Hannah Waldron talk

I enjoyed Waldron's work visually/ thematically but mostly it was the thought processes behind them that got me thinking.

• Using illustration/ image making as a research tool is something I've started to really think more about recently. Personally, I think it makes for much stronger and informed work, but sometimes when it is more abstract or this research isn't so clear, I wonder how much it is picked up on viewers/ clients. Does this matter?
• Waldron's examination of science and facts in subjective, artistic ways is VERY interesting to me.
• On the other (science) hand, Waldron treats her work quite scientifically, investigating colour and composition in quite a scientific/ theoretical way. I wonder if I should look at that more- and wonder if my work has become too instinctual.
• I noted and admired her work ethic, particularly with media selections that can often take a long time to use. She also mentioned how artists should allow their media to inform their decisions (Brancusi, The Thinking Hand) and this also resonated with me, as I start to examine relinquishing control in my visual practice.
• Following that, the idea of limiting yourself (i.e. colour palettes etc) when investigating a new tool is a good and interesting idea! I think it is helpful to also re-limit yourself to once again re-examine what you do.
• Showing (gallery-type) work outside of the gallery space feels relevant, as someone who has been looking at galleries for the past two years in COP! It's good to see artists actually discuss this- and it wasn't even so much about the intrinsic hierarchies and inaccessibility of these establishments, but rather just making the work be its best. That was nice.

• Textiles as response to poetry! ART FEEDS ART! (though look outside too). It was interesting to see such a big project based on one single poem. It suggests that, (for extended practice), a starting point does NOT have to be big.

• To me, some of the work Waldron was making feels like a less traditional method of illustration, if not illustration at all. Maybe because of its environment, but this was noted before she went into great detail about exhibitions. I think dismissing labels can sound blasé, but at the same time the label of illustration is feeling increasingly pointless. Sometimes I think things are labelled illustration for their style above anything, regardless of their contexts.