Bevis Fenner
I presented a body of work produced over roughly a three year period that began around the time of the start of the Covid 19 pandemic. Each piece began with a found object or image, responded to through associative thinking and a kind of conceptual approach that intends to meet the world halfway. I hung the work as if it were an exhibition paying particular attention to the relationships between pieces, both conceptually and in terms of materials and colours. The pieces were quite diverse in nature – ranging from small paintings and sculptures to a fairly large installation or assemblage.
Presenting the work enabled me to get a sense of how it was read, both as a body of work and more widely as a practice. The respondents reflected the attentiveness of the practice in terms of use of materials as well as the reiteration of motifs and references. This gave me a sense that there is consistency and harmony to this seemingly disparate body of work. The other thing I got out of presenting was a sense of validation and legitimacy in having them viewed by others and reflected on with care and consideration.
Receiving feedback is really important to me as an artist because it gives my work a life and opens the pieces up to possibilities beyond being dead objects. It also opens up meaning as pieces are read in unexpected ways and as the respondents bring their own perspectives and experiences to the work. One thing that feedback does is to stop you from labouring over meaning and to “let go” of work so that it loses some of the heaviness that comes from using art as therapy to work through the melancholy of navigating the personal, political and spiritual experience.
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Sara Melly
I presented my current and recent paintings and digital collage work to an audience of fellow artists at the Critical Exchange in June 2023. This work had been made independently but not yet exhibited publicly other than on my social media/Instagram page and I was keen to gauge reactions in relation to some specific concerns that I had.
Given that I am newly exploring both the media and my subject matter, I wanted to ask some questions of an informed audience. Specifically, I wanted to gauge reaction to the combination of different media that I have been using. Whilst some of the work is traditional oil paint on canvas, other pieces included photography and drawings digitally collaged together then printed onto canvas. It was useful to hear other artists reflecting on what these different media added to the work.
Similarly, I asked about some concerns I had about the polemical verses aesthetic qualities of my work. It was interesting to hear the reactions from the group to the perceived messages of the various pieces presented.
Thirdly, I asked advice from the group about showing my work. I wanted to utilise the experience of artists, some of whom, have been practicing much longer than me, to get advice about the types of audience and venues I should be aiming to reach.
The experience of presenting to the Critical Exchange was valuable in that it prompted me to vocalise the issues which I was internally grappling with and then receive quite specific feedback. Outside of the setting of education there are very few opportunities to get informed and considered feedback on one’s work. I really appreciated the generosity of fellow artists giving up their time to participate in this essentially supportive process.