I thought, at first, that my time at Reside would be a process of slow starts with ideas meandering around, simmering for possibilities that lay hidden, for the time being anyhow. What I did not expect was an immediate vision for my work. 

The last few years have seen me working within the constraints of the house and as a consequence of this I have been tied within this 'loop' of emotionally squeezed space. Whilst this has had a positive impact on my work, it has been very difficult to keep reminding myself that a world exists outside of this space. My work, up till now, has demonstrated this interiority but has also, underneath, hinted at potentials elsewhere. The 'marker' that I placed in the image on my previous post became the catalyst for those potentials. 
It is wonderful how sometimes the everyday gives us time to think and dream in a way that informs the mind so as to make changes in the work. What I had lost sight of over recent times is the fact of the openness of the mind to take me out of this space whilst remaining in it, to use my dreams, memories, knowledge as well as the home to open up the space in my work.       

I have begun to understand that even sunlight; in the clouds, or casting reflections upon the windowsill, need not only be a reference to inside, but also to a world behind and beyond them, if I was able to pass through them and to the other side. That I can do within the mind. 

I have always been making my way towards abstraction and finally I have arrived at that place. I have consciously taken the time to wait for that process to fit with the image floating in my mind of what the work may be like. I have been concentrating upon the space of the doors and further on have made a construction that may confirm other ideas as well as hold potentials itself as a process. You can see my new paintings on my website here: Anthony Boswell. I have simply been playing with the space played out on the flat surface, which is why photographing the construction gives a totally different experience to that seeing it in three dimensions.
   

What lies in front for Reside now is open, I am finding it will take me into a long awaited journey with the paintings and a fresh outlook for extensions of that medium. 

I kept thinking about the word reside, thinking about how I take for granted my living in the house. So on a quiet afternoon, I imagined myself going to a part of the house deliberately, with a more mindful concentration of the act of going there, to spend time in a specific position. I chose the top of the stairs.

I sat for a while looking around at the two doors in front of me, the bathroom and rear bedroom. Even though I have always been aware of their detail, the more I sat in the quiet, trying to focus on that corner of the house, the more I began to feel a change in my sense of time; it became timeless, as if any reference to the now disappeared. But eventually, something would bring me back again. In the process of floating in time, different potential histories came into my mind. I became increasingly aware, more than before, of the surface qualities and the effect of light on them, how the varying levels of light influenced my feelings of emotions, presence.

I was interested then in this altering of time with heightened concentration towards the subject. I wanted to try and see if I could find another way of keeping myself in the loop of time. In the living room, in front of the fireplace mirror, I placed a simple object. Again, in this basic experiment, I found the object, on looking for a sustained period of time, took on a presence, it connected to something outside of the room and kept bringing me back to the present. 

I realise the importance then of the artwork being on object that requires time spent with it, looking at it, feeling it as part of the space as an object exerting its own influence. Maybe then it is possible to go beyond the room, find my way into the far margins of these spaces. The work needs this back and forth movement. 

I have been passing this residency over in my mind all week, but apart from setting myself the task of making a small statement, I have to let the rest become open ended, at least for the time being. I was thinking about the tensions inherent when working within tight confines, how focusing on more or less a single subject is both good for the work and mind, but carries with it emotional impact that is often tough to deal with. Between myself, the house and the rest of the world, in the places where silence and isolation lie, there is a busy world I try to shut out in order to reach into pot holes of mind and place. It is a knife edge, but the work requires it.

The word Reside, when looking more carefully at its definition, is interesting when considered as an 'act' of living for a purpose. Also what caught me was the form of 'sinking', 'settling', as 'sediment'. I like the idea of settling like sediment, it gives definition of what I am in terms of the space around me at home. It also involves time and time is a major force on my mind. I'm residing along with everything else in the rooms and spaces of the house, with its layers of sediment built over time, resisting and giving in to the slow movement downstream. To open ocean? This is all simple ways of life and it strikes me that very often emotional engagement with artwork is created by the need for simplicity. This leads to slowness and waiting, bringing suspense, nervousness and tension. It all gets into the artwork, hopefully. 

So where does this leave my intentions for Reside? I have been on a path that has lead me back to painting, semi-abstract pieces on paper. I may move away from painting a little, to find other ways of looking. I may think about the relationship with outside more. I may explore drawing as an end in itself. I'm hoping though that it will help me find something new to what I already know.