Friday 5 October 2012

Claire Harvey

The work of Claire Harvey involves themes of people and space. Harvey creates 2-dimensional paintings of people, and then transforms this into an installation through the use of overhead projectors and freestanding boards, creating a space the viewer can walk through. As the viewer walks through the room, they cast shadows onto the work, and they themselves become the work and enter this world of other outlines of people. Unfortunately, I have only seen photos of the work and not been able to see the work in a gallery context, which is a shame as I imagine experiencing the work must be a lot more impressive, and necessary to the work as it deals with themes of physical space. Even from just seeing imagery of Harvey's work though, I get a sense that at people in their own world, and that you feel like you could become one of these marks on the wall by stepping closer/into the work.

I really like the fragmented nature to Harvey's work; it is similar to David Hockney's work in some ways but is far more physical and involves the viewer more. I am interested in the idea of fragmentation in my own work, as I have found it helps to convey how memory can be quite fragmented - different parts drifting in and out of focus depending on which parts we remember and how well we remember them. What I like about the fragmentation in Harvey's work is that the edges of the acetate are visible, without being intrusive and distracting form the piece. It just gives a disjointed effect rather than looking like a mass of rectangles. I want to experiment with using acetate, tracing paper and other similar materials in my own work, as I think that they would work well to show the transient nature of memories, unlike much more permanent looking materials like canvas or wood. I also really like the idea of projecting images onto the wall, so that the viewer could step into the space,a s though they were stepping into someone's, or their own, memories. I think this would really help get the idea of collective memory and shared experience across to the viewer, so that they could become part of the art work. I like the idea of trying to bring my work into the 3-dimensional, as it could help to further portray what happens when we recall memories, and how they drift in and out of focus.

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