Deborah Crowe

Deborah Crowe's has a major interest in Architecture, Scaffolding and Interior Space. I believe it is because of these interests she is able to work across a range of practices. Which makes it appropriate to call herself a 'Practitioner' rather than an Artist. A Fashion Designer, Drawer and 3D Constructor are just three of the things Crowe can call herself.

To call yourself a practitioner you need to have a lot of confidence in your work and in what you do (Like Crowe) I believe this because in these times you find most artists have 'labelled' themselves, whether it be as a Painter, Designer, Sculptor, or Freelance Artist. This has caused themselves to become categorised in Art.

This would cause the issue of not belonging to a particular 'group' or 'category' and would make it difficult to pitch yourself to galleries or people curious about what your practice as an artist is. By belonging to a certain 'group' you have set solid ground work for you to work with when dealing with galleries, clients and other artists. In saying that, I do believe cross disciplinary practice is a fantastic idea, as it allows you to push the boundaries of what is known as the 'norm'. Something I feel Crowe has succeeded in doing. Working with Textiles, 3D and electronic modelling and exploring issues of space in drawing has allowed Crowe to create new boundaries for herself and setting to goals, something I don't feel can be reached when you are confined to one area of art. I myself need to set these new boundaries, by choosing other areas of art, rather than sticking to Design. Even though Graphic Design is my strongest area of practice, I feel that I can become a better artist or 'practitioner' by branching out and including other art forms in my work.

The idea of Interior Space and things being contained is of a huge interest to Crowe, she likes to explore what Henri Lefebvre coined as Spatiology. The re-establishment of relations between, physical space (Nature), Mental Space (Emotions and Abstractions) and Social Space (The idea of the humans actions and the natural actions which accompany them). Crowe likes what is behind the wall, and how it was constructed. What belongs in this space, and how does it relate? As a young girl, her elder sister used to lock her in the cupboard, which she "really didn't mind at all, in fact [I] rather enjoyed it" something Crowe believes helped to ignite this love for containment and Spatiology. Because of her interdisciplinary practice, Crowe can also relate this to her textile works, (example; "Dual Outlook" a collaborative work with Fashion Designer Kim Fraser). Architecture and textiles relate to each other as the are both housing or containing the body.

After Crowe's lecture, it lead me to think about what I would call myself in the future. I know that I want to major in Graphic Design and to head into the Marketing and Advertising area. This would cause me to call myself a 'Graphic Designer'. However I do know for a fact, that if I dabble in other disciplines of art, and allow myself to create new boundaries so I can strengthen the level of my works I will become more successful in my future. But I am not positive that I would ultimately call myself a practitioner. I want to be a Graphic Designer who has strengths in other areas of art. So I'm not sure the title of Practitioner would be suitable for me.