Past artworks ....taking stock

                              MaTeRiALiTY?

Recently taking stock and re-organising some of my works, I came across these few experimental photo shop images, which I thought I would share some ideas about them with you.


Titled 'Materiality?' the series of works originally started as large experimental installations; created from discarded plastic photographic materials which were then manipulated through photo shop to get the images below.

At the time I was shifting between project ideas. And becoming increasingly interested in the effects of human activity upon ecosystems. The ideas were initially inspired through my involvement with The World Land Trust as an art student early 2013.

The Late Frans Krajcberg (an artist I discovered via TWLT ) worked tirelessly as an eco-activist from the 1970s onwards. He created sculptured installations rendered from the charred remains of Amazon trees. Krajcbergs, inspiring, powerful, poignant artwork is a constant reminder of the ongoing need to protect the Amazonian rain forests. Check him out if you get chance, his quotes concerning ecology have a depth and beauty that would resonate with all who are concerned about climate change issues. 

The growing realisation concerning the eco-chaos caused by human activity -  particularly in the Amazon rain forests - felt like a wake up call.Although I had an appreciation for nature, I had no idea of the extent of the impact human beings were having on the planets eco-systems. Challenged further by my own disconnection and misunderstandings, the last few years my projects have focused on exploring the effects we are having upon all life forms...

It has been heartening to experience the current new wave of deeper understanding of this topic that is now emerging through the likes of Greta Thunberg and the now growing Global Extinction Rebellion Groups; As we collectively start to grasp the severity of climate change we are now immersing ourselves in finding solutions, to reverse the damage, in positively pro-active ways - for the good of all of Earths life forms. 

These works Materiality, consider the cumulative impact of Western consumer culture.They represent the idea of human alienation from the 'natural' order of our place in the world. Into a matrix of synthetic identity .With the urban -  the man made. 

Although for a time we have been blinded by our capitalist stimulated desires, now we are waking up to the environmentally destructive consequences of perpetual economic growth and consumptions. The consequences are, depleted natural resources and toxic emissions -This unsustainable approach becoming obvious to us all.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”Aldo Leopold, The Sand County Almanac 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/43828.Aldo_Leopold


Frans Krajcberg said...."As a human being, I am completely completely connected to nature. My existence, my life, my culture – is the natural environment. My survival and my creativity depend on it. The knowledge about the destruction of environment pushed me into a huge rebellion, which I express through my work. For over forty years, I have been working, fighting, and condemning the acts of destruction.

https://culture.pl/en/artist/frans-krajcberg ( a great article about Frans Krajcberg)

Materiality I

Materiality II

MaterialityIII

Materiality V

Transference ...The 100 artists show preparations commence...Halesworth Gallery.

"TRaNsFEReREnCe"100 Artists ShOW,                                

The Bi- annual 2019 show is under way!...

Having applied to join the collaboration a 100 artists now commence to create art from sheets of dry transfer lettering, we have been given a wide range of typography lettering, all shapes and sizes including numbers. These transfers are old therefore leave no guarantee they will function. The sheets can be traced,scanned, photographed and used as tools for inspiration !! ? &...;'

The event happens with curating the show, which commences on August 15th 2019 at The Halesworth Gallery, Suffolk. P. V. happening on Friday 16th August.

What I enjoy about this event is that each artists ideas will be varied and diverse. Each bringing into the collaboration their own interpretations and meanings...from these dry letter transfers.





My ideas will be based around inspirational conservation / ecology books, and quotations both historical and current. The issues based around the effects of human activity on the Planet over the last 50 + years. So far I have experimented with the lettering making notes and sketches...


The intention is to use ideas from my project work Organik Planet 2030. By reusing old discarded art works - recycling them into new works.The old dry transfers adding to the idea of creating something new from discarded man made materials.... 

Here are some of the dry lettering and a recycled art work.

Exploring ideas by adding the dry transfer lettering words Aldo Leopold , 1949, eco-systems, community, etc relating to Leopolds book

part of unfinished work acrylicpaint, recycled art and dry lettering 2019
by yvonne marie forster

These ideas are still evolving ...eventually I hope to create one piece of artwork from all the small squares not sure how large presently , probably some where between 9 and 18 the final piece is not to exceed 1500mm....

Part of an ongoing series

'Altered Perceptions" are mixed media abstract works on canvas,  60x60cm.  The medium used are washes with layers of thicker vibrant acrylic paints, applied by using a combination of brushes, splattering techniques and palette knives. I also apply ink,and oil pastels. After embedding the collaged photo image into the abstract I finally emboss with gold leaf.

Altered perception, Mixed Medium, 2019
by yvonne marie forster

Over the last few years my practise has considered the impact that human activity has on our planets  eco-systems.
I have explored how industrialised capitalism continually creates and propagates new senses of needs and wants in order to perpetuate itself. The subsequent, internalised desire to consume as an affirmation of self and identity has inadvertently resulted in our alienation from both community and the natural world : The natural world historically seen and perceived as an unlimited abstracted resource of raw materials - And sadly a dumping ground for our human waste.


In the late 1940s Philosopher Conservationist Aldo Leopold's 

perceptive observations still resonate today.....
If we fail to reconnect with nature, both nature and humanity
will suffer."
This recent work is inspired by Rachel Carson’s environmental book, "Silent Spring." The imagery I create are responses to our abstracted view of nature where interconnectivity has often been neglected. Pesticides used to deal with one species of fauna have had (predictable) consequences for other insect species, bees,butterflies and birds. 



Altered Perceptions' are mixed media paintings that portray a solitary butterfly

Altered Perceptions Mixed Media o n
canvas, 2019, by yvoone m 

and/or bird in a vibrant but abstracted space embedded with the phrase....

" Humankind...we are but one thread ...all things connect." The creatures isolated from their natural habitats emphasising the precarious nature of fragile ecosystems when impacted by industrial pesticide's.

On a positive note George Monbiot stated : "An ounce of hope is worth a ton of despair" our current realisation of the need to take stock is hopefully gaining momentum....

A Short letter to European Leaders - Carbon Pollution.....

A Short letter to the European leaders - who are making decisions about Carbon Pollution 

past art works relating to this blog)

Dear European Leaders, 

Displacement of The Innocent- 
Mixed media, yvonne forster

At this significant moment in human history, surely, we all must consider the disastrous effects that climate change will bring to all life forms on our Planet. And ultimately, the burden of such devastating effects will be carried by our children and grand children.

There will come a point of no return.This realisation should drive each one of us to seriously make a stand.To consider it our moral duty to protect, overriding the immoral forms of excessive human consumption. What we decide now impacts future generations. I implore you to END the devastating affects of Carbon Pollution.And the knock on consequences.We have laws for many issues.... let us make laws to protect the natural world - Our only home.Please bring an end to carbon pollution.(revised)

 The evocative quote below poignantly reflects the underlying reasons behind the current dilemma we all face ...climate catastrophe.

In 1984, a warning from the UN Director of Environment at the Geneva Conference included this quote in his speech...

Only after the last tree is felled
Only after the last river is poisoned
Only after the last fish has been caught
Only then will you realise that money cannot be eaten- 

If a Tree Falls....Charcoal and Pastel, yf  2012/2

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, in a letter to A.S. Suvorin on October 18, 1888, was quoted as saying:  

"A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilisation nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe...What a terrible future!"

http://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/news/14246721-the-history-of-deforestation-in-quotes-from-leaders-around-the-world

Beautiful image by Indigenous artist - so connected to the natural world
At the Eden Project Biome 2015

Yvonne Forster -(Remain in Europe), supporter, United Kingdom 

Inspired by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Altered Perceptions, works inspired by Rachel Carson's book  'Silent Spring'

Rachel Carson, Graphite on Paper, 2018, yf

“Life is a miracle beyond our comprehension, and we should reverence it even where we have to struggle against it. . . .” 
― Rachel Carson. ref (1) below- Silent Spring

Over the last couple of years my project work has primarily focused on exploring the effects of pesticide use and the consequential knock on effects upon bird, butterfly and bee populations. My art has been inspired by researcher Rachel Carson - (author of The Silent Spring) her informative writings from the 1960's  still resonate in these present challenging times as we experience climate change unfolding. Carson's research highlighted the devastating effects pesticide chemicals had on bird populations. She summarises succinctly with her insightful perspective the consequential effects...those often unknown realities...only experienced in hindsight....

“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?” ( ref 2) Rachel Carson

"Who's Who of pesticides is therefore of concern to us all. If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones - we had better know something about their nature and their power.” 
― Rachel Carson, ref (3) -Silent Spring

The images I have worked on are semi-abstract mixed media paintings, using mediums such as acrylic paint, ink , oil pastel, collage materials, gold leaf and embossed collaged bird images. The works are also inscribed with the phrase "Human kind....we are but one thread.... all things connect" the ground is 30x30cm, watercolour paper.

Inspired by Rachel Carson's passionate views; her sense of interconnectedness and her advocacy for protecting the natural world - my art practise draws on the challenging impact of ongoing pesticide use. By exploring the far reaching consequences upon flora and fauna, my works consider the cause and effects of decreasing bird populations currently. And the knock on effect this brings.

Embedding a solitary bird into an abstracted space creates a sense of alienation - this juxta-positioning emphasises the impact of separation from its natural habitat and the challenging ecological predicaments this brings with it ...something we all must consider...

Key artists who have informed my creative approach and inspired me to explore new techniques are : Frans Krajcberg, Mienrad Craighead, Anselm Kiefer, Kurt Jackson, Jackson Pollock.

Alterd Perceptions( Bird) VIII Mixed Media 30x30cm
On paper, 2017 by Yvonne Marie Forster 

Altered Perceptions (Bird) VII Mixed Media
30x30cm, on paper 2017 by Yvonne Marie Forster  

These imae works on paper are framed and areo hang. sizes ranging from 25x25cm  to 60x60c
Carson’s thesis that we were subjecting ourselves to slow poisoning by the misuse of chemical pesticides that polluted the environment may seem like common currency now, but in 1962 Silent Spring contained the kernel of social revolution.” 
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring ref (3) below from silent spring 

://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15332.Rachel_Carson (ref 1)


https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/880193-silent-spring(2)

Tropical Abstraction - The precarious effects of human activity on natural habitats

Tropical - Abstraction: A series of Digital Photo-manipulated works




"Motivating people to love and defend the natural world, an ounce of hope is worth a ton of despair." George Monbiot  - (ref below )

Tropical  Abstraction
by Yvonne Marie Forster 

My main projects are inspired by the natural world. Over the last few years I have explored the cumulative effects that human activity has had upon habitats and eco-systems.

An integral part of my working process is to create images which, in some way capture and key into the concerns, the repercussions and realities attached to current climate change issues.

The images I make are often informed by research articles and motivated by reading around subject's, such as conservation and ecology: Written by inspiring author's such as - Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson and George Monbiot. And Brazilian artist, Polish born, Frans Krajcberg; whose dedication to protect the natural world over a number of decades, opened up a new way of seeing and understanding this age of human impact upon our planet. And the need for a dedicated transition, to find trans formative, alternative ways of sustaining all life forms on our planet. For the emergence of new ways of being to transpire ...

My projects are created in response to the knock on consequences of industrial pesticide use - the cumulative detrimental effects upon insect species such as butterflies and moths, has a further knock on effect upon bird populations- particularly spring time nestlings. No insects = no sustenance for the young .
( Example: Iiving on the outskirts of a small market town...sadly now it 's very rare to see the Song Thrush - bird...most likely due to increasing amounts of pesticide use in our gardens. The irony of such use - pesticides then becoming a necessity due to the reduction of fauna and insects the natural cycle has been broken-thus creating a crisis of spiraling events that cause further depletion of earth's  biodiversity.

A presently part of a future project may include "Perma Culture " Also Looking into insightful Indigenous ways of being in nature taking care and responsibility within the ecosystems understanding the deeper meanings of connection ....which many in urbanized cultures have lost.


The main core element of permaculture being ...

1 Care of the Earth.

So that the eco-life systems a can thrive. This first elementary principle is fundamental, because without a healthy flourishing Earth, humans will be unable to thrive.

These works are a digitally manipulated photos. Titled Tropical-Abstraction. Each image portrays a single butterfly; juxta-positioned into a vibrant, yet abstracted space. The creature isolated from its natural habitat in this way; emphasises the fine balance and the pracarity of eco-systems when impacted by intense industrialised farming, pesticide use and ongoing deforestation.

Frans Krajcberg - "As a human being, I am completely completely connected to nature. My existence, my life, my culture – is the natural environment. My survival and my creativity depend on it. The knowledge about the destruction of environment pushed me into a huge rebellion, which I express through my work. For over forty years, I have been working, fighting, and condemning the acts of destruction."  frans krajcberg ref below (2)

Tropical Abstraction Digital Manipulated Photo by
Yvonne Marie Forster



References acknowledgement below
Ref Georgemonbiot from -----------------------------


ref (2) https://culture.pl/en/artist/frans-krajcberg

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/761573

Exploring Portraiture

The challenges of painting portraits!..."Does an apple move? (1a)..ref .

Part of image J&M watercolour by yf 2019
is it in the eyes?!

"Nothing  in a portrait is a matter of indifference. Gesture, grimace, clothing, decor even – all must combine to realize a character." Charles Baudelaire) ref (5)


Over the lasts I few months I have focused on re-exploring portraiture techniques.Human portraiture in particular has to be one of the most thrilling,absorbing and creative endeavours: Whilst at the same time, is an utterly challenging experience!. Portrait painting is a theme I love to revisit. Here are a few recent works in progress and some images from over the last couple of years...Trying to capture the overall essence of a person is aptly summed up in the humorous quotations found below ( :

J&M watercolour 2019 y forster 

working on part of a portrait yf acrylic paint
endeavoring to capture emotion

Ears are a tricky part constant reworking on these
......its a work in progress,  yf 2019

                                         focus on eye structure, effect of
                                                               light and shadow yf

mixing acrylic paints - colours used for skintones yf
photo images by S.Shawe.

Intense senstivity in the  eyes - work in pencil & watercolour yf

Acrylic paints working on capturing a  reflective 
casual pose /environment / space

Veiled Resistance, charcoal yf 2015, capturing an intense situation arms
 reaching upwards... the veiled figure 

Traveller on a Train drawing yf contemplation

Some view points by well known artists, reveal the dilemmas faced when artworks finally reach their completion...( :


" When I painted his portrait and offered it to him, he glanced at the canvas, then, looking at himself in the mirror, thought a moment and said: Well, no! Keep it!" (Marc Chagall)(2)

To the art dealer Ambroise Vollard who changed his pose during the sitting...
You wretch! You've spoiled the pose. Do I have to tell you again you must sit like an apple? Does an apple move? (Paul Cezanne)(1b)


after a 115 sittings of a painting of, A. Vollard, Cezanne said "I am not all together displeased with the shirt front" !(1c)

A portrait, to be a work of art, neither must nor may resemble the sitter... one must paint its atmosphere. (Umberto Boccioni)(3)



A final apt artists response... "Painting someones portrait is, of course, an impossible task. What an absurd idea to try and distill a human being, the most complex organism on the planet, into flicks, washes, and blobs of paint on a two-dimensional surface. (David Cobley)(4) please find refs below...( :

Ref for (5) www.quotefancey

Ref (1a) (1b) (1c ) (2) (3)(4) http://www.art-quotes.com/getquotes.php?catid=234#.XMBIaOhKjIU

Redlineartworks - Art Awards

Redline Art Award  Commended  Works

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.” Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac ( ref below)

https://www.redlineartworks.org/

Altered Perceptions Mixed Media by Y forster

Altered Percetions Mixed media by y.fortster

Altered Perceptions Mixed media by yvonne forster

Redline Art is an online Gallery which focuses on Global Issues. A couple of months ago I applied to  Redline Art as I have a keen interest in current climate change issues - in particular the escalating effects of human activities on the Earths habitats and ecosystems.

This series titled 'Altered Perceptions' is part of an ongoing project through which I explore the detrimental effects of pesticide use upon wild life habitats. Working with mixed media, acrylic,oil pastel before adding collage and gold leaf. I then Finally inscribe parts of the phrase "Humankind we are but one thread...all things hold together all things connect"  from one of Chief Seattle's  statements . Through the imagery I attempt to portray the fragility of habitats exposed to toxic pesticides. I emphasise this by placing a lone bird in an abstracted space. Alienating the bird from its natural habitat highlighting the plight of wild life in these current times.

A culmination of influential writers such as George Monbiot, Aldo Leopold -( who wrote The Sand County Almanac), along with Rachel Carsons seminal research work Silent Spring:  which dealt with the effects of pesticides on bird habitats; all inform my work. Over several years Brazilian /Polish Artist Frans Krajcberg doubly challenged and inspired my interest in ecology. Krajcberg's  incredibly poignant sculptural works represented by the charred remains. The aftermath of deforestation are a testament to the detrimental impact of deforestation on all life forms. Frans Krajcberg continues to truely inspire.

I am thrilled to be a part of Redline.Org whose focus on Global Concerns, is a great outlet for artists work that deals with complex issues we are facing in the world

Birds have been a major interest in my life. Growing up on a small Island surrounded by a variety of  Seagulls, Oyster Catchers, Sky larks, Sparrows, Starlings, Robins and more... I owe a great deal of thanks to my father, Colin, whose own lovely passion for nature and birds spurred me on and kindled my own interest in the natural world. 

ref  https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/43828.Aldo_Leopold