5 minute read
A Life In Art - Laurence Watchorn
Q&A with 2017 alumnus, Laurence Watchorn.
Have you always been interested in Art?
I was a sportsman growing up and didn’t give too much thought to my underlying passions for Art and Music until near the end of my GCSEs. With the support of Trinity’s Art department, I then went on to study a foundation year at Croydon College before being awarded a place at the Slade. I have always questioned myself and my creative endeavours. They are, however, what I’ve spent a large majority of my time thinking about for a long time now. My practice is characterised by my way of thinking, particularly as I have always been interested in the realm of abstraction.
How did you find your time at the Slade School of Fine Art?
I decided to study the four-year BA course, which included Art History modules and a written dissertation as well as the studio-based assessment and degree show. I have made seemingly abstract pictures for four years and written a dissertation entitled, ‘The Cavern in the Mind: An essay investigating a return of ancient shamanic spirit to the modernist west’.
I found immersing myself into the school initially quite challenging. Studying Art at the Slade, in my experience, takes a little ‘unlearning’ of the standard way of approaching academic studies. Being put in a white room, on your own and without much direction and urged to make things seems at first quite alien. Most lectures and tutorials are optional, and you have to do more or less everything off your own back.
This mode of learning actually suited me though and is really what allowed me to learn an incredible amount about myself. It is something which isn’t learnt on many other BA courses. It was effectively four years of problem solving whilst constantly being critiqued and questioned. As daunting as that seems, at first, you soon realise the value of it. In my second year I opted to study an extra Philosophy module titled, ‘Metaphysics and epistemology’ which, in hindsight, really set things up for the rest of my degree and shifted my practice into new territory. Things definitely started to take shape for me toward the end of the third and in my final year as I began to realise what it is that really interests me as an artist.
I’ve been surrounded by talented creative minds and been continuously challenged. It’s been an incredible learning process. The struggles I initially experienced were simply a part of the process.
Mr Robertson, Director of Art
Do you have a favourite artist?
There are many artists that have motivated me, but I now understand that it is ideas and questions posed by artists which inspire me most. Stylistically, I have always been drawn toward twentieth century modernist abstraction, but I am now equally interested in ancient cave, indigenous art and the notion of perennial motifs, common throughout the world. An unspoken spirit and soulfulness within a picture, whatever that may mean, is something that inspires me.
What do you hope to do following graduation?
I am intending to study an MA course in Fine Art, and I would also like to go on to write more about Art History so I may pursue a PhD at some point. I will, however, definitely continue to make pictures for the foreseeable. I am also a DJ and run an electronic music record label so I’m looking to grow in that regard alongside my postgraduate studies.
What type of art do you like to focus on?
I am predominantly focussed on visual art, although sound, music and dance play a key role in my work. I am technically a painter and studied within the painting department at the Slade.
However, I prefer to refer to my work as pictures and myself as a picture-maker as it keeps mine and the works’ feet flat on the ground whilst negating the sometimes unnecessarily connotations that come with being a ‘painter’. I do also like to focus on art which reminds us of our innate relationship with the natural world.
Do you have any tips for students keen to study Art?
Throw yourself into it - and don’t bother if you don’t enjoy it. Studying Art will undoubtedly equip you with a skillset which isn’t learnt through other degrees, but it’s only worthwhile if it’s something you enjoy.
It is not necessarily a process of incessantly planning and cramming information into the mind but seems to be instead one of allowing what is already in there to slowly fall out. In this way, the study of Art seems to be about facilitating an open, non-judgemental environment for ideas to occur and then from this learning to develop concepts, solve problems and engage critically with the ideas of others.
How did you find your time at Trinity?
At times, particularly in the younger years, I found my time at Trinity quite tricky. I got in quite a lot of trouble and found school quite hard - aside from sport. However, with the aid of particular staff members and the realisation that my grades would get me to the places I wanted to go, I found my place.
I then found myself spending the vast majority of my time in the Art department, which became a real oasis for me during quite turbulent times. It was during this time I realised an underlying passion I had for Art. I feel grateful, when looking back, for the support I received from the department when deciding to go on to pursue it.
