Seed.Art.Lab Internships (i)

On Wednesday I welcomed Jane Jaffe to the Studio for a holiday work experience stint... but as we discussed  what we would endeavour to achieve through this the concept of the intern struck us both as a more fitting description for the involvement she would have in my work space.

It was a very organic process arranging this ... and it really emerged out of  having a new space to work with that's flexible, people-friendly and naturally leads me to thinking about the various ways it might be possible to operate my project whilst managing both admin and painting practice demands at the same time.

WEDNESDAY 11TH DECEMBER : Welcome to Jane 

Jane:

Homage to the Seed" and researched her before emailing her in March for my Senior Art Assignment on ART VS SCIENCE.

I asked Sophie a couple of questions expecting to be met with a few sentences in response. The journal images below show the results of the exchange! 

To my amazement and pleasure she sent me back paragraphs, pictures, book recommendations and video links to help me out. 

Her passion and knowledge of seed biodiversity is contagious. In particular her story about how back in 1983 when she learnt of Corporations like McDonalds bulldozing the Rainforests of Brazil to access land to grow cattle for their "low-grade food product" it had seemed clearly wrong and unforgivable to her. At that time a young school teacher, it upset her so much that she began to ask questions regarding the degradation of the planet and likely future scenarios.

After communicating with Sophie I signed up to receive her newsletters and received one in my last week of school about the new studio opening. I was so excited to meet Sophie and see her artwork in person and I was not disappointed. I ended up leaving with a copy of her book, a hand-painted plate and 'Archaic yet reverberating still II' which hangs proudly in my bedroom.

The general vibe here is what you expect - a cool breeze blowing through the widow, Sophie's work native birds chirping in background all add to the wholesome, peaceful and relaxing ambiance the studio oozes. Inspiration is spread across the table from foreign high end decorating magazines to exotic looking seedpods all have its place in the relaxed (yet immaculate) studio. For morning tea we had a healthy and sustainable snack of fresh blueberries, bananas, mangos, dried pawpaw, cranberries, pecans  and peanuts (very delicious!). Somehow Sophie also managed to make this platter look like a work of art with careful placement, colour and a beneficial message."

It is enviable that I would end up finding myself in Art related places. My father collects antiques, my uncle was the curator for the British Art Gallery and one of my cousins is a full-time bird sculpture artist and another cousin is studying Arts at Goldsmiths. From an early age I was exposed to Galleries, a house filled with paintings and for christmas I was never short of paint sets, sketch books and anything creative that came in a box set from relatives. I still have my one and only set of Darwent pencils (although some are just a stub) which I took to school everyday. Along with the compulsory lessons of Junior School Art I signed up for art club, which was a few afternoons a week after school for 2 hours, so I could spend more time in my favourite subject. 

In grade 8 when art became optional it was a no brainer that I would continue. Although "Art Club" was no longer offered we moved into more digital and modern forms of art and exploring other artists and the flesh behind their work. Mrs Brown taught us lino printing, palmpsesting, photoshopping, photographing, de/re construction and symbolism. I love every technique and appreciate artists in all fields. Even as a teenager my friends and I would seek out GOMA to see what interactive exhibition was on, for me art had become a way of life, not merely a reflection of it. 

Eager to do my best yet questioning weather I could handle the 3000+ word assignments of Senior Visual Art I was blessed with the topic "ART VS SCIENCE" and the first essay was from the perspective of a scientist write about what you find in your chosen Artists Studio. With a particular interest in natural medicine and the environment Sophie's name popped up on my laptop screen in your standard google search. I dot pointed research on her in my art journal and loaned her book from the Library the next day. I found a link on her website to her e-mail and the rest is as they say history. 

Inspired by Sophie's motif (symbol) of the seed, I decided to create my own motif, the snow pea. I started off germinating snow pea seeds in syringes to show the dichotomy of modern medicine and natural healing.

To symbolise the loss of natural remedies being passed down to the next generation due to the complete veneration of modern western medicine and also to show how our environment is being impacted by the decisions we make today I created an ice sculpture with snow-pea sprouts which I filmed melting. 

Also inspired by Sophie and Salli Sixpence I made this work from photographs I have taken of paint and ink, then fragmenting through white paint and reconnecting with the snow pea sprouts I drew using carbon paper. 

After photographing this work and photoshopping it I created a book, a kind of 3D symbol of natural medicine like the snake on the staff for western medicine.

Inspired by colour blindness tests I spelt out the message of my body of work "THE CURE AND THE CAUSE" within the piece. This is to highlight that modern medicine is seen as the cure it may present unforeseen problems for a different reason. Some things have been proven to be fixed such as type II diabetes, vitamin C for colds and vitamin B for energy and mental wellbeing. I am not saying there is not a place for Western Medicine I am just saying we can prevent and handle some illnesses through natural means in the way our ancestors have for centuries. This is summed up by the quote "Farmacy as apposed to Pharmacy"

I have skipped through a few works but this was my final piece. My Grandfather is the man in the photograph and he is making Silver water. A drink he would bring in glass bottles as soon as he heard we had a cold or we complained about feeling under the wether. 

Now that I am in a different phase of my life and not completing art in an academic setting, I don't start university until March 2014, It is nice to be an intern to reflect, create and envision the future. After chatting to Sophie in her studio she has inspired me to start an archive of my work in a tumblr site and I am going to start a visual journal to jot down my ideas and scraps of inspiration. In the mean time I am happy to be relaxing and learning from Sophie.

Jane