National Gallery Scotland

National Gallery of Scotland

On the first day in Edinburgh, i was walking around and stopped by the National Gallery of Scotland. 

This kind of painting isn’t really the type of art that interest me but I was concentrating more on the facial expressions and directions they faced, the angle of the body towards the audience.

Giovanni Busi, called Cariani

(about 1485 – after – 1547)

“St Agatha about 1512-18

Oil on Canvas

The story of this piece was that the King of Sicily ordered her breasts to be cut off. She was then miraculously healed by St Peter, but later dies in prison.

Before I read the description these were my thoughts;

This piece here was interesting because the woman’s head is not facing directly towards us; it is facing the sculpture, which may mean that is what she wanted us to concentrate on.

It has a slight sense of possession in this image, declaring the item is hers. She is looking slightly at a downward direction

Goffredo (Gottfried) Wals

(about 1590/95 – about 1638/40) German

“Landscape with Christ and Saint Peter”

About 1630-38

Oil on canvas

A nice contrast between the two shapes, circle for the image painted on and an octagonal frame.

Ceiling

Nice high ceilings and interesting windows which reminded me of the octagonal piece painting.

Space inside the gallery was comfortable. Very spacious. 

Inside was very spacious, a nice color to the walls and good lighting.

The only thing I would say was that it was rather difficult to really view the paintings on the higher row. If only I was taller...

Rest / View

A mixture of both paintings and sculptures, the lighting actually made it easier to see the details within the sculpture which was good. 

William Hogarth

1697 – 1764

“Portrait of Sarah Malcolm 1733”

Oil on canvas

Sarah Malcolm was executed at the age of 24 for the murder of her mistress Lydia Duncombe and two fellow servants.

She is seen in Newgate Prison where she sat for Hogarth two days before her execution on 7^th March 1733.

This picture is believed to have been bought from the artist by the celebrated writer and collector Horace Walpole.

I liked how there is space on the right hand side, it makes me think several things;

·      What could she be looking at?

·      What is over there, how big is the room/cell?

·      Is she sat there because she wanted to feel the sunlight on her skin, maybe for the last time?

·      Maybe she didn’t want to look at the painter when he was painting her.

Routine Canvas

In this piece I was looking at;

Routine

Schedules

Deadlines

Daily Lives

Repetition 

Subconscious Art

I remembered last year, i looked slightly into people and their daily schedules. 

How there is a slight repetition. 

For example, if you go to Starbucks every morning to get a cup of coffee, it is unlikely that tomorrow you would go to Costa and get Green tea instead. 

People being afraid of change. 

This piece, i started off with a note, stuck to my bathroom mirror so it would be a reminder every day.

I would do something, add something to my canvas everyday but the twist is that i didn't know what i was going to do. 

There is NO PLAN!

Each day i would go to the canvas (repetition) and create something subconsciously, completely automatic.

I started this piece on the 23/10/13

Day 1 - Buy blank canvas

Day 2 - Mixture of water and acrylic paint
Automated plashes and spills on canvas
3 colours; blue, white and red

Day 3 - Ink

Used brush to apply and spilling

Day 4 - Rose and Cherry flavoured soap

Day 5 - Quick cut out of a human feature

Red spray paint

Day 6 - Adhesive and Coins

1p, 2p and 5p Coins

Day 7 - Oil Pant applied with palette knife 

Day 8 - Sand with Hot glue

Day 9 - Charcoal 

Day 10 - Conditioner

Day 11- PVA Glue

Day 12 - Rope

(Now as you can see, this is not a full shot of the whole canvas because in fact, i FORGOT to take a photo that day, which happens frequently in everyday lives, where someone forgets a task or two)

Day 13 - Thick lines of Acrylic 

Day 14 - Olive Oil

Day 15 - Fire

I used a flammable liquid to get it going

Burning the ropes and canvas

This fire created a lot of smoke, it would have continued heavily which is why i blew it out before it got carried away. 

Final Look

This is what it looked like at the end of the 15 days

I think it looks rather abstract 

I was imagining how long the Artwork label would be and how that could be fairly amusing to see in a gallery. 

I had to stop after 15 days because I was going up to Scotland and didn't want to cheat, i could see this being a piece carried on for a longer duration. 

Maybe a month? 

On a much larger canvas!

I would place a piece of wood or metal block on the back so i could get civilians to walk on it on the street, leave it out somewhere, bikes riding over it, things involving human interaction. 

Does Pure Honesty Exist?

  Do you honestly feel comfortable keeping that secret when you know the impact it could have on others?

Are you hiding away a deep regret and promised yourself your not going to tell anyone cause it would make others look at you differently?

Are you 100% honest to anyone?

I’m talking about pure honesty, you may not lie to people but you are not telling them the truth

Most people have secrets, regret or simply feel uncomfortable opening u to someone completely.

Now I actually wrote, “Everyone has secrets…” before this but then I spoke to a friend and he has no secrets what’s so ever. He felt free to tell me anything and everything and I mean EVERYTHING!

So this reading is focusing on people who aren’t as open as they wish to be, maybe not as trusting towards others and have a hard time letting something out, something that’s going on in their lives or simply something they just want to say but have second thoughts about it.

You keep all of this inside you and as time passes, more and more piles on.

Nothing is ever gone, simply forgotten

People don’t usually open up as much because of today’s social expectations.

It is hard to find someone to be completely truthful towards

Tell them every little secret

Every lie

People you’ve hurt

People you want to hurt

Every thought

The bad things you’ve done in life

Might be in a relationship but have a crush on someone else

Most people share these things amongst different people; you tell something’s to a friend, your partner, parent

Do you open up all to one person?

For some of you, there might already be someone who knows every little detail about you.

It could be a parent, brother, sister or friend you’ve known for years

I know I don’t tell my Parents or siblings everything

Parents tend to get worried too easily and once that triggers, certain conversations or procedures take place. 

Plus, it could be awkward…

I have 2 brothers, both younger

I’ve told them things that I haven’t even told my parents

Hopefully they’ll forget, not likely, but once I told them, I felt much better.

I’ve been studying abroad ever since I was 9

I’ve never had a permanent home

I move around a lot so the people I meet don’t stay around for long

I asked a girl a few days ago if she opens up to her boyfriend completely.

She paused

Then I knew the answer straight away

I then talked to her about it and tried to question her why she doesn’t

She hardly answered any of my questions and hesitated throughout

I can imagine how hard it can be for some people

Especially when I saw her facial expressions throughout my questioning. 

Art therapy may be helpful for a lot of people, instead of talking about all your secrets, problems etc. you create a piece of artwork that says it for you.

However after you create your artwork, the thoughts you used to fuel your artistic creation is still hiding deep down inside of you. You’re still not letting it out.

Talking about problems is a major help, very therapeutic.  

But whom can you trust?

How does one gain your trust?

How long would this trust last?

Is it possible to meet someone for the first time and spill out everything?

This is what I want to pursue in my project.

I want to create an environment where people feel free to let out their issues, emotions or any problems, ANYTHING, know that they are not alone in this, won't get judged, that there are others that may be in the same struggling situation.

Everyone needs someone to talk to, let that be me