“Site of Delusion”
The artist talk today that I went to was by Alec Shepley and he had some aspects to his work that peaked my interest. So these are my thoughts and notes about his work and what he had to say about it.
He started off describing a video piece he showed us of a model room and him throwing junk into that space at random. He mentioned that this was a way of expressing what goes on in his studio space with the accumulation of stuff and then a representation of the regular clear out of this space. This video represented the constant malleable state of the studio space. It constantly being filled up with junk and then cleared out shows the fact that the studio is constantly changed and the contents being assessed on a regular basis.
He then put up a slideshow and presented some of his early work which started off the concept of a “painting within a painting” and some which showed his need to bring aspects of painting into sculpture which featured heavily as a theme throughout his work. Alec referenced a painting that inspired this called “Las Meninas” by Diego Velázquez which is one of the most studied paintings in the history of art. He mentioned that he loved the way that isn’t quite clear about what the painting is about. I feel the way that many of the people in the painting are looking directly at the viewer and the fact that he is in it painting the scene adds a surreal quality to it.
Alec makes sure in his work that he gives himself the freedom to use whatever medium he wants to express himself and even mixes them up and blurring the definitions between them. For example chopping up paintings and canvas then collaging them, therefore piecing a bunch of painting materials together to create a sculpture.
I also enjoyed the way that he spoke about collaborations with other artists and the work being a result of a “conversation”. Also the way that in this collaboration they both were focusing on the idea of unmaking and “practise in reverse”. As both artists seemed to be on the same page conversationally the work had more depth and body.
Among many other concepts he explained he spoke also about process and his reasons behind focusing on neon lighting in his installations. He stated it felt like drawing within a space using light whilst also referencing the twilight period of day and giving links to urbanisation in the fact that it is artificial light used in signage. This aspect adds a seductive quality to his work the way that the light softens the room and romanticises the piece of sculpture slightly.
Another interesting point that he made was his discovery that when he is preparing for an installation and when he is taking it apart he has a significant ritual in that he cleans the whole area. He feels as though he needs to touch and associate himself with the surroundings where he erects the sculpture. This only came to light when a colleague brought it to his attention. Before that he had been doing it totally subconsciously, not thinking of it as a ritualised process at all.