Tuesday 2 October 2012

Showing Me How To Fly.

In the latest of a series of strange coincidences and revealing insights, my eldest daughter came in this morning to tell me that she had had a dream last night where she was given wings.  She was somewhere she did not recognise and was given the wings by an unknown girl who then showed her how to fly.  She said it was a lovely dream.

This was remarkable to me for a number of reasons.  I'm been working on a series of photographs entitled 'Flight' which are to do with ideas of freedom, escape, yearning to be in another state and wanting what seems impossible.  It also relates to the fact that children do actually believe, for a while, that they can physically fly if only they could learn how.  As you become older, you realise that, in fact, it is possible - in an allegorical way of course.

Last week I had two separate lovely and lengthy conversations with friends.  Being made to question what is behind my images and re-visiting certain points in my childhood, showed me how the impetus to create and to create in the way that I do goes far deeper than I had previously supposed.  I had a troubled childhood and it has taken astute and perceptive comments and questions to make me realise that part of what I am trying to achieve is a kind of cleansing.  I'm not yet sure if this is some kind of Nietzschean art as redemption thing or whether it's a different kind of beast altogether.  For the moment, I am happy to have gained some insight and will see where it all leads.






8 comments:

  1. It is in the learning to fly metaphorically that we also embody childhood aspirations, don't you think?

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    1. Yes, in a way. I think that our childhood aspirations never disappear, they simply become assimilated into the adults we become. Which is actually what you said Michael... ;-)

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  2. I like this, it is simple straightforward and unpretentious. It encapsulates your motivations from your own troubled childhood to the wishes and hopes you have for your own children. This project serves as a telling reminder that photography can deal in powerful emotions and complex metaphors, something much of the world seems to have forgotten.

    I also think it is most successful as a different genre, it is not portraiture, it is not social documentary and it is most certainly not landscape, except of the inner kind. I have a suspicion that genre photography is where much of the problem lies for many people, they find something they associate with and buy into the self imposed restrictions inherent within the genre. It's as if we forget that art is a form of personal expression. Keep up the good work Lucy, you are breaking new and profound ground.

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    1. Thank you Rob. And thank you for understanding - it IS all to do with the internalised being made external.

      I agree with you re: genre photography too but hadn't thought that I might be creating my own! As ever, I just get my head down, try and go within and do my own thing - often with little concession to photographic technicalities and rules.

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  3. I'm looking forward to being a witness to this journey that you are on with your art.

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    1. Thanks John, hold tight - could be a bumpy ride!

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  4. I think that honesty is such a powerful ally when it comes to describing the reasons behind making art. There are plenty who basically make up deep thoughts and emotions to give their work meaning and weight - however these are nearly always easy to spot and see through.

    However, the good and true reasoning behind a piece of work stands out, and your blog post, for me, is refreshingly honest and straightforward (however complicated and difficult it was for you to write in the first place). I thought that the images (the two that I have seen)were fantastic before I read your post. Now I can understand some of the reasoning behind them and it all fits together.

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    1. :-) Yes, I know just what you mean Mike. There are numerous sets of Emperor's New Clothes going around the art world...

      And, yes, it was a tricky piece to write. Thank you for seeing that. Trying to strike a balance between honesty and over-sharing!

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