Ideas Through Process

Allowing materials and processes to guide idea development

In my earlier post about Regaining Ownership, I talked about how I was looking for ways to give myself permission to take ownership of my creative processes, whilst acknowledging the structures around me, created by others. In this post I share how I have been exploring materials and processes organically, building trust in the journey.

I have been trying to take a step back from making ‘nice’ imagery – from playing safe with my subject matter and approach, and instead to let the materials guide my exploration. I’m immersing myself in techniques and processes, and I’ve been using my interests in cellular biology as a focus for that. The ‘ambiguity,’ (to an untrained eye) of microscopic cellular imagery has I think granted myself permission to work a bit more abstractly, which is something I’ve avoided in the past. It feels like I’m working with a subject matter (which is important to me, to provide inspiration and structure), but its restraints are loose enough that I can let the materials guide my outcome.