Reflective commentary
I hope with this writing, I share a broader context of my personal responses during the projects for Part One of this course. The learning came from taking time to reflect on my work up to the start of this course and the ideas I now have to develop into a new body of work. I felt the discussions I had with myself around my making broadened the ways I could create work. In Fig. 1 below, used my word lists and images to show my thinking as visual documents, which can also prompt research.
I recently read the following advice from Henri Matisse and find it very inspiring at this stage of my studies: “An artist is an explorer. He has to begin by self-discovery and by observation of his own procedure. After that he must not feel any constraint.“
In the images below I show looking at ideas around spore prints and mark making, I explored the lists as a text work. I can see potential in bringing in painting or spore print onto these text pieces or as another layer.
In my studio, I connected my areas of concern; here, I have images, books, and objects from which I plan, work and experiment. I incorporated the use of my typewriter to do work which relates to language and thinking. Below is a collage of ideas. Here I refer to my lists, spore prints, cyanotype print, and planning for making cyanotype prints. I learned that the visual stimulation of seeing objects, touching them and writing my ideas stimulates ideas for making.
I experienced that ideas flow easier with my wordlists, and I keep them as open visual documents, which can grow as I read and make. I filed the lists in a book form and can easily add to it.
I feel more confident growing mushrooms and working with them as a living material. I have invested in learning how to harvest spores for future growth in agar medium by using Petri dishes. An ongoing project about collaborative work is showing positive signs that decay and deconstruction is taking place. I have now also been thinking about using some of the mushrooms currently growing on the work for spore printing. Whilst considering this idea, I placed paper underneath one of the more prominent clusters of oyster mushrooms overnight. I was awarded a beautiful work filled with snail trails and some mushroom spores. I appreciate this collaboration.
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I have recently attended a cyanotype print class with an artist and will put my learning into action. My main concerns are currently to take good photos of my collection of spore prints and have negatives printed of them. I am also well aware that during our summer period (now). I need to focus on printmaking and 3d objects. I will be able to grow mushrooms successfully when autumn starts, from March 2023 onwards. I plan to create an outside growing room in a temporary garden shed; here, I can experiment with types of mushrooms for 3d forms.
List of illustrations
Fig. 1 Stander, Karen. (2022). Visual Map [Photograph of a list made on paper and spore print as an image overlay] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.
Fig. 2 Stander, Karen. (2022) Typing a WIP [Typewriter with paper and velour] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebbeck West, South Africa.
Fig. 3 Stander, Karen. (2022) Text work on spore ideas [Printed on a typewriter on paper and velour paper] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.
FIg. 4 Stander, Karen. (2022) Idea Board [Photograph, work in Petri dish, text work, and spore print on paper ] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.
Fig. 5 Stander, Karen. (2022) Makings of the other [Mushroom spore, snail trail on paper] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.
Fig. 6 Stander, Karen. (2022) Site WIP [photograph] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.
Fig. 7 Stander, Karen (2022) Contained? [Photograph of site] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.
Fig. 8 Stander, Karen (2022) Involution on site, a WIP [Photograph dated 15/12/2022] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West, South Africa.