POSITION STATEMENT

Following the end of PPP, my position concerning my creative future is still somewhat unclear. This is only because the I have large exhibitions and projects coming to an end, that I have completed in the months leading up to submission. Leaving university I have plans to stay in Leeds and continue to flourish amongst the independent and DIY art/music scene.

I am not interested in working for a graphic design or illustration company. I want to be a freelance artist, but I don't want to make myself into a business. Having said that, I have utilised my LinkedIn profile and creative CV, and applied for some internships with companies I like; Rough Trade, AdultSwim, VICE etc.

I want to continue doing commissions with musicians, local establishments and other illustrators, and will still enter competitions the I think would suit my way of working. I know now that I am a practitioner that does not easily mould to a lot of clients ideals and I find it hard to find compromise, because I am more of an artist.

Because I work cross disciplinary and have other ambitions and interests outside of university, I am excited to start spending time working on these personal projects when my degree is over, and now I have a strong online presence, a running conversational blog and a portfolio, these can add to my Lady Saliva creative persona.

I do want to continue printing and using facilities that I will lose when I leave Leeds College of Art, so studio internships and and artist residencies are appealing to me. I have applied for ones that last from 4 weeks to 6 months, in upstate New York,East London and Norway. These opportunities would be fantastic in pushing on my practice, and experiencing a studio environment that is not university.

All in all, I am happy in my current position and am excited to be leaving Leeds College of Art as a new young creative, who already has some great experience in exhibitions, commissions and exerting themselves 'professionally'.

EVALUATION

PPP has been a difficult module for me. I did really well in my first year of university and then my second year really let me down. I feel like the only way in which I could make PPP a success this time is to own it my way, without thinking and worrying about what anybody else will think of my efforts and my plans. I think that as a module it is hard to hold up what you do to grading criteria, especially for a creative like myself who does not identify with more 'professional' ways of being an illustrator. There are not many companies I am interested in working with and I have not been too interested in doing competitions for companies or organisations. From PPP I have consolidated that I want to pursue a more self-indulgent practice.

There are a lot of things from PPP that have been crucial to adhere to however. Creative Cvs and LinkedIn have surprisingly been very useful for me – applying for practically anything requires a CV, this means studio internships and artists residencies. Having an online presence is obviously very important, however, I realised I was not interested in having a sterile website and portfolio. For the cross-disciplinary creative I have become through my time at university and in Leeds, the more conversational online platforms is where I feel my work belongs. I still have a website/portfolio, but even that is not very polished. Having my work and my 'brand' shown in a super clean and 'professional' way does not match with my own work ethics. What's the point in trying to be something you can't and don't want to be?

Partaking in the extra-curricular 'Start-Up Wednesday' sessions were a great way to maintain PPP as an ongoing module. I had further tuition on aspects such as blogging and money managing. I think the sessions in-studio were very inspiring too and the more I had them the more I felt confident in branding myself beyond anything like 'Melissa Banks Illustration'. I also took inspiration from Instagram-based and blog-based practitioners such as Penelope Gazin and Germes Gang, where they use conversational platforms to be more of a personality than a practitioner. I am much happier to be recognised as 'Lady Saliva' rather than 'Melissa Banks'.

Rather than looking at and getting in touch with a lot of big companies, I have discovered I am much more interested in being part of small, independent companies. My time spent working closely with Tall Boys Beer Market has out my 'professionalism' to the test, and I realised just because you are working less strict and more friendly with clients and the work you are producing is not polished and is more lo-fi, doesn't mean that that is not a professional exchange. I feel the way I worked within that entire experience was the most professional that I had ever been and that any other illustrator could be.

Overall, I recognise PPP as being a totally critical module, that I feel I have really taken into my own original stride. What I have created and come to through the whole 3 years of PPP is what I am forever wanting to be recognised as in my future creative endeavours, and without a focus on PPP I would never have reached to where I am now and where I see myself when I leave Leeds College of Art.

CREATIVE PRESENCE ISSUU

PORTFOLIO ISSUU

ISSUU doesn't like to play GIFs... the last 3 images are moving, so here they are instead:

PPP PRESENTATION

DESIGNING POSTERS

From designing a lo-fi style poster for Tall Boys, James Clayton from Internet sensational band CRYWANK asked me to  design the poster for their gig at THE BRUDENELL!

This is pretty great that from one really crappy looking poster for a local open mic night, I've been asked to make a poster for the coolest independent music venue in Leeds, for one of the coolest bands ever!

These are the kind of people I want to work for in the future, and this poster will be seen by so many people in Leeds and elsewhere through CRYWANK. Its a paid commission and totally fits with what I do... it gives me real hope that from leaving uni I will be a big name on the DIY scene.

TALL BOYS AGAIN!

The lads from Tall Boys asked me to design a poster for their new open mic night event 'Tall Tales'. They wanted it to coincide with the end of my exhibition so it would have to be Simpsons related and have a similar aesthetic to my exhibition. I think its really cool how willing Tall Boys have been to embracing my style and they do love it; describing it as 'savage' and 'punk'.

The whole experience with Tall Boys has been the most imperative to my PPP journey - a lot has come out of it and it reiterates to me that people will come to me for my style and way of working - and even though posters like this are so lo-fi it doesn't mean they can't belong in my portfolio or in a professional setting.

GOING HOME?? After university, I am wavering between where I want to live and be situated as a creative - but these experiences make me want to stay in Leeds and continue as a young creative here and build a name for myself, just like illustrators such as Matt The Horse and Kristyna!