In evaluation, this proposal project was a great learning curb for me. I found a lot out about my chosen subject of interest into gender and its representation in the urban and natural world, as well as its reception. I found that the majority of phallic imagery was found in the urban environment, with yonic imagery predominant in the natural environment. It was also clear from an early stage peoples understandings of these words, with phallic being widely known but its female counter part almost unheard of, so I decided to explore this idea by creating an ambitious painting with an ambiguous subject from research into the artist Georgia O’keefe and first hand records of flowers for reference, to create a painting that would raise questions and ultimately awareness of the word yonic. It is also true that some awareness was raised, even if it was only amongst a small group of peers, ultimately the goal of the painting was achieved.
However, I faced many problems with this project and have gained experience that I would use if I was to do it again. Learning was least effective when I focused on creating a final product, rather than a series of work, as I had the ambition to create a large scale painting, which distracted me from creating a body of work and developing my ideas. To improve this, I decided to create another series of photographs to add to my body of work, but on reflection this would have been more useful before I started creating the painting. I also think I should have worked on a smaller scale first, creating a series of paintings to use as references, rather than being focused on creating one larger painting which ultimately became a daunting process that resulted in me ignoring the painting and returning to it at a later date to complete.
I also found one of my least effective study skills in this project was research, relying heavily on online research rather than benefiting from the resources available in Lincoln. To improve, I needed to take advantage of resources in the library and get more involved outside of the studio, with more visits to galleries and exhibitions. However, I did benefit from involvement in the critiques, which were a great opportunity to receive feedback and ideas for how to develop my work.
