Paint used as glue

Within my dissertation I discuss three ways in which play exists within art; namely, the form of the artwork; the process of making the artwork, and the way in which the audience experience the artwork. Chapter 1 seeks to examine how Phyllida Barlow (1944-) makes work in a playful manner. Within this, I explore the notion of intuition and spontaneity; how she deals with scale; her use and application of colour, and her choice of, and engagement with, materials. 

 

Action is implicit in Barlow’s sculptures. The manner in which she applies paint to a surface is intuitive and physical. Paint is smeared onto a surface in an uncontrolled fashion, covering part of the structure unevenly, and leaving other areas exposed. Tidily and seamlessly are two words not associated with how Barlow works.  Paint is used not just for its colour, but for its structural function as a means of sticking things together. 

This prompted me to use paint as a form of glue, attaching individual Cheerios to one another. The size of the Cheerios limits the extent to which I can apply the paint in a gestural manner, but the paint has been able to stick the hoops together.

Phyllida Barlow in conversation with Briony Fer and Fiona Bradley

Phyllida Barlow in conversation with Fiona Bradley, Director, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and Briony Fer, Professor of History of Art, UCL. 

In this video Phyllida Barlow talks openly about her practice. Topics discussed include her exhibition in the grand Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain, her working process, her fear of heights, intuition, scale and size, colour, working with her 'team' to make the work, the discipline of sculpture and her experience of education, both as a student and a lecturer.

Thinking about scale and size

I am conscious that at the moment quite a lot of the things in my space are of a similar scale. I need to introduce both larger and smaller work in order to add more variety also to vary the intensity of the work, having some dense areas and others that are sparse.

One of my options for large scale work is to print onto fabric. A simple repeated mark could be used, and I'm thinking of the colours being very subtle, perhaps a white print onto a creamy material.

I also want to try printing a repetitive pattern of marks onto wallpaper. The image above is a preliminary example of the type of marks for the wallpaper.

I am considering linking the wall, floor and ceiling by forming a band or bands of colour that wrap around the space in a loop/s. If I create bands going in different directions, they will cross each other. The point at which both bands cross could be a different colour to the bands, and could be a focal point.