Conceptual Process – Liminal Identity 1
The Order of Things
It’s interesting the order things take, the piece that I finished today was not the first one that I thought of, nor was it the first that I started, but it just started going so well it passed the finish line in first place as far as my ongoing conceptual projects go.
Until a few days ago, the name of the piece was simply ‘blue liver bird’ but this was most certainly a working title – the theme has been there for a while in my mind which is that of liminal identities and personalities, until this week however I had not thought of the companion piece which shall accompany this one. Therefore it is now called the most pretentious moniker of ‘Liminal Identity 1’
I actually only came across the word ‘liminal’ through a random YouTube channel which was showing weird, unoccupied spaces which should usually be really busy but weren’t. Looking the word up I discovered it invokes the ideas of ‘in between’, ‘transitional’, ‘occupying a position at, or at both sides of, a boundary of threshold.’ It did fit a feeling that I have often had though of being neither one thing nor the other. I’ve never been someone that just concentrates on getting good at really one thing (One may argue my art being case in point!) I always looked at people who got to be the super duper expert at their thing and wondered why I couldn’t do that. I’d always ended up doing loads of different things, usually at the same time, neither one thing nor the other, not an expert at anything but also passible at most things handed to me. One could say versatile, I often say ‘jack of all trades’
In-Betweener
This led me to further reflection of perhaps this element of my personality could be linked to my upbringing and identity. Neither one thing nor the other, born in Liverpool, brought up in St Helens but with scouse parents, so not from either place really. Family all in Liverpool, school and friends in St Helens (mostly.) When I was younger, there was an awful lot of stock placed in where you were from and the identity of being from Liverpool was very important to a lot of kids in St Helens, so much so that they seemed to pretend to be more scouse than they were.
I would also stress this was not everyone’s attitude, there were plenty of proud St Helenser’s and their elders would often proclaim that they were from Lancashire, not this relatively new Merseyside. Most of them supported rugby but if football did enter the chat they supported Manchester United. It was the 90s, go figure.
My family, who are actual scousers would brook no such ‘scouser’ nonsense from me, affectionately teasing me with the teasing nickname woollyback, usually with a few f-words scattered around for good measure! – a major insult to many in my school in St Helens. If you don’t know what I’m on about you’re obviously not from Merseyside but here are some formal definitions from Wiktionary for your delectation:
“Woolleyback (n) -(Liverpool slang, now historical) A non-Liverpudlian person who travels to Liverpool, especially to work at the docks.
“Woolleyback (n) – (Liverpool slang, derogatory) A person from the Merseyside area surrounding Liverpool such as Skelmersdale, Southport,“
Liver Birds
None of this is consequential at all but it is quite amusing and it lead me to this piece popping into my head. Since I have always loved the symbolism of the liver bird. The liver bird is the symbol of Liverpool – two stand atop the world famous Liver Building on the Liverpool river side and like the Manchester bee, it’s also on all the bins.
I knew that it had to come into being! Now, most people (outside of Merseyside at least) probably associate the liver bird with Liverpool Football Club, what with it being on the badge and all. However, my whole family are Evertonians, as am I for my sins (although I wouldn’t claim to pay that much attention to football – I honestly can’t keep track of what all the players are doing), so the bird had to be blue.
Oh by the way, if you’re from real far away climbs, St Helens is a town in Merseyside and Merseyside is the metropolitan region surrounding Liverpool. Effectively ‘greater Liverpool’ if you want.
Decoration
Interesting fact that I discovered whilst I pondered the blue liver bird is that there are a few sources online which claim that Everton F.C actually also used to use the liver bird in their symbolism. I will have to do a bit more research into that, since it was certainly news to me!
So, we have a liver bird, to represent being born in the centre of town and my family, blue as a cheeky nod to football rivalries that are central to a lot of families in the town and a wreath of wool as a nod to being a ‘woollyback’ So, a woollyback liverbird if you will, which is what I am.
Finally since I’ve lived in Manchester now for longer than I ever did Merseyside and also to highlight the links between these two beautiful cities as well as the links I hold to both, the bird also wears cotton bolls on its woolly wreath.
Creation
In theory a relatively straight forward build, if I had ever really done any clay sculpting before. I had dabbled but always ended up with the thing falling over, or hideous cracks appearing so I approached this idea with some apprehension, but I knew it had to be done like this and so it was. This was probably my first serious attempt at a clay sculpture after years of tinkering.
I decided to start small to see whether I could shape the body in a quick way without mauling the clay too much and I did a decent job on first attempt. What I did struggle with was the wings and the legs and of course came to the conclusion that a wire armature would be needed (D’uh) so the project sat for a while whilst I worked on a few other pieces until I felt brave enough and felt I had enough time where I would not be disturbed to give it a good go.
The opportunity came last week and I put together a very rough armature which was no where near as sturdy as I would have liked and started plonking air dried clay all over it. This was after I made a half hearted attempt to put wires in my test study to see what happened after that one had already dried. Answer – waste of time of course. The armature was great for the wings and I managed to pinch them into a shape that I was pleased with – the legs on the other hand. I’d say I lacked the skill to get it standing on its own two feet so it sort of melts into the plinth but that and the tail going to the floor means it stands on its own – the biggest victory for me of the piece since I am not a sculptor by trade!
Once it had dried, with some propping up and some lying down the fun bit was the painting, acrylic, three coats with blue and copper colour. Copper being the material that the actual liver birds that stand atop the Liver building are made from. (In case you were wondering, they are actually now weathered green – look them up if you’ve never seen them, they’re beautiful)
Finally today the last leg, finished with some varnish outside (since I learned my lesson with spray varnish inside on the AI bubble the other day!) and then anointed with felted wool wreath with cotton bolls that I made form cotton buds and brown felt.
Next and Concurrently
I’ll take some proper photos and actually start to display the start of my conceptual portfolio tomorrow. It’s pretty exciting that these ideas are finally coming to a conclusion and my execution is getting speedier since I have been able to concentrate on the finish – something that’s often eluded me in the past..
As mentioned earlier in the post, a companion piece occurred to me in the last week – relating to my identity in Manchester, so this will be next in this series of identity and folklore.
To see the rest of my portfolio click HERE
To see what else is being worked on and the thinking behind it, check my other blog posts HERE