Artists – Karyn Easton

Nov 19

Epic Making Session

Yaacov Agam Inspired Work – Over many months now I have been wrestling with a myriad of ideas. In my Study Statement I was keen to develop a new form of hybrid human, digital and AI art. I also wanted to include an element of mystery and discovery whereby elements of the work were hidden. During my search for inspiration I came across two artists that particularly resonated with me, namely: Alexander Calder and Yaacov Agam. I particularly liked the idea of movement and mobile art seen in Calder’s work. Indeed I was so taken with his work that I went to visit the Tate Modern to see some of his pieces there. However, Yaacov Agam’s work really did inspire me. In his Artist’s statement he says: “My aim is to show the visible in a perpetual state of becoming”. I think this is a beautiful way in which he describes his work. However, I personally would liken it to, showing the visible in a perpetual state of change. Given the nature of the subject matter that I’m exploring, his work for me very much aligns with this notion of change as well as ‘becoming’. Below is a short […]

Oct 05

by Karyn in Abstract Art, Ai, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Ideas, My Work, Patterns, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Tasks, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Abstract Art, ai, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, my work, Patterns, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Tasks, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Grotto Print Ideas #1

Print Ideas & Adam Bridgland (Jealous London) – Today we had an interesting talk about the ‘Grotto Project’ formerly ‘Merch’. Adam Bridgland from Jealous London came along to share some insights and revealed a lot of useful information – see a selection of his slides at the end from the talk. I’ve just been looking at the deadlines and I’ve realised that I really do need to start moving on this. Some very interesting takeaways from the talk included answers to questions such as: what was a popular poster colour? What kind of images sold well? Adam suggested that blue was a popular colour and skulls, butterflies and cute cats seemed to do quite well. Unfortunately the human form, unless comprising a skull did not seem to fair quite so well. I’ve produced many digital images over the years, but the thought of choosing just one singular image to print has really made me think. I have some interesting macro photographs of oil on water hanging on my walls. One was bought by a large Australian advertising company, one hangs in the local hospital and one appears on an album cover. Even Adobe use some of my work. Therefore I can’t […]

Sep 24

A Mental Derive Part #2

Picking Up Where I Left off – Ever since my first mental derive, it was always my intention to recommence this particular project. now that the second draft of my research paper is nearing completion, I feel I am better able to return more fully to creative activities. Since part one of my mental derive, I didn’t totally abandon this project and I experimented with suspending some of the circles on a sheet of acetate between some thick heavy duty white elastic. Below is a gallery showing the results. This is a project I’d like to return to at some point, but I don’t currently have the correct materials. The acetate was far too thin and buckled under the strain of the elastic. Therefore thicker acrylic is possibly a better choice. The patterned discs/circles also had a habit of ‘pinging off’, so a better method of securing them is required. However, I do think that there is room to develop this project further. Moments in Time and Space Each black and white patterned circle/disc above, is a collage of many little moments in time. For this reason I wanted to trial another form of suspension. I am particularly […]

May 19

by Karyn in 3d, Abstract Art, Artists, Culture, Galleries, Photography, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, Artists, Culture, Galleries, Photography, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

MNAC

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya – While I was visiting the Banksy Gallery one of the guides told me that I really needed to visit ‘Museu National d’Art de Catalunya.’ He explained that this was an amazing gallery and a ‘must see’. He was not wrong! The museum is set high above Barcelona and the views are breathtaking! Luckily I had my DSLR with me on this trip, so I decided to take lots of photos. My memory card was pretty full so I had to be a little careful about wasting frames but I managed to shoot everything I wanted. The building is very imposing! In fact everything about it was imposing, including the security and guards. After a relaxed and friendly visit to both the Banksy (they actually made me a coffee), and the MOCA and MACBA museums, I was left in no doubt that one false move and I’d be in serious trouble. One guard shouted at me for just holding a bottle of water – maybe he had heard about the ‘Just Stop Oil’ protests in the UK and thought I was about to throw it over a painting or something? I duly complied and the […]

May 15

by Karyn in 3d, Abstract Art, Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, Ideas, Photography, Timelapse, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, Ideas, Photography, Timelapse, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Barcelona Trip

Time to Unwind and Return To Blogging – The last 3 weeks have been incredibly busy. At work this is the time when we are preparing students for their art exams. However, for me the biggest task and time consuming activity is the production of the end of year film. There are more details about this in the blog post ‘A Temporary Distraction’. I always enjoy seeing the wide variety of work produced by our students but assembling it all into a coherent narrative can often be quite challenging. After nearly completing the film, luckily I was able to take a break in Barcelona. My students were now on a reading week, so it was the perfect opportunity to get away. This blog is a record from the start of the trip in England, to the return journey and most importantly everything in between. Sunday 14th May – Morning Sunrise The weather started off well enough and as we drove off to Bristol Airport we were greeted by a lovely sunrise. Unfortunately my camera was packed away, but I did manage to capture this iPhone shot. Apologies for the poor resolution. What Greeted us at Bristol Airport Although […]

May 06

A Temporary Distraction

The Annual College End of Year Film – Each year for the last few years I have been invited to produce our college end of year film. It’s a long and quite complex task because it has to really showcase our department. It needs to appeal to parents, staff and students alike. Unfortunately because it is such a massive undertaking, my research has had to go on hold for a little while. However in a couple of weeks I am due to fly out to Barcelona, so hopefully I‘ll have plenty of travelling time to catch up on my studies. In the meantime, I thought it would be interesting to document my film making process. Each year I write all of the script, edit all of the video and use character animation software to enable animated characters to read the story’s narrative. Often I also need to shoot my own video in order to help with the story and to fill in any gaps. In fact I’m responsible for it all! Over the last two years I’ve used a character I named ‘Horace ‘Boris’ Hedgehog’ (trust me, by watching the previous 2 films, his name becomes clear), this year it […]

Apr 20

by Karyn in 3d, Artists, Food for Thought, Lectures, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, Artists, Food for Thought, Lectures, Unit 2 Blogs

Jyll Bradley

Monday Guest Lectures – Jyll Bradley – I feel really privileged to have encountered the work of Jyll Bradley through the ‘Monday Guest Lectures’ slot. Here is a short extract from her about page on her Jyll Bradley website: About Jyll Bradley “Born Folkestone, UK, 1966. Lives and works in London. Jyll Bradley makes installations, films, drawings and sculptures. Her work first emerged in the late 1980’s within a cohort of artists interested in combining the formal vigour of Minimalism with ideas of identity and place. Light has been a constant protagonist in her practice, from her early photographic light-box installations to her work with fluorescent plexiglas. Her work often pairs organic and industrial materials, reflecting a desire to bring together different aspects of self – for instance her rural childhood and urban adulthood. Bradley’s work frequently engages with site and the creation of new spaces. Her acclaimed public realm commissions – including Green/Light (for M.R.) for The Folkestone Triennial and Dutch/Light for Turner Contemporary – reference generative structures such as hop gardens and glasshouses, expressing what she sees as the practical, spiritual and emotional work involved in growing a sense of self, place or community. Bradley’s sculptures have increasingly become sites of […]

Apr 18

Zoom Session 22 (Sukie Sagoo-Reddy)

Emerging Dialogues Through the Positioning of Textile and Visual Arrangements – I would really love to visit the college more often to do many of the workshops on offer. I often find myself thinking, if only I had my time over again? Therefore, whenever I get the opportunity to participate in any kind of workshop, be it online, or face to face, I’m always really excited. This week was certainly no exception! For a long time now I have been working both photographically and digitally in the flat 2d world of screens. However this week it was all change. Sukie Sagoo-Reddy ran a thought provoking/food for thought workshop with us today. She took us through her Powerpoint presentation that was packed with both information and tasks for us to complete. As usual I screen shot some of her slides as I find this a useful way of storing information for future reference. I think that I will definitely be revisiting this. Alongside Jonathan’s zoom session about the concept of a derive and the Processing Programming workshop, Sukie’s workshop also has to be one of my favourites to date. I don’t think that I’m particularly good at 3d but I am […]

Apr 04

by Karyn in Abstract Art, Ai, Ai Chat, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, My Work, Photography, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Abstract Art, ai, Ai Chat, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, my work, Photography, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Time of the Signs

A Physical Derive – Shortly after we had our Zoom Session 18 I decided to try out the concept of a physical derive. My DSLR camera was at work, so I headed out armed with only my smartphone. I had no preconceived ideas about where my walking or my thoughts would take me, I just decided to physically wander. On reaching the end of my street I was greeted by the huge sign for our local Funeral Director plus a plethora of road traffic cones and more signs around it. I began to wonder about signs? At first I thought about taking photographs of purely negative signs, but then I thought, what about information overload? Even in a short walk to the end of my street I had already encountered many signs packed with information. I began to wonder what the ratio would be between negative and prohibitive signs and more positive and informative signs? Brixham is a small town and in my opinion ‘rammed to the rafters’ with signs, would a busy city centre be better or worse as a comparison in terms of signage? Then I began to wonder if there was a correlation between the variety and […]

Mar 12

by Karyn in Abstract Art, Ai, Artists, Collaborations, Exhibitions, Galleries, Low Residency, My Work, Videos, Zoom Meetings 0 comments tags: Abstract Art, ai, Artists, Collaborations, Exhibitions, Galleries, Low Residency, my work, Videos, Zoom Meetings

Zoom Session 19 (Low Residency)

Low Residency Part 1 – This week there wasn’t a formal zoom meeting due to preparations for both the Interim show and the Low Residency. There won’t be a formal zoom session next week either as this will be right in the middle of the Low Residency. For this reason I have decided to dedicate both zoom session slots to documenting both the Interim Show and the Low Residency. Part 1 will cover the Interim show Private View and Low Residency activities covering Thursday 9th March until Sunday 12th March. I will cover Part 2 next week from Monday 13th March until Thursday 16th of March. The Interim Show (Thursday 9th March – 6.00pm-9.00pm) I was really excited to be travelling to the Low Residency in London. I’m not the most confident of travellers, so I was lucky to have my husband accompany me. We left my car at Paignton boarded the train and headed off to our change at Newton Abbot railway station. Once we arrived at Paddington, we bought some lunch and then set off on the new Elizabeth Line heading East towards Abbey Wood. Our actual stop was Farringdon. We departed the train […]