Here is the face in close up detail of St.Theresa. We can admire the work of a genius. His masterly making of a true facial expression is amazing.

"HE HAS DELIBERATELY CAST ASIDE ALL RESTRAINT, AND CARRIED US TO A PITCH OF EMOTION WHICH ARTISTS HAD SO FAR SHUNNED ".

Bernini has succeeded in achieving a very realistic expression on his sculptures. In particular on the face of St.Theresa. The eyes are not exactly closed although rested on their lids slightly and seem to be closed as an act to show humility and awe. This is almost giving the impression that St.Theresa is covering her identity in order to allow the heavens to shine on to her in all its power and glory. Possibly the light is also very bright, too bright for her to look straight into it. Her mouth is as if gasping out in agony for all that is wrong and also ecstacy for the divinity of the heavens shining all around. It appears that she is in an exquisite moment while experiencing extreme pleasure and also extreme pain. A work of religious art which exceeds limits. "BERNINI'S ALTAR MAY LEGITIMATELY BE USED TO AROUSE THE FEELINGS OF FERVID EXULTATION AND MYSTIC TRANSPORT AT WHICH THE ARTISTS OF THE BAROQUE WERE AIMING, WE MUST ADMIT THAT BERNINI HAS ACHIEVED THIS AIM IN A MASTERLY FASHION "...

SOL LE WITT

An artist brought up by his mother at the age of six, when his father died. He was greatly inspired, needless to say, by Piero della Francesa's frescoes, also by portraits by Velasquez. In 1962, Sol Le Witt, freely brushed his way into completing studies in ink, named, "WORKING DRAWINGS". He began to focus mainly on form in primary structures taken from basic units. He then moved on towards the more sculptural in taking diamond formed structures.

Sol Le Witt has struggled to eventually be recognised as a conceptual artist- i.e. not belonging to the MINIMALISTS. He had very strong, clear views involved. This was more important than the actual crafting. "HE BELIEVED IN THE ARTIST AS THINKER RATHER THAN CRAFTSMAN ".

"BEAUTY IS NOT SOMETHING CALM AND REASSURING, ORDERLY AND RATIONAL-

GREAT BEAUTY STIRS US AT VERY DEEP LEVELS ".

I agree with this statement, it is an idea which forms the basis for my artwork. Harry Eyers conveys his statement in a clever and original way:

He points out that the conventional sense of beauty is not always true to the heart. In fact he states that there is something much more compelling, much more powerful and which is not readily recognised. He speaks of this unsettling idea and the connection between terror and beauty. To covey this he refers to the play, "ACTAEON".

THE YOUNG HUNTSMAN STUMBLES UPON THE GODDESS, ARTEMIS, WHILE SHE IS BATHING AND IS INSTANTLY SMITTEN! ARTEMIS, OR DIANA HAPPENS TO BE THE GODDESS OF CHASTITY AND HUNT. ACTAEON( the hunter) BEING MORTAL OUGHT HAS MADE A HUGE MISTAKE IN SEEING HER NAKED! THE GODDESS CHANGES HIM INTO A STAG! AND THEN SETS HIS OWN HOUNDS UPON HIM!!! TUT! TUT!

" I DON'T THINK I AM TRYING TO FREAK PEOPLE OUT. I'M SAYING , LET'S THINK ABOUT THIS PLACE..."

Peter Aspen writes an article here, which captures my attention. He talks to the widely celebrated artist, Antony Gormley. In the article, Aspen enquires as to his most recent work, Hayward Gallery, London. In this show Gormley wishes to demonstrate, in a physical presence, using casts of his own body, how the everyday is overlooked or missed out. "MY CONTENTION IS, PERHAPS WE SHOULD BE MORE IN TUNE WITH OUR OWN INTERNAL SPACE," he says.

Here on the right is his most famous and celebrated works, "ANGEL OF THE NORTH".

The "monstosity" a cast of entirior of 193 Grove road, in Bow, Eastend London. ( side view)

"House" is a cast of the entirity of the inside of Eastend typical victorian housing. This was the odd one out, the only one remaining. It is huge, heavey and ugly in appearance which portrays the reality of her disappointment at all the previous houses that have been demolished before it.

Whiteread started by making smaller sized casts from domestic objects. These were objects such as hot-water bottles, vases and then matresses before going on to repeat the same process over and over and then on a larger scale. She progressed afterwards on to making casts of rooms and whole buildings.

Richard Long walking a distance to create a line in the landscape,

Tony Cragg made a self-portrait with a mixture of coloured household, everyday and found objects, mostly broken and made of plastic.

Most of these objects are plates, tools, children's toys, plant pots and bottles.

He has also used household cleaning product containers and parts off furniture.

On the theme of broken...Donald Moffett Fleisch at Stephen Friedman Gallery is contrabuting greatly in influencing the journey my work is now going on.

Moffett is exhibiting a range of curious paintings. Paintings that is to say, Canvases with minimal quantities of black acrylic paint added in areas which imitate gunfire shots. It is as if they are real. More percurlarly and rather fascinatingly the main focus of these mock-shot pieces of canvas is his fixturing of yellow, white and black lined zippers of different sizes. There are holes where he punctured bits of canvas and more often than not sewn a neat little border around them.

One of the few unpunctured canvases stands out the most. It shows four zippers applied like a diagonal cross which reveales the white wall of the Gallery like a banana skin peeling effect and they hang of a single nails

Here's an example of where he has managed to stay still enough and for a long enough period of time to be able to leave the impression of his body on land. It is particularly clever and he has had a good success with this. It almost has a strange feeling to it, A kind of eeriness I expect at the fact that the imprint is of him however he isn't actually there.

This piece is delicate or ephemeral. It has been hand made by Goldsworthy with great care and precision to manage to achieve a circle in its centre. Each stick selected individually for this work so to be right in choosing the sufficient size shape and amount needed for it.

The piece below is standing with confidence it seems although this would have taken days or weeks for the artist to plan out and go about making. He would have to be able to be prepared to do this in any weather. If the weather is too bad he will have to cancel. This means putting everything aside and sometimes not even knowing how long for! Also to take surroundings into consideration as Goldsworthy expresses a personal frustration and not always getting this right, "MY PERCEPTION OF A PLACE IS OFTEN SO FRUSTRATINGLY LIMITED ". Perseverance is a powerful thing and through combating such limitations he enevitably learns more about the processes involved. Goldsworthy has creations of a vast amount which range from a slightest hint of a bit of branch or leaf to the most fragile looking dandelions to huge sculptures formed in midwinter from icicles bigger than the size of one's hand. He has made meticulously arranged twigs onto bark and mud on snow. He has also managed to produce an original series of what I see to be a set of the artists self-portraits where he has lain down onto land whilst being exposed to all sorts of weather conditions...

I am amazed at each of his accomplishments! The size of this piece is bigger than a person. Goldsworthy would have needed real patience in completing it! He often finds himself about to place the last stick of leaf or another thorn to attach one to another and he has had time and effort lost in an instant when one structure falls apart or dismantles itself at this precise point and he finds he is right back to where he started!



For instance the above instance has given me the ability to bring in the element of chance to my corner of the studio and that I have found to make work out of broken pieces can also be successful or at least an idea on which I can build upon in itself!!!