Studio Brief 2: Individual Practice

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Evaluation

Within previous briefs that have been set I have always struggled with the concept behind the work that I create but with this particular module I feel I have really pushed myself within my creative skillset and range due to the personal connection that I had with the source and specific idea of Dementia and the implications and struggles that come along the way. When producing the work, I allowed myself to go back to my “old roots” and include the use of painting which I thoroughly enjoyed and I feel like in this body of work it works really well as when I was younger I used to paint with my Grandad who is unfortunately suffering from Dementia at this stage. I found researching this particular illness quite hard as I was uncovering what I would in-turn experience but feel it was necessary in order to create the desired work I had in mind.

Going forward I realize that I would like to focus more on editorial work as I feel like this is where my work achieves the highest of its potential in this field. I feel like I have gained a stronger understanding of where I am played within the creative industry and feel like I have developed myself in the sense that I know the tone of my work now and the characteristics and personal flares that are included.

Despite the fact that I have had to apply for an extension within my work deadline I feel like I have worked to the best of my ability when taking into account the unforeseen circumstances that I have faced. In spite of all this I feel like I stand in a strong position to work forward, knowing myself, my work ethic and my creative tone I feel like I not only have the concept that I was to push but I also feel like I am producing work that I want to continue to develop.

I aim to apply existing skill within the print workshop to the work I am currently creative but include the use of screen printing as I feel like my work is strong enough to progress within this creative process. I will also continue the use of lino printing as I feel the free hand nature of the method works well with the concept. Areas in which I would like to improve upon is within research. I feel like I could carry out more within the ideas I have instead of focusing on mainly upon the creative aspects and producing physical bodies of work

Applying to products

Research - Visiting my Grandad

An experinece of someone who is impartial.

I can fortunately say that I personally haven’t been in a situation where a friend or family member has been effected by dementia so when I was going to visit heathers grandad I really didn’t know what to expect, she had talked about him to me so I had an idea of what sort of person I was about to meet. When I got to the hospital I felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness, the rooms were scarce of basic human interactions, minimal objects and a feeling of unease. When I met heathers grandad he couldn’t of been any more jolly despite the horrible surroundings and general sadness of the situation. It was hard to be there and hard to take everything in and it really made me think about my grandparents and I wasn’t even part of the family but I could see just by the look on my girlfriends face that he wasn’t how she remembered him. The whole visit made me feel like I had to protect what I loved because unfortunately illnesses like dementia are.common and happen to the people we love the most

Research - Visiting my Grandad

My experience visiting a specialised dementia hospital.

I visited my grandad due to it being my birthday - the last time I saw him was quite a few months ago so the changes within my granddads symptoms where noticeable to me. He recently got admitted to a hospitalised home where they specialise in my granddads illness and this was my first time experiencing anything like this.

The room where my grandad and other patients where was obviously securely locked so a nurse came and collected us from the entrance of the door and let us in. As soon as the doors opened I honestly felt scared. Id never felt anything like this before, my mum had warned me that going to a place like this wasn't nice and she prepared me for it but I just never expected it to be this bad. There were lifeless bodies pacing up and down the room - maybe about 20 people in the room and about 15 of them where just pacing up and down. after being in so much shock I noticed my grandad sitting down at a table - just staring into thin air. My nana said to him 'Look who's here' and he acknowledged us, but didn't really say much - just kind laughed and was really jolly. My mum would ask him general questions like 'how're you doing/ you alright' and he would answer them on a very basic level. 

My grandad looked a lot older since I last saw him and we'd only been there for about 10 minutes and I just burst out crying, and still my grandad was oblivious. The nurse asked us f we could go and sit on the sofas so my grandad and the other patients could eat their dinner - so we went and sat down where some other patience where near by. I noticed that when I tried to interact wt other patients even if it was just giving them a friendly smile they would literally have no idea and would not acknowledge you at all... once we sat down a patient near by would look at me extremely intimidatingly and just start clapping really loud at me and mumbling under his breathe -- it was quite scary! Another patient continuously moved all the furniture around, even moving tables where patients were eating their dinner off - sometimes you just had a to laugh. Another patient would pace up and down and I could see he was getting quite agitated and he'd frequently hit other patients.

I've never experienced anything like this before and it wasn't a nice situation to be in however I feel like I have learnt a lot about this illness from my visit - I feel like it will be helpful in terms of creating some imagery relating to my experience. I would like to create some nice playful images conveying the symptoms and severity of my granddads illness - I also want to take away the dark side and scariness of the illness making my images appropriate for all ages meaning raising awareness for this illness will be hopefully more successful and younger generations can be more aware of dementia as I have only been aware of the seriousness of dementia about a year ago.

My grandad slept the majority of the time we were there but as long as he knows we care and that we were there that is the main thing.