PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE M O N I C A W I L K I N S O N

ABOUT ME

MY PROCESS- NATURAL DYES

CLOUD WATCHING

INSPIRATIONS

FINAL MAJOR PROJECT, THE END IS NIGH

THE NEXT STEP

EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

CURATING EXHIIBITIONS

PROMOTION

I am inspired by things which imply a humble, simple celebration of

life. In the past I have found it difficult to pinpoint in words ex-

cactly what motivates me to make work. I have applied it to different

themes ie- a landscape or a Journey. However in these themes, they

embody the same feeling of freedom and youthful joy! I have been us-

ing the natural world and taking directly from it in my work as a

catalyse to represent this feeling of pure, untainted happiness, for

even just a moment. Standing beneath the trees, the sun beating down,

tingling through my body, I have never felt so alive, sensations run-

ning all through me. It allows me to take a step back from life and

put things in to perspective.

About me.

There is nothing more important than enjoy-

ing each moment we spend on this earth. In the

most simplest situations; this is when I am

most aware of what it means to just be. There

should be no separation between life and work.

From applying this to the Journey; as I did for

a project last year, I began dying fabrics with

natural substances then, and then after walking

across Spain last summer, I was inspired to ex-

periment with everything I had thought on this

journey to my practice.

'Better to have a short life that is full of which you like doing then a long life spent in a miserable way.'

ALAN WATTS

NATURAL DYES

Working with natural dyes has been an amazing material to

work with, each dying process becomes an experiment. I be-

gan working with natural dyes last year and the simplicity

of it reflects the feelings I want my work to convey. However

it has taken a long time to get to this point with them as

before I tried dying on silk, the colours were a lot duller,

now I have managed to create some very vivid patterns and

colours in them. Not only has it really made me appreciate

natural colours but also the amount of colour that surrounds

us daily, that we are numb to noticing. Reading 'Chromopho-

bia' by David Batchelor has reinforced my appreciation for

colour in our lives! He reminds us to notice the importance

of colour.

It is EVERYWHERE!

MY PROCESS.

Colour is relegated to the realm of the superficial,

the supplementary, the inessential or the cosmetic… It

is perceived merely as a secondary quality of experi-

ence, and thus unworthy of serious consideration…colour

is routinely excluded from the higher concerns of the

Mind. It is other to the higher values of Western cul-

ture. Or perhaps culture is other to the higher values

of colour. Or colour is the corruption of culture.

DAVD BATCHELOR

Collecting materials to dye with from

bark and berries to onions and tur-

meric, is an addictive and fascinat-

ing process to

undertake. The outcomes have been

beautiful and the colours are sur-

prisingly vivid. On silk, the light-

ness of the fabric hanging on the

wall and the brightness of colour

have worked better than any other

fabric. It is rewarding when a col-

our comes out well because of the

sheer amount of time spent dying it.

I have had trouble getting caught up in

the process of dying and losing sight

of the final image, so to begin with the

fabrics did not illustrate the

message successfully. However as the

project has gone through many turns,

from patchwork to fabric collages with

photographs and drawings, the colours

have got brighter and the images have

become clearer. I think that the fabric

hangings themselves would work really

well in an exhibition space, as pieces

of art. Placing them alongside the draw-

ings gives them more of a context.

CLOUD WATCHING AND DRAWING. LESS IS MORE.

Creating something which allows people to step in to my

imagination for a moment. This project has allowed me to

indulge in taking a very simple idea- something that is

relatable to anyone who has been a child, and using a lose

and fun drawing style to put these characters on to pa-

per. Although I admire intricate ways of working, I much

prefere a loser way of drawing where I feel I can create

much more intriguing and suggestive charcters.

The clouds have been a great catalyse to creating my

characters, in relation to my project, they work well as a

series of ambiguous characters and drawings, showing the

power of imagination with my 'head in the clouds' however

I am excited to develop them further in to making strange

tales for some of these characters.

“The capacity to see the world through

the eyes of a child permits the youth-

ful drawer to discover the inner sound

of an object. There is an unconscious

power in children that places them on

the same level (and often much higher

than) the works of adults” -Kandinsky

INSPIRATIONS

There have been two books in particular which have made me feel excited about these illustrations. The first being- Life Cycle by Johannes Dorflinger- this book illustrates each season with a picture and a poem. The second is by Fiona Tann. She collects fami-ly photographs from all over the world, ar-ranging them in a way which highlights the similarities in each photo. Both of these books inspire me because of the documentary and honest feel to them. It's like stepping in to the artists mind when looking through them. By collecting images from other families, they manages to make an audi-ence feel sentimental to images which are not their own memories by reminding them of similar photos they have. Through simple line drawing and universal childhoodimaginings; making images in clouds, I would like the viewer to also feel personal nos-talgia and excitement towards the drawings.

I am also influenced by artists such as Marina Abram-ovic and Pipilotti Rist who create immersive environ-ments for the viewer. I am drawn to art like this be-cause I like the feeling of being totally consumed by something, I think this is why have enjoyed dying fab-rics with natural dyes so much, it began by collecting materials to dye with from the environment, and so by finding them I was indulging in walking through beauti-ful places!

JOURNEY AND YOUTH

JOURNEY AND YOUTH

Final Major Project. The End is Nigh...

In this Final Major Project I have used natural dyes and

drawing/painting to make images which illustrate the

beauty that surrounds us everyday; this was initially

shown through the natural dyes. The drawings were taken

simply from what I could see in the clouds, they too il-

lustrate the beauty of life, giving the viewer an in-

sight in to the world through my imagination. I am so

happy to have these two processes working alongside each

other. To begin with, I struggled to show illustration

through the dyes, or perhaps I found it difficult to say

exactly what it was I was trying to capture. I focused

too much on the process and in doing so neglected the

reason I was making work- the outcomes.

With my interest with immersive art, I have found it

difficult to seperate the process with the final outcome

of an image. I can get sucked in to experiments which

has meant I have not concentrated on the image itself.

However, the combination of the more abstract images

with my drawings, work well together.

However it was such a natural pro-

cess to add the drawings to it- as the

dyes resembled clouds (which linked in

very well to my theme; cloud imagery

links to an open space, light, immers-

ing yourself in the outdoors.) I began

drawing what I saw in the supporting

photographs that I had taken. I would

never have considered them good enough

to be apart of my body of work, they

were something that I kept for myself.

Now it is great to draw them for other

people see. It all came together when

the drawings took off and the dying be-

came brighter and more vivid. The end

colours that I have created remind me

of psychedelic patterns of the 1970’s-

an era celebrating youth and freedom.

The drawings have become characters,

standing without the cloud images, I

think the ambiguity works well, it be-

comes an imaged world, created from

every day life.

The Next Step.

In the three years that I have been in Bournemouth, I have lived alongside a group of friends who share similar outlooks and ambitions to my own; most of which are also from Norfolk. I plan to go back there for a year, with time spent in Bristol and London, I will set up a platform to sell and promote my work in a collective of creative people who have graduated in the last two years. I want to promote a lifestyle that people will be buying in to when they buy my artwork, it is important not to leave the creative minds which inspire you, you all drive each other forward. This summer I will be holding a Silent Auction in the Can-teen, Bristol from work made people I know who have also recently graduated. I also have exhibitions lined up with Therese Vooght in Bristol, Brixton and Nor-folk.

I have previous experience working in a gallery in Norfolk, and I am lucky enough to go back there and gain more insight in to curating and organising exhibitions.

When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song. You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures. You are buying days, weeks, months, years of frus-tration and moments of pure joy. You are buy-ing nights of worry about paying the rent, hav-ing enough money to eat, having enough money to feed the children, the birds, the dog. You aren’t just buying a thing. You are buying a piece of heart, part of a soul, a private mo-ment in someone’s life. Most importantly, you are buying that artist more time to do some-thing they are truly passionate about; some-thing that makes all of the above worth the fear and the doubt; something that puts the life into the living.

–Rebekah Joy Plett

LADYLIKE EXHIBITION- A collection of work made by

housemates working alongside each other for 3 years.

April 2013 at Open Space Gallery Bournemouth. Sold

one piece.

SENSES EXHIBITION Holdenhurst road- Monica Wilkinson

and Therese Vooght; collaboration for film about the

senses and the simplicity of childhood inhibitions.

BOSCONOVA EXHIBITION-2012

CURATED A SHOWCASE OF SECOND YEAR ILLUSTRATION- Open

Space 2013

ORGANISED AND CURATED SILENT AUCTION alongside Lau-

rel Turner, Adam Bourne and Katie Macon- April 2013

EXHIBITION IN NORFOLK- 2012

COMMISSION- Fabric Piece- 2013

PUBLICATIONS

Ladylike 2013

Sense 2012

EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

CURATING AND PUTTING UP EXHIBITIONS.

I really enjoy the satisfaction of seeing my work and work that

I have curated displayed in an exhibition space. It gives the

work the credit it deserves and it is great to see people enjoy-

ing it.

I have been part of a team curating exhibitions in Norfolk and

last year exhibited a film in Bournemouth so that the space be-

came part of the work. It is a wonderful thing to be able to

create a whole experience for the viewer around your work. This

year, I have had the oppertunity to curate a Second Year Il-

lustration exhibition, it was challenging placing work together

which was not made to go next to each other.

Working alongside a few of my peers, organis-

ing the Illustration Silent Auction gave me a

greater insight in to the organisation and promo-

tion around an event. I designed the poster and

we emailed artists to donate work. The day of the

Silent Auction was hard work but so rewarding, it

was great to have such a huge team of us setting

up. This inspired me to do my own silent auction

in the summer; Bristols creative

community will be a perfect place to hold events

like this. I work well in a team and would like

to continue curating exhibitions, the events and

exhibitions that I have coming up in the summer

will be an excellent chance to get my foot in the

door!

SILENT AUCTION

WEBSITE AND BLOG

Having a blog is an invaluable tool for clients to see a good working process. I use my blog as a visual diary and update it regularly, it shows a strong development of my work and ideas. Getting good feedback from my work encourages me to keep making it. I have another blog full of my inspirationsW which is a great place to store images I like, I'm careful not to mix my own work with images I like because when a cli-ent looks at my blog I want it to run smoothly with just the images I have made.

PROMOTION

BLOGS-

monicawilkinson.tumblr.com

monicawilkinsoninspiration.tumblr.com

PROMOTION

BUSINESS CARDS

WEBSITEmonicawilkinson.com