BIG catch up!

OK so, to catch up on what I've been doing... I decided to move away from the idea of being trapped within a space to compression, and how it affects spaces. I love how interesting compression can make everyday objects look. Rubbish and waste is what i decided to focus on, so anything from used paper to crushed cars. I spent quiet a lot of time researching and looking at crushed or compressed waste. My first thought was to look at crushed cars. I think they look amazing when they are crushed into cubes because you can still see some of the defining features of the car within the block.

I then moved towards things i could crush myself, like paper and empty cans. This gave me a great opportunity to sketch and paint as research. Here are a few pieces from my sketch book:

 I really like the look of the pen and water color drawings. They make the colors pop, and the highlights show up really well.
I then stacked some crushed cans on top of each other to get a contrast in color and shape.

The cartoon-like look of the picture really appeals to me.

I also looked at plastic bottles. I was skeptical at first, I didn't think that they would show the lines and contours of the compression as well as the cans did, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

For a while i wanted to work my own body into my work by compressing my own face. The results made for great pictures but I found it hard to apply them in any other medium.

During this time I found my love for print, a discipline that I had no interest in coming to art college, but my eyes have been opened! Whether its line drawing, cutting or stenciling I enjoy every minute of it!
Making woodcuts showing compression was a bit tricky but this is what i came up with:

I also made two stencils, which were fun to make and even more fun to spray!

This line drawing really shows what i'm going for with my idea that compression makes waste look far more interesting:

From all of this I came up with my favorite idea so far! I decided to try and cast the shape of compressed items. I decided to go with cans and bottles because they would hold the plaster and resin best. Here are the results:

 I absolutely love how these turned out, still yet to see anything like this done by anyone else.
As you can see I did some in plaster, and the other in an acrylic resin mixed with a red pigment for color.

That was a bit of a catch up on what I've been doing, more to come soon!