MARIE SCHWARZ R.I.P
PROJECT PORTFOLIO
Since 2018 my work has been entrenched in questions of active grief. Looking at cultural & emotional differences around mourning & loss. Dreading the finality of my mothers passing & the overwhelming grief that would follow.
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In 2019 my dissertation was a practical one supporting this research. How can an exploratory engagement with portraiture, encapsulate my 'work of mourning', during the anticipated and subsequent death of my mother, and harness it to develop a vital work?
In 2019 my mother passed. My experience over the subsequent years has led me to develop a body of work unique to me and my experience. It has opened doors in my head about life and the importance of an engaged art practice.
The joy that such informed work can bring.
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In due course I will publish my recorded Blog experiences. Active grief is necessary if life is to move on...
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PHOTOGRAPHIC GRID PLAY
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MARIE SCHWARZ R.I.P 200 X 120 cm
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In my early explorations, I investigated different ways of playing with garden clay, PVA, eventually adding goose feathers, to spherical structures of different sizes. Feathers were very relevant to my mother as a household item from cushions, but more importantly she looked like a tiny bird lying in her hospital bed, as her already small frame had greatly reduced. The domes of clay and goose feathers evolved into nests, and the journey began to build a tree to house them. (Blog Appendix: Marie Schwarz R.I.P Film)
MONOPRINTING inks on photocopied receipts
This work started with the premise that both of my grandmothers and my mother had been entrenched in years of shopping, hauling groceries home every day. The element that joined them all was a shopping trolley. Soon after I found a deserted shopping trolley on the street. This became the central pin. Accessing family photo albums for specific photos of my mother and several months collection of shopping receipts led me to monoprinting play. This exploration of a line in ink on pre printed paper receipts, was incredibly satisfying. The Installation which developed was entitled 'Fifth Portrait' following the link of the family line of female shoppers. This included myself and my daughter with our regular pushchair of shopping.
LINEAGE Installation 200 X 200 cm
This section below was taken from my Blog analysis at the time this work was developed.
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S. Work analysis. Reflective Practice: Number Four. Fabric portrait of my mother. 'Lineage'. Secondary Reflections
I wrote in my last work analysis of finding a banister on the road on my way home. It was my intention to use it for an Arte Povera style installation.
When I was last back in Dublin for moms months mind mass and family gathering, I acquired my brother D's old Nylon trousers. I decided to also look at mom's sheets and found the one that was last used by her before she went into hospital last November 2018. It was light pale pink, heavy cotton and very old, perfect. The third item which surfaced was her tights. Generally I work to the adage that odd numbers are more potent, so having 3 items on the banister would 'sing'.
I have always been fascinated in the fine light mesh weave of tights. I think they have endless potential and I am looking forward to further exploration with them. Monoprinting with tights is earmarked for a next exploration.
THIRD PORTRAIT ingredients of a mother 160 X 60 cm
From my unpublished Blog
T. Work Analysis. Reflective Practice: Number five. Development of the Third Portrait. Primary and Secondary Reflections
Secondary Reflection a.
Looking back again at this footage I am impressed by my tenacity. There is a concentrated quality in my body language. I am very focused in my unknowing. It feels like every stroke, every daub is precise in it's messiness. I am somehow meticulous in my disarray.
The development of the 'Third Portrait' itself was a journey over many weeks, but its beginnings lay in the photo-grids, mud/clay sphere explorations, cardboard heads, and then evolved into a specific using of household and personal detritus, within in a Bricolage method.
Its strength is its precise randomness and my attention to detail; every element within the head references my mother and her life. Every component has a story behind it. The total components numbered 54. The family photographic references appeared on layers of the circular plastic board used earlier on in the ‘definition of a portrait’, which is in my sketchbook.