Folding to create mass.

     Origami is a technique which has become an important component in my work. It grew from my interest in layers of paint, and realising that a sheet of paper can lie flush against a wall or surface. I found that many sheets upon each other become a physical mass, and I feel this was a significant breakthrough for my work, and became one of the main techniques I now use when producing paintings.

     One piece of flat paper can be folded into a range of shapes, which consequently become three dimensional shapes. Each individual piece takes up physical space, reflects light in different ways and for me, allows me to consider the space behind it, as well as the space it takes up and interacts with.

     From this I wanted to incorporate traditional painting materials such as canvas and paint, and attempted to find a way of folding canvas while manipulating it to retain its shape once constructed. I explored a range of materials on the canvas such as paint, varnish, glue, rabbit skin glue, starch, primers and many more to produce the desired effect. I found that rabbit skin glue was the most effective and created a crisp surface that was rigid enough to preserve this once folded.

     I began to work on a larger scale, and this is something I produced earlier in the year.

How I became interested in spatial representation and understanding.

Currently I am studying fine art at Grays School of Art, specialising in painting. I am now in my final year, concentrating on the understanding and representation of spatial awareness. I began looking into this last year in third year, and it all stemmed from the idea of painting a room. Listening to someone say that painting a room a certain colour will make it look bigger is something that I can relate to as it does sometimes give us the illusion of a greater or smaller space. Generally people believe that a white room looks bigger than a dark coloured one, though when thinking about painting a room over with another colour I find myself considering the space that the paint will consume. Layers and layers of paint will partially have an effect on the size of the room, as each layer will contribute to the walls becoming thicker with each coating. I begin to feel as if the room will eventually become significantly smaller than originally. It is this thought that grasped my attention and one that has had a great impact on my outcomes throughout last year.