ATLAS

This is the third and final practical project we were given here in Nantes. Each person in the class had to choose a work of art at the musée des beaux arts, research it and then make a work of art inspired by it. I chose the painting 'Nature Morte a La Citrouille' by Jean Hélion. I was immediately drawn to the painting when I first saw it, it's simplicity is something that I think adds to the shape and voluptousness of the centrepiece, a pumpkin. The first part of the project took me longer than I had anticipated, we had to present our research in front of the class, and writing in french it took me a lot longer than a short essay normally would. However, the interesting thing behind this is it really makes you look at the work of art properly, research why it was created etc, instead of a cursory glance, and by gaining a better understanding of the work of art you have a far firmer foundation to begin with I believe.
 Creating a work of art from this painting is something that took me a while. Although I admire the painting, I found it very difficult to draw a parallel with it that I could begin to work with, and this stalled me for some time. I tried working with everyday objects, like this composition has, but found that was going to far from the source of inspiration for me. I tried finding objects that resembled the shape of the pumpkin that I found so interesting, but once again that felt too far from the painting and difficult to get a real start from. Finally, I just started looking at the part of the painting that interested me so much in the painting, in real life. Now I felt I had really something to begin with!
It was difficult to find pumpkins at this time of year, but they do grow later in France, and I was able to buy some ornamental ones as well as some poitirons to study. I looked at them from several different angles and at varying stages of freshness, taking pictures and making sketches and small studies.

The thing I found the most interesting about the pumpkin was the dramatic change between the fresh and the rotten state, in shape, size, colour, texture etc. Depending on the type of pumpkin, it would turn into a very juicy, black inside or become filled with a light and fluffier type of mould. The change from the solid, orange shell to the collapsed, dull brown shape is a huge difference; and the contrast between them made me want to use them in my work. I wanted to create a piece to illustrate this passage of time between fresh and rotten, and by creating a pumpkin which seemed fresh on the exterior, but on the inside was rotten would add some drama to the work and allow me to illustrate all the things which I found so intriguing about it. However between going home for the holidays and coming back for the last week of college here I found it really hard to work out how to make it, so I ended up working in papier maché. As a material, it certainly is light and flexible, but also messy and time consuming to dry. If I had more time, I would like to make moulds of the vegetables and work out a solution in ceramics, but I think it is certainly something I will have to put on hold for now.

 I'm not happy with the outer quality of the piece, and I only hope I can get it finished in time for assessment on Tuesday. Working with three projects instead of one certainly is an experience, and though I think they do feed into each other generate ideas, they also allow you to neglect the parts you don't feel happy with, which can be a little dangerous! We have to have three finished pieces for the end of the semester, and it's a different way of working here. The students are far more practical than sketchbook orientated. If they are not certain of the idea, or what they want to make, they will try a method or make a start anyway, just to get started on a practical piece. This more hands on approach is something I want to learn from here, though I think sketchbooks are very important in creating an idea that really has ground; I think you can get lost in them, whereas you can also learn by doing and develop your ideas as you make.