Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi, my name is Candice Stock and I am a disability contemporary Maori artist.
I am passionate about using self-portraiture installation as a cathartic release of emotion.
I am a Maori of mixed descent and I was born and raised in South Auckland.
In 1998 I was diagnosed with Irlan Syndrome.
I am missing the colours grey, blue and then later purple.
My practise allows me to fragmentate my thoughts into reality.
I find myself in a position where I am able to use different processes
such as cubism, fragmentation of space and figures in motion
through short film installations
to convey life experiences through digital electronic media.
I know that if I am able to expand my practice
I will be in a position to share my perceptions, if not change them
dependent on further study and research.
My practice encompasses documentation, atmospheric, visual, physical, spiritual, emotional
and verbal elements, hoping to provoke and inspire another.
I consider my practice an avenue to create.
We are all born artists, our canvas is life.
We source our inspiration from the living
and when we pass, we pass as artists, galleries of memories.
As I wait in anticipation for the journey ahead, I dream of all there is
and what is to come, E noho ra.
Bright light hurts my eyes and everything is constantly moving
like the world is a Lenticular printing.
Irlan Syndrome is a form of colour blindness,
it plays an important role in influencing the way I see and learn.
When I started my degree in 2006 I was focused on exploring my vision of the world.
Halfway through 2006 my world was turned upside down
as I changed from physically able to physically disabled,
having both my legs crushed by a two hundred and fifty ton truck
in a serious motorway accident.
In 2007 I returned to art school with a plan.
My plan was to use art as form of therapeutic release to create
a sense of normality within my world of confusion.
Instead of feeling better about my situation I came to understand my situation.
Once I reached this state of mind I was inspired to research people
who live in a similar situations and have dealt with similar issues,
which has brought me to my present exploration of the self.
Self-portraiture allows me to explore and become aware of my identity,
believing that the end product is not only a representation of aspects of my identity,
but an insight to others.
The two issues that are most relevant to me are responsiveness and accessibility.
My practice is very diverse.
I attempt in my practice to challenge my holistic view of how I utilize art.
My practice reflects my personal mode of expression,
which allows me to explore my awareness of life and death.
My practice has grown from my life experiences and inexperiences
and my need to fulfil requirements, obvious in some of my projects.
I have endeavoured to expand my knowledge base
hoping to gain a wider and eclectic source to draw from.
My goal is to create fun, safe interactive installations
while exploring the issue of disability accessibility.
I want to do this to publicly make aware the plights faced by disabled people in the community.
By doing this I expect to achieve a greater understanding
of how the public responds to installations surrounding disability accessibility.
I see my practice sitting between disabled artists like Sophie Morgan,
with her pioneering skills surrounding how the public see disabled people
and Lisa Crow, with her shock treatment methods used to create attention.
When creating an installation I consider Pipiloti Rist’s use of space and sound
while following through Janek Schaeter’s theory on the six elements of installation.
These are only a few of the many artists that I draw inspiration from
when creating an installation.
The elements I address when creating an installation are
site specificity, temporality, cerebral, interaction, process and photo-record.
When I moved into the area of installation art,
I was confronted with the fact that the boundaries for requirements
were so wide and varied that only your imagination limits you.
In saying this, I at times find myself confined when creating installation art.
This is because I have a limited amount of space and time in which to produce it.
After reading Schaeter’s dissertation on “The Six Elements of Installation”,
I was prompted to question my views surrounding installation art
and how, if at all, I was able to relate it back to my practice.
The first element is site specificity
which I believe is the key to trying to formulate my ideas.
I try to choose a space that would best compliment my installation
according to the concept that I am exploring at the time.
I would also say that it would be dependent on what materials I use
i.e. sound or how I would resound.
The accessibility to the viewer to me is especially important
if it is intended to be an interactive installation.
The lighting and shadow factors are also important to me,
when choosing a construction site, as I feel the use of light
adds the finishing touch I strive for.
The second element temporality.
Temporality is important to me, as Schaeter wrote
“it heightens its existence”, which for me is so true.
Temporality is also important because as an installation artist
you are producing a finite project,
having limited time to construct, display and then deconstruct.
Knowing this affects my installation as a whole.
I make my installations less physically challenging
in order to ensure de-instalment is carried out on time.
I also make them less physically demanding because I am limited by my physical disability.
This doesn’t mean I don’t like a good challenge.
I feel temporality also affects the cerebral when interacting with installation.
Schaeter’s third element, cerebral, I believe is a major part of any artist's work
because cerebral for me is the idea or concept which is the pivotal point
from which I start a creation from.
In the words of Tony Cragg who “consistently examines and responds to situation,
objects and materials from the world in which he lives”.
I believe this to relate back to temporality
which is so dependent on environment, lighting, atmosphere, time and space.
All of these are taken into account when creating an installation
as they factor on the end result.
As a part of my practice I am already asking myself,
do I not already do all these things automatically?
Like Schaeter’s fourth element, interaction.
Interaction is very important to me. It could be physical or cerebral.
To me physical interaction heightens the viewer’s experience
and at times may also be essential.
I try through my practice to facilitate a body of interaction
which I believe is an extension of an installation itself.
Interaction with installation makes the work adaptable and so always changing,
allowing the interacter to capture individual moments.
The fifth element is process.
Process to me is a very important part of my practice.
If you do not have the process right you might find yourself doing an installation
needing twice the time. I feel it is also important
because my practice starts with an idea or concept .
I feel this is also important because my practice starts with an idea or concept
which progresses into a project and in due process is visualized then formed.
The process is like a plan that needs to be followed step by step
allowing my creative mind to develop through the process of installation.
The sixth and final element is photo-record.
I find that after I have deconstructed an installation I feel disheartened
knowing I will no longer be able to have personal interaction with it.
The only thing I have left of my installation as a whole is digital imagery
as I usually recycle all the media I use, I believe It’s satisfying to say the least,
to be able to keep a record through photographic digital media.
I find myself experimenting every time I form a new idea.
I visualise the end product and in the process of creating this product,
my idea or concept changes according to who and what I am influenced by.
My practice is my own. I practice for me, I practice for you.
Ever growing, trial and knowing.