Throughout August artist Cath Graham is running a series of workshops at PSL as part of her project ‘All My Own Work.’ In each 2 hour workshop Cath invites participants to recreate their own versions of well known paintings including the Mona Lisa and Monet’s Water Lillies.
The paintings, produced by people of different ages and backgrounds, will be exhibited at PSL from 20th August-18th September.
Cath Graham on ‘All My Own Work’:
“My grandmother enjoyed copying pictures of famous impressionist paintings taken from books. She produced small meticulous watercolors of them, which were then signed by her. Images by Renoir, Manet and Monet amongst others were displayed along the corridor of her flat, each inscribed ‘A.Harvey’.
While I was amused by my grandmother’s grandiose claim to be the author of many of the most famous impressionist works of art, on another level they had been made by her, so she therefore had a right to ownership. Reproducing an image in this way is an intensive experience in which the viewer actively participates in replicating the details that make up the image; one sees marks which would otherwise go unnoticed.
Images of famous works can be so easily accessed and reproduced; they cease to bear any relation to the object from which they are derived. As cultural products they signify wealth and prestige. If a copy is too good, it becomes a forgery. But I am interested in where the copier lends something to the image, making it their own. Unlike the original, it is through accumulation and repetition that uniqueness comes to be expressed. To some extent the famous work becomes a tool to express individuality, and the copy mocks the status of the original, offering up its own idiosyncrasies.”
Cath has worked with participants from Pyramid of Arts, Age Concern and Himat art project.
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Students from the Himat art group recreating the Mona Lisa.
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