# data[].attributes.body
- Began experimenting with how I could present the textures of straw in 2D
- I enjoyed the chaotic composition that the straw created
- I think the way the straw appears like it is falling into place is particularly interesting
- I also experimented with editing the grain of the images and the sharpness

# data[].attributes.body
This gallery show stood out to me the most as the straw covered floor added an interesting level of interaction with the audience. The crunching sounds and feeling of the straw gave me an immediate welcoming feeling of being in a harvest. I was surprised to see straw being used in a gallery space which is often smart, clean, cold and business-like. I feel like making this space messier made the atmosphere more welcoming and less untouchable. (There was also a guide there that gave us all a brief description of each work when they realised we were students).

It is also a coincidence that I had already been using dried leaves and straw in my 1 min video and seeing straw being used again in a harvest context brought back my excitement towards the concept.

# data[].attributes.body
I really enjoyed seeing Ghenie’s paintings in this show. I could easily connect with the twisted shapes of flesh and how they would be contorted around a screen or opening up in an a way that was both alien but also comfortable. Every painting felt like a silly, fun kind of rot. Everyone is familiar with the feeling of technology having more control over us and Ghenie’s paintings definitely have that feeling of letting your form get moulded by something that has become uncontrollable and addictive. Somehow losing control also feels fun here.

Everyone in my group agreed that it reminded us of Francis Bacon but a lighter, contemporary tone. It was interesting how you could tell the figure was sitting, rotting at a screen even though the shapes were so dynamic and exploding across the canvas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
2022 20Exhibition 20Reflection 20Form 20Copy 20 1 

# data[].attributes.body
Working collaboratively here, making the images more psychedelic

# data[].attributes.body
- deciding to combine straw imagery with psychedelic graphic poster designs

- editing images to create new combinations

# data[].attributes.body
- taking the images that isolate individual lines of straw and creating a large lino print

- cutting the straw into smaller pieces, mixing with paint, painting onto small boards

# data[].attributes.body
- Hay/straw symbolising the turn over of a new season

- Making the space messy makes the space less intimidating
- perhaps at the same time the space becomes stranger as the brittleness of the straw also clashes with the white walls

- emphasis on the tactility of the material

- Dead grass becomes a celebratory sign of change and transformation
- Straw is normally used as scrap material but placing it in gallery context makes this material feel elevated
- I love the idea of a waste material being transformed into something more untouchable, although the grass is dead and yellowed it can still be given a use and dying organic matter has an automatic way of creating a somber atmosphere - linking back to celebrating change
- if I had more time I would explore the ways different identities can be shown in more elevated ways
- e.g. Alexander McQueen horn of plenty - wheels, plastic bags, cans and other waste materials have been elevated and given a new life which feels more severe and striking than the living organic matter
- as soon as waste materials are placed in this colder, cleaner context they begin to break down the barriers that these places can often represent
- I want to link this idea more to trans and non binary identities and how we can break down oppressive barriers

- this kind of chaos might scare you at first but this celebratory, explosive mess breaks down oppressive ideals that hold back divergent identities

# data[].attributes.body
Although I have been enjoying the messiness of sculpting with straw, I also wanted to see how I could represent my ideas in a painting format that feels more controlled and limited to 2D.

- playing with foreshortening perspective on shapes that feel like they are pushing themselves out of the image
- adding a strap-on dildo to the straw figure to suggest more clearly the influence of non binary identity
- playing around with how decayed matter feels both frightening while also embracing change and growth

# data[].attributes.body
The wood sculptures of Ken Unsworth stand out to me as I find it interesting how they have created shapes that feel both tense and natural.

# data[].attributes.body
After making more colourful straw image responses for the collaboration, we decided that their should be straw figures at the centre of the poster.
My initial attempt at creating a straw figure wasn’t very successful. I think it’s due to trying to make start with making the head very big. I tried making a frame out of sticks but it was not strong enough.
I think I need to get another material that can glue it together more organically.

# data[].attributes.body
After looking at the sculptures and performance art of Oliver de Sagazan, I realised that using clay in my straw figures could help bond the straw together as well as emphasising the feeling of growth and change with a material that is very malleable.