Critical Reflection
Critical Reflection
Keywords:
Unconscious
Personal Mythology
Repression
Terror Management Theory
The most important theory I have come across is Terror Management Theory. It aligns with my art practice perfectly. “Culture serves as a death denying shield that protects individuals from the anxiety that results from awareness of their vulnerability and mortality" (Greenberg, Jeff). That is exactly what I am creating a culture, a religion where we acknowledge this force of repression and use it to reflect on how it affects our daily behaviors. My art is my cultural shield.
This thought actually gave me confidence in what I am working on. Creating a mythical war and an imagined religion is quite an ambitious scope, and I was scared about the why and how of it all. Trying to explain this religion to people is hard without any visuals. I hope finishing the armor will carry enough visual language to help people understand the idea. In the meantime, Terror Management Theory solidifies my ideas from something that felt like pure fantasy into something grounded in philosophical and psychological thought.
“By creating or participating in culturally valued activities, individuals secure a sense of meaning and purpose that buffers the terror of death.” (Pyszczynski)
Although the mission is mainly for others, I am creating mostly for myself. I am giving myself a sense of purpose, devoting my time and energy to build symbolic objects. I am giving meaning to fear, rather than avoiding it. But there is one thing I had not figured out until now. If repression is evil, as I often say it is, then what good can come from it?
This quote gave me insight. That repression and fear can be channelled into something good, something creative. That is what I have been doing. I am transforming my fear of death into artworks—a kind of propaganda that shouts out that I am afraid. Accepting that we all carry a hardened layer of repression, built up over time. Softening it with understanding. Then replacing it with something meaningful.
Now I know the good I want to bring out in this project.
This realisation changed the way I look at everything I have made in this course. The armor and maces are not just expressions of fear, they are proof of transformation. I am not trying to defeat repression. That would be impossible. What I am doing is dragging it into the open, to start conversations with people who are willing to accept the message.
The figures I draw, the creatures and the martyrs, are my passion and fear made visible. They stand in for what I cannot always say directly. They are my messengers. Through them, I am building a personal mythology that others can hopefully connect to in their own way. If someone sees my work and recognises a part of themselves in it, then I have won.
My work is not only about fear anymore. It is about connection among the human race. It is about creating space for others to feel what they usually hide. I believe that is how we begin to change. Not by pretending fear is not there, but by learning how to live with it.
https://therapymantra.co/terms/terror-management-theory/#Significance_of_TMT
Jim Dine’s view on objects
During this unit, one of the most impactful moments was visiting the Jim Dine exhibition at the Albertina. His work struck me immediately with its visceral energy, emotionally raw, physically aggressive, and deeply intuitive. Two pieces in particular stayed with me: The Side View and Winter Dream: Cat, Owl and Skull. Both works embodied a scale and boldness that I hadn’t yet allowed myself to explore. The carvings felt almost unconscious, as if Dine wasn’t carving into the wood but through it, gliding and struggling with his tools in ways that felt both violent and tender. That physicality resonated with me deeply.
Dine’s lifelong obsession with tools, born from growing up in a hardware store, also connected to my own artistic relationship with objects. He once said, "tools, not merely as tools of the trade, but as symbols of creation and devotion." That idea shifted something in me. Where he elevates everyday tools into emblems of meaning, I find myself working in reverse, transforming symbolic, sacred objects into something more grounded and common, almost like visual propaganda. His approach encouraged me to rethink the objects I choose, how I depict them, and what kinds of symbolic weight they carry or shed in the process.
Rachel Causer on Displaying
Another important influence this term was Rachel Causer. I sadly missed her talk at Camberwell, but I went to the private view of her exhibition at M2 Gallery. What impressed me most was how she utilised such a small space with confidence, especially considering most of her work is sculptural. Every corner felt intentional, and the way she played with placement gave the work energy and movement.
One thing she said that really stuck with me was about the idea of "play in the process of putting something together." I’ve been puzzling over how to display my own work, especially the armour piece. Should it sit upright? Lie on the floor? Should it be whole, or should parts be scattered to suggest disassembly or aftermath? And how should the prints be placed to spark dialogue between them and the armour? Rachel’s playful approach to display gave me permission to think more fluidly. I could almost sense the time she spent placing, removing, and rearranging pieces to get the final setup just right.
She changed the way I think about exhibiting. It’s not just about presenting a finished product or trying to impress. It’s about creating a space that invites curiosity, encourages imagination, and opens the door to conversation.
Salvador Dalí | The Divine Comedy
I am so glad I had the chance to look at more of these engravings up close. Dali is a crazy man, and also crazy rich. To have worked on these engravings with an editioner for four years straight. How and why, I can never fully understand. But I am forever grateful to Dali for showing that engraving still has its place. There is still room for innovation in one of the earliest forms of printmaking.
Although I do not agree with his idea of competing with photographic digital print, that was his choice, and he made incredible prints that rival a digitally printed image. This is not really related to my current project, but wood engraving is something I hold close to my heart. There is always a part of me that wants to spread wood engraving as more than just a printmaking method of the past. It is a different way for artists to think about light.
https://cristearoberts.com/jim-dine-tools-and-dreams/
Her Instagram got this amazing snapshot of her exhibition, how does she make it look like the sculptures are human scaled and miniatures at the same time
https://vimeo.com/1077229476
Hans Bellmer
Hans Bellmer's dolls are a blend of eroticism and the uncanny. They were made as a rebellion against the Nazi ideal of the perfect human type. Using sculptures of the human form to rebel against human nature sounds a lot like what I am doing. I love the difference between his drawings and his sculptures. His sculptures are disassembled and freed from the constraints of the human form, while his drawings seem to show a struggle to hold on to that form. That is an interesting observation.
The creepiness oozing from the dolls reminds me of the armor I saw at the Wallace Collection. Bellmer's dolls have a kind of sexual creepiness, while the armor, although shaped like humans, feels more geometric and gives off a different kind of menace. I wonder if I can weave some of that erotic creepiness into my own armor. Maybe some parts could be shaped more organically than others.
He also used different materials to build the skeletons of his dolls. Wood and metal make them look like prosthetics or machines rather than real people. The contrast between the human-like limbs and the mechanical skeletons keeps us from seeing them as actual humans, and that adds to the discomfort. I do not think I will add a skeleton or a face to my armor. It would be more work and might take attention away from the detail of the armor itself.
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hans-bellmer-from-unterweisungen-der-sexualitat-ii-3
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/265390
Tom Hammick Studio Visit
Tom Hammick is a great artist. Confident, colourful, and big. Both in personality and in the size of his artworks. He has a studio dedicated just to printmaking, and he is probably earning a hefty sum from his work. His prints are based on personal experience, political views, and thoughts. He is very straightforward when he talks about his themes, but his prints themselves are not straightforward at all. They take careful planning and many layers before he arrives at something he is happy with.
My reflections are not just about his artwork, but also about his status and his editioner, Jimmy.
I knew Jimmy from before. We did editioning work together. His life was going well until Marlborough Gallery shut down. Now he relies on working in Tom's studio to support his family. He is very kind, but it is scary to see what the editioning industry is really like. Honestly, there is no money in it. You are always at the bottom, doing repetitive work, maybe earning fifteen an hour if you are lucky. I was thinking of going back to editioning after this Master, but this visit made me rethink that plan.
The contrast between Tom's confidence and Jimmy's tiredness really hit me. I do not want to be stuck in an editioning job forever. I need to find another path. Becoming a technician seems like the best option for now, even though those jobs are also getting harder to find. I have also started trying to get more eyes on my work by posting short videos online across different platforms.
I actually really like Jimmy's work. Compared to Hammicks, his prints feel bolder. He focuses more on the characters in the image, while Tom puts the environment first, then adds figures. There is something in that difference that stays with me.
Collaborations
MillBank Natalia
I never liked collaboration. Collaboration means compromise, and compromising limits my vision. None the less, it is one of the most important parts of being an artist. You are literally collaborating with people to survive. It is something I have to reconcile with if I want to be an artist who can sustain himself financially.
Natalia from the fine art course does a lot of etching in the workshops, so we have chatted a few times. When she wanted to create a printmaking exhibition at Millbank, she invited me to join and I did. I also promised to help with posters and transportation, and I followed through.
To tell the truth, it felt like a waste of time. Making a poster using an image I was not happy with felt like being an illustrator again. Getting commissioned, tweaking things for someone else. I came to the fine art course to get away from that. And now I am back at it.
But I have realized it is pointless to think that way. It is easier to just go with the flow. If things like this come up, just do them with the least amount of effort needed, without dragging myself through it. It was still kind of her to include me in the exhibition. Millbank as a space is not ideal. It is on the 27 floor and there is no real way for the public to come across it. It is just friends and family.
I went to an exhibition by a friend who works at a studio space called SET. They have a gallery on the ground floor with big windows facing the street. Everyone walking by can see the work. I plan to contact them when I have something I am proud of, maybe after the summer show.
Fay Ballard’s Recommendations
I had a great tutorial with Fay Ballard. Her work on grief especially caught my eye. Her art focuses on her deceased father and mother. Through drawing parts of objects they once owned, she tries to reconnect and grieve at the same time. It is a lovely idea. Her drawings are not too impressive technically. They are realistic but with some parts left unfinished. Her circle paintings inspired by Islamic patterns are more interesting visually.
I was really happy to speak with another artist whose work revolves around death and grief. We had a fun talk and she was very supportive. When I asked her about building an art career, she said the most important part is making connections. That is not easy for me, but I will try to go to as many private views and exhibitions as I can and start conversations. That is the nature of art.
The other piece of advice she gave was to keep applying for open calls. She suggested a few, and I have started looking into what might suit my work and where I might have a chance. Here are a few I plan to apply for once my final piece is done.
