TATE visit

We went on a trip to the Tate, and one artist in particular that caught my eye was Vivian Suter. Her art was presented with “hanging canvases” made of fabric which is something that I have never seen before. The Tate described it as “navigating your way through the maze of colourful hanging paintings” which is a perfect description of her exhibition. I found the whole experience very refreshing. With the way I work I never know what direction my art is going in, but I realised after this visit that I want to experiment with fabric and present my work in a more interesting way in the future, as I normally tend to just put a canvas up. As an artist I need to get excited by the art I see. I like it to immediately catch my eye. Whether it has a meaning or not, I just want it to look visually cool and be something you'd want hanging in your home. Suter's work I found very simplistic but affective. I loved the vibrancy of her work and how these fabric "canvases" were dotted about the room, you had to walk around them, which gave a more exciting dynamic to the exhibition. Suter’s work is inspired by the tropical landscape of Panajachel in Guatemala, where she lives and works. She says that the environment plays an important role in the making and development of her work. She leaves her artwork outdoors to be exposed to the elements so that natural substances, such as volcanic and botanical matter, are incorporated into the work. I think this is a really cool idea and inspires me to want to paint landscapes as I tend to focus more on portraiture.