As someone who is technologically impaired and who’s never used photoshop before, delving into this world came as a challenge (despite our handy guide by Anna).

Since a starting point for our Manifesto title is ‘Homo Sapiens to Homo Digitalis’, I thought I would visually explore the notion of Nature vs Nurture, Humanity Vs Technology.

I thought of an image that strongly represented the negative effects of technology and came up with the Hiroshima Atomic Strike image. Wanting to juxtapose this with something natural, I thought visually a flourishing tree holds a similar form to a mushroom cloud and so set about attempting to combine these images with the limited knowledge I had.

(Perhaps I could explore this idea further with different types of cloud, naturally and chemically produced).

Initially I changed the Hiroshima image to a blue scale in order to remove it from its original appearance as a black and white photograph. I wanted to make it feel more like a satellite image, to suggest perhaps we’d gained distance and perspective since the event but also to prepare it for the addition of the tree. Satellite images of the earth are often blue, white and green and so I wanted to explore this colour combination.

I also tried it in just black and white to see how the tree could be blended into the image.

I then tried different colour combinations to see how this changed the impact of the image. I think this felt more otherworldly, an idea I’d be interested to explore since conversations about humans populating the moon (e.g. Elon Musk).

Finally I tried black and white, heightening the contrast and adding text. I wanted it to have be x-Ray like, to evoke a feeling of scientific observation.

In our introduction to printing we looked at different ways to explore the parameters of print making. We played loosely with ink and mark making, ways of incorporating text and embossing.

Our manifesto subject was in its infancy. From ‘Violent Crimes’ we had explored the idea of privacy invasion so I decided to play with the word ‘Intrusion’ to see how this could be conveyed through print. We were asked to consider how and where our selected word might be spoken. I thought loud, alarm like and considered the notion of crossing a threshold, going from outside to inside.

I considered using heavy ink, loud and large. That in terms of volume, ‘intrusion’ could be soft to loud. For colour I initially thought of a red being alarm like then thought it may be too obvious so tried different colours smeared and intruding on each other.

I liked the idea of embossing since the letters intrude on paper. The words can be pushed out towards the viewer. I tried (and failed) to make the letters increasingly intrusive from left to right (as one would read) by putting more paper under each letter as it went along, before going through the press. A sort of visual crescendo and one that needed some honing. The composition had the letters coming off the page as if they didn’t fit and were invading space. I included an @ sign to reference social media and to play with the idea that it can be intrusive, especially if your attention is being demanded via the @ sign.

Something I particularly appreciated within this exhibition was the notion of using humour to convey a message with more serious undertones. I thought it was interesting that the artists’ names were presented before the title of the works since the concept of identity was so central to the exhibition.

Victoria Sin – A View From Elsewhere, Act 1, She Postures in Context, 2018

As a work that uses drag as a way of challenging racism and misogyny and preconceptions about gender and identity, I liked the idea of projecting a moving image onto draped fabric. In the same way that a work is projected in a cinema, the use of drapery rather than a straight screen lent an informal and allusive quality. Perhaps it also referenced the transformative power of cloth and clothing. A drag queen will use layers of cloth to outwardly transform their appearance and internally change how they feel.

It was a work that could be experienced in different ways, either observing from a distance or walking through the walls of cloth, allowing the viewer to alter their level of engagement. The audio that accompanied the visuals repeated “She looks… She looks” immediately defining a female gender, perhaps in opposition to misogyny and calling the viewer to observe again and again, to engage, not just to glance and fleetingly judge.

The title ‘Act 1’ suggested there was more to come and made it a fitting start to the show.

Akron Al-Kadhi and Holly Falconer – Glamrou, 2016

Within this image I liked the notion of using triple exposure to visually convey the division of self that occurs for a drag person, particularly with a traditional or religious upbringing (in this case Muslim). The blurring and multiplicity of the image was an interesting concept that could be employed in another context relating to tensions within a theme to show different dimensions of one subject.

Lyle Ashton Harris – Josephine and Billie Polaroid’s, 2002

The artist explores themes of race, gender, sexuality and intimacy. He depicts himself here as the singer Billie Holiday and entertainer Josephine Baker, artists who struggled with celebrity status. He describes the work as ‘performative self-portraits’ and uses the notion of ‘masquerade’ references the idea of celebrity. A celebrity has both a public and private persona. The public is more available to be judged however it is difficult to consider the two personas in isolation. The private may come under as much if not more scrutiny than the public because of the ability to pin judgement on a real person.

Visually I enjoyed the composition and photographic style of these images. I found them to be charged with a beautiful movement and emotion that I found arresting.

Luciano Castelli – Self-Portrait, 1975

I liked the composition of this print, somehow it combines male fragility and strength. The image seems faintly reminiscent of a Renaissance Venus, though the typical recline is inverted. The crumpled bed and nudity with hold ups suggests a sexual context.

Our first week at RCA consisted of introducing ourselves with a Pecha Kucha, a concise way of presenting creative ideas visually.

My Pecha Kucha (above) briefly introduced that I was born in Japan but grew up in the UK and that I completed my undergraduate in Archaeology and Anthropology before going on to work in Fashion Buying for companies such as Harrods. I have just returned from Italy where I spent two years studying academic drawing and painting at the Florence Academy of Art and am excited to explore what it means to be a painter in today’s contemporary context.

I am inspired by a plethora of fields including anthropology, neuroscience and philosophy. I am primarily interested in human behaviour and enjoy exploring binary relationships and how we relate to these dichotomies; learnt vs. primal, technology vs. nature, old vs. new.

ADAM, EVE AND APPLE MAC – The original painting of Adam and Eve is by the renaissance painter Palma Il Vecchio. On this print I have made a loose incision where the forbidden fruit originally was and replaced it with the shape of the Apple Mac logo. Adam and Eve were prohibited from eating fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Here the Apple Mac logo represents the forbidden fruit to evoke questions about the ramifications of our age of technology. The loose quality of the incision juxtaposes the high skill of the original painting, exploring the balance between the educated and the primal as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.

LOVE IS BLIND – Originally by the Renaissance painter Palma Il Vecchio, these two portraits were not intended to be a pair. The male on the right comprises half of a set of newly wed portraits and the female on the left is believed to be a courtesan. Traditionally couple portraits were for married couples but here, the subtle mismatch plays on the notion that everything is not always as it seems, the narrative has changed. Now the pair make an intriguing couple with him well dressed, gazing directly at the viewer and her breasts on display but her eyes averted, veiled by a stripe of paint. The loose and spontaneous use of paint over the prints juxtaposes the traditional highly skilled Renaissance style, breaking the rules perhaps as this couple are breaking the rules.

HEIGHTS – Here I have explored memory and mark making as well as the relationship between the educated and primal. Looking at an image I took on location, remembering the feel of the moment and place and responding with marks. Although contrasting, the composed digital image and the instinctive acrylic marks work together to create a sense of atmosphere and movement.

THE ARCHITECT – Here I have explored the notion of a woman’s role in society by drawing female forms on the pages of an architecture book. Inspired by neuroscientist Ramachandran’s peak shift effect, the forms are basic, exaggerated and spontaneous, appealing to the viewers’ primal responses. The context on which the female images are drawn juxtaposes the primitive and provokes notions of what a woman may be; educated, strong, decorated, decoration, home maker etc. The title also investigates automatic bias, who is the architect, the woman on the page or a male associated with her.

FIELDS OF WHEAT – In this piece I have used bread to draw into charcoal dust to achieve a loose and unclear image of Theresa May dancing, in reference to her ‘dancing queen’ and ‘running through fields of wheat’ coverage. By nature, bread is a difficult material to control and therefore lends itself to an unclear image, just as May’s public persona may seem unclear. The bread also directly references the ‘wheat field’ quote. 

LOSING TOUCH – The human hand has been an enduring theme in human art since prehistoric times. In Losing Touch a handprint is dragged along a page and fades away, reminiscent of ancient cave paintings I studied in Archaeology and Anthropology but also a modern child’s early art. It is an exploration of losing touch with hand-based skills and humanity in an online era. The cold blue colour references technology and is a stark contrast to the red ochre that was traditionally used in prehistoric hand stencils. 

IMMINENT – These two etchings of waves are intended to evoke a sense of power and movement, perhaps providing an element of catharsis.

A MEMORY – This work is an exploration of memory. I chose to use white on black as a reversed reference to the old-fashioned black and white photographs so often associated with memories. The white chalk is soft and loose with an ethereal feel that is almost ghostly, alluding to the intangible quality of memory. It features a newly wed couple at their first dance.