I have really enjoyed this module throughout this year. To have a module dedicated to pure image making and developing a visual language through exploration and learning has been invaluable and highly important for my practice. I feel like throughout it I have tried to push my image making and have explored new processes and approaches to how I create a picture, however I can’t help but feel like I could have pushed further with more imagination and ambition. I am still learning to not revert back to old habits by default in terms of how I make images and instead to consider other options that may better suit my intention, and I see this as on ongoing process. In comparison to how I would previously have made an image, even just a few months ago, I strongly believe I have come a long way. Even if sometimes I do sway towards old methods, there is undoubtably a second thought before doing so and a consideration for other methods first.
I found it fascinating to break down image making into different components and really evaluate and consider how these are used in the works of others and then in my own work. I believe there is an interesting mix of aesthetic instinct and conscious decision making when it comes to employing these various techniques and also in reading others work in this regard. Bringing them under a spotlight and into my conscious, learning about them and exploring them myself forced me to reconsider how images work and the formula behind them that weaves them into successful pieces of work; this is something that once learnt is hard to switch off, almost impossible in the subconscious. And it also strengthens and grows the more you learn and are exposed to new methods and work, even work in other disciplines. When visiting a photography exhibition the other week I couldn't help but break down the compositions and uses of colour more than before and in doing so I could read the photographs better and also appreciate them with a deeper understanding of their visual language. These can then be adopted in drawing too and inform my work, feeding into how I then will go on to make images in the future.
Most obviously though, I feel like this module not only taught me a lot about image making, but also highlighted to me how little I employed in my work up until that point. A lot of the elements we were learning were things that I used very little of previously and so found it difficult at the start to try and implement them practically. For this reason alone this was a successful and invaluable module.
I do like some of the work that I produced throughout this module, however these have tended not to be the work created in the studio for some of the set tasks during visual language sessions. I feel like during these I feel a certain pressure with the work I produce, especially when surrounded by my peers also responding to the exact same task, and can often feel stuck. I think this is learnt though and improves the more you do it and the more you let go of any outcome expectations, but instead just explore and play with making images, and that is certainly something which I believe improved throughout the module. Some specific work that I liked of my own was the collage tasks and is something which I am exploring further in my project at the moment, along with shape, and wish to continue as I go forward.
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