
Instructions for Making Works on Paper
You Will Need
Sheets of Bockingford paper or low-grade water colour paper; white gesso paint; black Indian ink; willow charcoal; pastel black chalk; black and white poster paint; brushes/sponges/cloths/scrapers (anything with a sharp edge); jar of water and a jar of linseed oil.
Prepare your paper grounds by painting a layer of gesso onto the paper. As the gesso is chalk based it prevents the paint elements from soaking into the paper and corroding over a short time.
Using your gathered materials, transfer your combined gathered images onto the paper
These drawings are both preparations for works on canvas and sometimes can be finished works in themselves. Finished works should always be placed inside a white box frame.
Instructions for Making Work On Canvas
Making stretchers and stretching canvases
You will need:
Lengths of wood cut 2″ x 1″
Cut lengths of curved ½ quadrant (cut at a 43 degree angle)
A box of ¾” screws
A box of ¾ wood pins
Bottle of wood glue
Hammer
Electric Screwdriver
Lengths of wood should have ends cut into a basic right angle groove so as to fit together in a frame. If possible it is best to have a carpenter do this, as it need to be very precise and can be tricky to do.
Stretchers should always be rectangular and the dimensions are usually:
130cm x 110cm
120cm x 90cm
90cm x 70cm
70cm x 50cm
Lengths of wood should have ends cut into a basic right angle groove so as to fit together in a frame. If possible it is best to have a carpenter do this, as it need to be very precise and can be tricky to do
The larger stretchers should have grooves cut into the mid-way point in order to place a cross bar. This prevents the tension on the canvas causing warping over time.
Put some wood glue inside each of the corner joins
Screw in two screws into each of the joins
Glue the quadrant lengths onto the outside edges of the frame forming 90-degree angles at the corner joins.
Hold the quadrant in place with the wood pins one inch apart.
The purpose of the quadrant is to raise the canvas off the wooden frame so as to prevent the imprint of the wood coming through the canvas.
Stretching the canvas
Cut the canvas cloth 5-6 inches larger than the stretcher on all sides ie.
Stretcher – 120cm x 90cm
Canvas – 125cm x 95cm
With the quadrant facing to the floor, fold the canvas over one side of the frame and staple at the mid-point with a staple gun.
Repeat on all four sides. The canvas is now fixed to the frame.
Place the next staple 1″ apart from the first
Place the next staple diagonally opposite to this after pulling the canvas tight over the frame
The next staple goes beside the mid-point staple on the other bat. Then place one diagonally opposite, pulling the canvas tight each time.
Work your way out from the mid-point staple placing each 1″ apart until you reach the corner. The diagonal folding gives cross tension giving the canvas better spring.
Fold the canvas tightly at the corner and reinforce the fold with extra staples. Pull the corners extra tight in order to remove any wrinkles on the surface.
Priming the canvas
You will need:
Rabbit skin glue grains
White gesso
Large house painting brushes
To make rabbit skin glue, place a handfull of grains in a large tin or basin.
Add the same amount of cold water and stir with a stick or brush handle.
Double this mixture by pouring in boiling water. Stir continually until the grains dissolve which should take about ten minutes.
Paint on rabbit skin glue while it is hot and allow to dry. This also has a tightening effect and will remove any remaining wrinkles.
When the glue is dry, paint gesso over the whole canvas including the sides. Repeat this with a second coat.
Allow to dry overnight
Making images in canvas
You will need:
Charcoal, willow and black pastel chalk
Black ink
Pencils
Oil paint as follows:
- French Ultramarine Blue
- Crimson Red
- Burnt Amber
- Raw Sienna
- Lemon Yellow
- Pains Grey
- Large amount of raw white
Bottle of linseed oil
Bottle of turpentine
Bottle of white spirits
It is possible to work on a piece for a long period of time but each painting must be approached with the same high energy.
What to do with fininshed works
When you feel a work is finished, sign it on the back so as not to interrupt the image
Any marks that occur on the sides of the canvas should be left untouched
Hang the work on a wall and live with it for at least one week. Then make any changes which you feel necessary.
You may approach a number of galleries with images of your work, an artist’s CV and a biography of yourself.
You may folow up your applications with a phone call and endeavour to have your work sold through the gallery.
Works can also be sold to private clients, given to friends and family or kept in your personal collection.
You must keep a number of works in order to build up a body and contect to work in.
You must take a photograph of every work you complete.
