Unit 1 Assessment.
Learning Outcome 1: Formulate, describe and implement a challenging and self-directed programme of study, relating to your Study Statement.
My research has been shaped by an exploration of memory, belonging, and isolation, focusing on how places hold emotions and personal histories. While much of this has been intuitive, writing my study statement has helped clarify my direction, particularly in understanding place attachment and collective memory in artistic practice.
Engaging with place attachment theory and cianalas has deepened my understanding of how landscapes hold meaning, while reflecting on co-creative art projects helped me consider memory as something shared rather than purely personal.
Blog Post: Exploring Cianalas – Exploring the emotional pull of place and longing.
Blog Post: Exploring Place Attachment Theory and Isolation – How place attachment theory informs my work.
Blog Post: Mount Murals – Reflections on participatory art and belonging.
Experimentation has also been central to this process. Creating "Understory" was a significant moment, allowing me to explore how layering, transparency, and texture can suggest the haziness of memory. Repurposing materials added another layer of meaning, reinforcing ideas of presence and absence within physical spaces.
Blog Post: Understory – How working with layered washes and repurposed materials expanded my approach to depicting memory.
Engaging with exhibitions has further shaped my perspective, particularly in considering how personal and political narratives intersect. Seeing "Women in Revolt!" at the Modern Art Gallery in Edinburgh made me reflect on how artists document experiences of displacement, activism, and identity, broadening my understanding of how themes of belonging and isolation extend beyond the personal.
Blog Post: Women in Revolt! Exhibition – Reflections on how activism and personal storytelling inform artistic practice.
This unit has been about developing a responsive programme of study, where research and material exploration inform each other. Moving forward, I want to continue developing this connection between theory, memory, and mark-making.
Learning Outcome 2: Implement appropriate working methods for building an independent and effective self-organisation that enables the critical engagement with practice-based research.
Refining my working methods has been about balancing structure with experimentation, allowing for intuitive exploration while maintaining a clear research direction. A key shift has been scaling up my practice, moving beyond small, controlled work into something more gestural and physical.
Blog Post: Scaling Up – Documenting the challenges of adapting my technique to larger compositions.
Blog Post: Scaling Up #1 & Threads Exhibition - Reflections on moving beyond small-scale compositions and experimenting with different ink methods.
Alongside scale, I’ve explored new mark-making techniques and colour experiments, testing how different tones shift the atmosphere of a piece.
Blog Post: Experimenting with Colour and Form – How colour alters mood and depth in my work.
Feedback from group critique encouraged me to introduce stippling into my work, adding a dreamlike quality that enhances atmosphere. Experimenting with different brush types has refined my approach to texture and movement.
Blog Post: Stipple Brush - Experimenting with stippling techniques and their effect on texture and depth.
Reflecting on failure has also been valuable. Writing about embracing mistakes has made me more comfortable with experimentation, allowing me to take more risks with process-based work.
Blog Post: Embracing Failure – Learning to see mistakes as part of a dynamic working process.
This unit has been about developing a flexible, reflective process, allowing experimentation to shape my practice while refining how I document progress.
Learning Outcome 3: Communicate a critical understanding of your developing practice.
Writing about my work has helped me understand it in ways that painting alone doesn’t. Articulating why something feels significant—whether in my blog, group critique, or 1-2-1 tutorial—has pushed me to clarify how I use memory, isolation, and presence in landscape.
Both the group critique and my first 1-2-1 tutorial were pivotal. The critique confirmed that my themes were coming through clearly, while the tutorial helped refine how I communicate my research and practice.
Blog Post: Learning from Group Critique - How feedback shaped my approach to layering and texture.
Blog Post: Reflections On My First One-To-One - How this session helped clarify my research direction and communication.
Through writing, I’ve also deepened my engagement with theory, connecting literary, photographic, and conceptual influences to my own work.
Blog Post: Piranesi: Text As Inspiration - How spatial depth and absence shape narrative and image.
Blog Post: Fragile Beauty Exhibition - Thinking about traces and fleeting moments in visual storytelling.
Researching traditional Chinese brush painting has influenced my use of negative space and composition, reinforcing my focus on what is left unsaid. The emphasis on restraint and balance has made me more intentional in constructing space, allowing for ambiguity and atmosphere in my work.
Blog Post: The Art of Chinese Brush Painting - How historical ink techniques have shaped my approach to presence, absence, and composition.
Moving forward, I want to refine this balance between clarity and ambiguity, allowing space for interpretation and for place to be translated through my work, while strengthening the connections between theory and practice.
Feedback Requests:
I would like specific feedback on the following:
Self-directed programme of study – Does what I’ve outlined and covered so far feel like it’s on the right track? Is there anything else I should be considering in my theoretical research?
Development of technique – Does my experimentation with ink techniques show enough depth, and are there areas where I could push it further?
