The material exploration and thinking that led to the development of my artwork

I pursued keeping sketchbooks to develop my ideas for my sculptures through drawing, which is something I’ve done from the very beginning, and it’s helped me decide that I really enjoy making smaller, more delicate pieces. I’ll begin by making smaller clay vaginas inspired by the drawings I’ve made during the past few weeks.

As a side project for both Ways of Exhibiting and my studio practice, I used a vagina piece I had previously made and used it as a prop for a series of photographs to frame inside my locker to make it look like a bedroom. I used a red light bulb in each room I photographed in to create the red light district look to them. I’m very interested in how the women are treated there and the constant laws that are changing to ensure their safety and respect, such as not letting tourists look and bother them for amusement. I was also keen on how an audience of people, such as my instagram following, would react if I released a series of similar scenes of the District.  As expected, I received many strange messages and lots of disgusted family members on the phone. I also specifically followed the instagram rule of no nipples, however, they were still taken down – twice! I’m also holding up one of my “vagina” pieces and photoshopped a ‘peeking Tom’ through my window to make the series of photos blatantly humerous art pieces, making the reaction I received even more interesting.

As well as making smaller clay pieces, I’ve carried on with my larger shaped paintings/relief paintings by using clay, acrylic paint and wood, using quick drawings I made inspired by Caland’s ‘Self Portrait’.