My Art

A collection of my best works in IB Art.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Hope , 110 x 77 x 58 cm

March 2017

Tracing paper, watercolour, fishing wire, hot glue

Hanging Installation

Artist Statement

When I started this project I had imagined a physical projection of what hope felt like. To me, hope was something evasive, something beautiful, and something that could change perspectives. Like many of my other projects, the form of “Hope” was improvised and the structure grew as more pieces were added. I had many initial sketches for the form of the work where they interacted with the audience but then I just decided to go with a more abstract form that people could simply look at. In combination with the cones, I also added some of my abstract marigolds. Inspired by the marigolds used in El Día de Los Muertos, I interpreted the form in a different way by using watercolour cutouts and decorated the piece with them. This was to represent the welcoming back of old ghosts as if to hope for the return of something lost but also to appreciate their presence and their memory. This was also an important part to my piece as it added more depth and personalised the experience when making it. I found myself really drawn to the shapes created by the cones. Since they were made from tracing paper, there was a kind of translucency to the piece when the light shined through and since I've used this material before in a previous project, I reminded myself of the importance of lighting. Hence, the reason it's a hanging installation. I pulled inspiration from the Japanese 1000 paper cranes as I found it would be fitting to combine eternal wishes with the concept of hope. I started by making 1000 paper cones out of tracing paper to match the paper cranes. I also kept in mind one of the traditional uses of the paper cranes. Traditionally, they were left out in the open so the elements would make do with them. Meaning that when the paper cranes tore away from the original strand, they were said to spread peace wherever they went. I took this concept and used it in my exhibition space by putting some cones around the space and between each project. This was so that I was somehow “making peace” with the products of my experiences from the past. It was really important for me to connect this project with the rest of my pieces because since it's my last year in a pivotal time of my life, I wanted to finish off the year with a clean slate. So to make peace with my other works was also a process of moving on from past experiences. From this piece, I hope that the audience manages to feel something similar as to what I felt when making this project. To perhaps forgive and let go of things from the past or to look forward to future endeavours with optimism.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Daymare , 120 x 10 cm

February 2017

Fabric, wooden board, oil painting

Oil on Canvas

Artist Statement

This project was quite experimental in that it was the first time I had used oil and the first time I chose a much darker theme to present. At first, I wanted this whole theme of depression and self-harm to be represented through a messy collection of figures that also tried to mimic a comic book page. The first attempt was on the canvas but then I moved to paper and shaded with black ink only. I also used charcoal and pencil to create an unfinished look, but as I progressed, I realised that I didn't really like the lack of depth and in the illustration. 

I started experimenting with the oil paint and found that I enjoyed making sweeps of charcoal looking brushstrokes. The technique I used with the oil had carried some of the same wavy aesthetics as my previous projects did but it was different in the way I did it. Since I didn’t apply gesso onto the canvas, each brushstroke looked like a charcoal smudge. After playing around with the type of shapes I could make, I started to make real figures to give an overall theme to the painting. I made wide-eyed and gooey-mouthed faces to give off a creepy vibe as well as a ghoulish scarecrow with the word “cut” hidden in the mouth.

The theme of this project is change or transition. It was about my transition from a mostly stable mentality to a grimmer one. It’s seen in the colour of the human subjects that there is a change in mood. On the right, there’s a girl that’s being choked by her black hair looking up towards the dark figures above. They represent depression and self-harm. The girl on the left has grey skin and white hair to show stress and moodiness. Below where she’s looking, is a white figure that looks almost the same as the black on the top of the canvas but represents an unrealistic hope that is as dangerous as depression. The white figure is also connected to the girl on the right as if this unrealistic hope has already been lived by her.

I added more by putting a sleeping figure in the middle. I noticed that the painting didn’t have a clear focal point unless something was changed. So, I flipped the canvas to its side and painted a solid grey sleeping girl. I painted her this way to contrast the smoky figures in the background. They are nightmarish and not real, in contrast, the girl is clearer and is real. I thought of this as a daymare – hence the title – because of the creatures that this girl is trying hard to ignore. I think it gave the painting a different level that the audience could also play around with. Since there are three perhaps, one could interpret them as three different people or the same person. I think if I were to do this next time, I would stick to a structure as opposed to paint however the brush goes and improvise along the way. I would also try a canvas with jesso next time to see what type of blending effects I could make. Especially with this charcoal-like theme.  

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Languor, 100cm x 100cm x 250cm

Fri Jan 6, 2017

Black construction paper, hot glue, fishing wire, metal, and wood materials

Installation

Artist Statement

This is based on my previous piece “VASO”. The piece consists of over 30 laser-cut black paper using the same shapes however, they lack colour and detail within the shapes. After the previous project, I wanted to further explore the effect that these shapes have on the audience and their interpretation. I wanted to see how minor alterations could change the piece’s meaning. In “VASO”, it was about connections seen only by oneself in a relationship with another. This project reflected my own experience with depression and the transformation from interpersonal relationships to intrapersonal relationships, targeting mental illnesses in general. Since it’s black on both sides, people can see the overall shape of the “illness”, but they cannot see the different parts that make up the shape. Hence, my experimentation within the installation and close up of the different overlaps.

I started by making outlines of 15 the 30 original shapes on Illustrator. This was so that I could laser cut the papers several times over without having to hand draw each one. By having access to this I was able to make several of the same 15 shapes to create this upward spiral. I chose black paper because I wanted to represent depression and anxiety that traps a person with its ravelling atmosphere. In this project, I was able to get a mechanism that would open up the circle created by the paper. With this, I was also able to experiment with the effect of movement. Hence, the blurred pictures in my process shot. I imagined that these blurs would also represent the stigma that mental illnesses like depression may carry. In that, they show a perspective that generalises the uniqueness of each person’s experience with depression, including the different types of causes and solutions. Depression, like the pieces, is complicated. There is still more that needs to be discovered on depression. The points in which the pieces are connected with each other (the paper) show an overlap between different experiences of depression but also hide the intricacy of each.

In my original vision, I imagined the shapes to be the same once they were cut. However, the laser cutter wasn’t able to pick up some of the finer details in the original shapes and basically left an unfinished stub or burnt branch-like endings. Though unexpected, I realised that it worked very well with the transformation of the pieces from “VASO”. The burnt off branches reflected a sort of deterioration like how the brain would with debilitating mental illnesses. In Alzheimer’s disease, the connection between neurons start deteriorating as it gets more severe. I chose to make the installation swirl upward because of the tightening atmosphere that depression might inflict, unlike in “VASO” where there’s an opening in which one could easily go in and out of.

I think if I were to do this again, I would try to create a more cloud-like shape or something that looks heavier. When I searched up different descriptions of depression, a lot of experiences sounded like it was something heavy, something extra and unwanted lingering by one’s side. If I could cut out more pieces, I think I could’ve used them to create a piece with more depth like in some of Joris Kuipers’ paper installations.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Part 4 of 4

VASO installation perspectives

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Part 3 of 4

VASO Individual cut out pieces

*my favourite cutouts*

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Part 2 of 4

VASO Individual cut out pieces

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Part 1 of 4

VASO Individual cut out pieces

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

VASO , 100 x 100 cm

Fri Oct 28, 2016

Watercolour, paper, hot glue, sticky tack

Installation

Artist Statement

From the start of this project I already knew what type of look and form of installation I wanted. The experimentation process was unique in that I experimented with every piece that was put into the installation. Since the watercolour cut-outs were all improvised, no one cut out had the same shapes as another. Of course there were some similarities in flow and colour, but other than that each one was its own unique structure. This project was something that I enjoyed doing very much. The process was simple and quite relaxing because of the improvisation of shape and form. I chose the colours I did because I liked the way that the colours mixed with each other in some ways. Pastel colours would bring out the soft ethereal aspect of the project as well as the inspirations drawn from natural capillary beds. I chose the name “VASO” because the word itself is referring to blood vessels. And in a poetic way, I thought that it could also reflect the chemical reactions that happen in our bodies when we interact with certain people. This would relate to the installation as there are details on the coloured side that people may see – chemical reactions people can catch – and details that they can’t – chemical reactions that go unnoticed. For every cut-out, I started with thick light coloured stroke for a base. Then after it dried, I added more strokes in slightly darker colours and waited for them to dry. After drying, I would add thin, dark coloured lines for small details or capillary bed-like structures connecting the larger strokes together. I'd usually go over these smaller details about 2-4 times to get the smoothness in texture just right. Dark coloured strokes were also used as appendages to attach to certain strokes or structures. Small details did the same thing but in a subtler way. This was to emphasise the intricate little connections we may or may not notice with people closest to us. Whether the audience sees them or not, they're there. Just like in real life. After making the watercolour drawing, I would try my best to cut out all the white spaces. Even in between small lines of colour. I purposefully painted the light coloured background in a way where there were a few obvious gaps to bring out the natural brushstroke. I went through about 7-8 different blades at the end of the project as well as the swollen finger I developed after a weekend of working on a few pieces. But either way, cutting the paper was very satisfying. In the end, each piece was like a sigh of relief because of the work that I had put into not only the cutting but also the careful improvisation of the drawing. I chose to improvise with the form because I liked the idea of free and unbound connections being made from structure to structure or colour to colour. This contributed to the main theme as it reiterates the feeling of connections being made through small or large interactions between people. The form of each cut-out shows some type of network being made within their forms, stretching or tightening around each other like our own relationships with certain people. The interactive part of the installation was one of the important aspects as well. By allowing people to enter the space made by the structure, I wanted each person to have a chance to look at the details inside. Some might see the same thing as others or see something different that no one else has seen. Having the white back face the audience first is symbolic of how people cannot see the inside of another's relationship with someone else; how their unique experience with another person could only be understood by the one who's in the middle of it all. Like the clichéd saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This project was a reflection of my own experience and a friend's experience with another person. The installation wasn't so much as a piece reaching out to the audience as it was just a personal illustration of an experience that happened to be able to interact with the audience. Like most of my work, this experience translates into the form that I created so that they can become physical weights instead of mental weights that get stuck in my head. Out of this project, I was inspired by the form that the paper could create and I plan to use it again but in a darker themed piece. I hope to mass produce these cut-outs using the laser cutter we have at school so that the process is less time consuming and as tedious as this one. The interactive aspect also pushed me to think about future products that could bring the audience in more. This lead me to think about how I could let the audience experience by stories rather than keep the pieces very subjective.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Harmony, 21 x 23 x 16 cm 

Mon May 16, 2016

Beef bones, metal wire, chicken wire, hot glue

Sculpture

(unit: Expansive Vision)

Artist Statement

The title of my work is “Harmony”. So what I planned to do was use the bones as a base and have metal mesh/thin chicken wire weaving in and out of the bones as if they were ribbons, but actually they are supporting the bones. What I really wanted to do was to just use the bones in a way where I could display the fascinating structures on the inside. I felt that I could pull many thematic connections from the structure of the bones themselves to link to my personal experience with a person that grew up with me and supported me. 

The bones represented structure, support, and strength, but at the same time they were just as fragile on the inside like any person would be. The metal ribbon is supposed to be flowing and flexible, but also stubborn and hard to work with. It reality the metal was very hard to work with because of the cutting and accidental scrapes on the hand. But the end result proved that the metal had the ability to flow through the bones and work with the structure of it. In some of the pieces, there were many holes that were sturdy enough to handle the metal wire. I used this to my best ability to create some sort of balance and dynamic in the piece. Even though the material seemed forced together, I find that the metal adds more to the plain structure of the bones. The crosshatched metal did a good job in creating some sort of movement away from the bones. The metal was used to occupy space but also surround the attention to the bones.

I put the bones together with just the metal wires. Only loose ends were secured with hot glue. At first I wanted to add ribbons to the piece but I felt that it would distract from the interesting interior of the bones. By having this simple structure made with just metal and bone shows my exploration with new and unlikely materials. I struggled quite a bit with putting the structure together. I had to restart multiple times, change metal wires, and use different bones over and over again till I finally got the right shape. After hours of changing, it was secure. The structure held, was dynamic, and had an interesting display of the bones’ interiors. They somehow managed to work together through all the strife. 

I felt that this piece represented the struggle that I and another person went through till we finally came together. The struggle was not only with other people but also ourselves and how we changed ourselves to fit together helped us grow as one. Though both were hard to work with, they combined to make something better than themselves. Support and growth were provided through the combination of these two odd materials/people. I think that one thing I could’ve done to make this better was perhaps experiment with different types of metal. If I had a thinner squared chicken wire, I could’ve played around more with the detached ribbon pieces. If I were to do this project again, I would try to add subtle hints of colour on the bone. Perhaps a dirty forest green to decorate the outside of the bones with small cell-like designs.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Opposing Forces, 116 x 25 x 30 cm

Mon May 16, 2016

Tracing paper, metal wire, rocks, tissue paper rope, hot glue, double-sided tape

Sculpture

(unit: Your Story)

Artist Statement

With this unit I wanted to explore a more abstract representation of my personal experiences. My overall theme was about opposing forces. I linked this with my personal experience of interacting with someone that was totally different from me and had different ideals as well. The relationship I had with this person was destructive and by the end of it, parts of me were damaged. The piece I planned to make was a physical representation of this relationship and the damaged it caused. 

This idea was what I built off with for my piece. I used tracing paper to represent my side and then I decided on making a “stopper” of some sort to contrast from it. I glued the paper to a rope made up of tissue-like paper to create an organic form. Initially I wanted several strands covered with the paper to represent different personality traits or beliefs, but due to time constraints I stuck with one to represent myself as a whole. The “stopper” is supposed to move against the direction of the tracing paper petals and along the way, destroy the papers and also pluck some off of the rope itself. 

I folded the paper in a cone shape and attached the tip to the rope and left the opening pointing downward. I chose this shape because I really liked the flow of the paper and how delicate it looked up close. I also felt that the form was unique to my style and that it represented me in the theme of the work. I made sketches in my book about the form of the sculpture because I felt particularly strongly about this piece. There wasn’t much development on the process of the sculpture because I already knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I would make it. The sculpture was very easy to make and I hope I can experiment more with this in the future. I left the paper as white because I felt that it looked better uncoloured and that white symbolised purity and simplicity. The clay stopper was to show the “heavy” (pun intended) influence that it had on me as well as a perfect opposition to paper. 

I felt the most comfortable with this project because the process of making the sculpture was very simple and repetitive. During this project, I realised that my most of my work were quite similar in the making. I’m really drawn to simple repetitive objects that merge together into something greater. I thought that this project was like an expansion of my first paper-cutting project in the unit of Art & Social Change. I really got to do something that I was comfortable with and I felt that I effectively portrayed an incompatible relationship. 

After this project I want to do more with the paper pieces. Perhaps expand on a bigger canvas. I feel that the small shapes would allow more flexibility when put with others. I imagine a mural like a school of fish weaving around the ocean. With this project, a hanging installation would’ve been better so that people can see the full form of the two materials. The idea reminded me of one of Tara Donovan’s work with plastic cups and a ceiling light. I imagine that my work would have the same ambient effect as I see in her work. The transparency of the paper would make perfect textures in lighting if it were to be so.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

Healing, 49 x 53cm 

Wed May 18, 2016

Plaster bandages, metal nails, metal wire, hot glue

Sculpture

(unit: The Gaze)

Artist Statement

The theme of “The Gaze” was to explore and investigate on how it plays a role in the meaning of a work of art. I chose the to explore how the audience sees the artwork and how it influences the meaning of the artwork itself. I aimed to evoke some sort of feeling from the audience with my art.

I wanted my sculpture have an unsettling presence that evoked the same feeling from the audience viewing it. I started by searching poses and facial expressions that showed pain or some type of deep sadness. I chose these to display because I felt that they could make the audience feel as if they are pulled into the artwork and persuaded to look at it longer. To further emphasise the emotions, I also wanted the sculpture to be in a position where it was lower than their eye-level. Originally, I had planned to make a life-sized human body crouched in pain on the ground to truly base my idea on the power role that “The Gaze” works with.

By placing the sculpture at lower than eye-level, it creates an almost pitiful atmosphere when they look at my work. Having a person being displayed near to the ground lets the audience victimise the sculpture because of its pose. At first, I planned to make a sculpture out of a cardboard base and then layer it over with paper mache, but since I haven’t familiarised myself with cardboard I chose to do a tape sculpture instead.

After finishing the tape sculpture I realise that there were some parts of the body where it was awkwardly shaped and that it was very difficult to change once the paper dried. This was when I completely ditched the paper mache body and moved to something smaller but wouldn’t deviate too much from my original idea of evoking feeling out of the audience.

I decided to cast someone’s back and add metal objects in it. I chose this because I felt that the back of a person’s body is very intimate and is a nice medium for artistic creations. I also drew my decision from personal experience because I believed that the back is always wide open and having it be displayed with metal objects stuck into it was a representation of abusing someone’s vulnerability.

After the cast dried, I decided to add nails and metal wires to try and “fix” the loose parts of the cast together. I felt that this was a good contrast to the texture of the cast because of the stiff irregular lines. The structure of the ties and wraps were representative of the things we try and fix ourselves with after emotional trauma. Though not necessarily a sturdy or good for us, we sometimes look towards those things that help us temporarily. While I was weaving the wire across the cast I found that I had to repeat my wraps and glue down the nails to that it’d stay put, because once a hole was made in the cast, any extra movements would loosen the hole and just let the material slip through.

On the left arm I made a wrap connecting it to the torso to show how the cast’s arms are being held back. This was supposed to represent the bad influences that are helping us recover when actually they set up restrictions and sometimes hold us back. The wires weaved on the spine and the nails on the trapezium were also meant two show restrictions (the three metal connections at the top).

Since it was my first time casting there were a few things I think I could’ve done better. I should have thoroughly smoothed out all layers when casting onto the back because otherwise it made loose ends and awkward textures on the back. I tried a second trial and tried to smooth the back out more. It looked very clean but ended up falling apart because it only had two layers. So I ended up using the patchy first trial, which actually ended up working in my favour. The shape was stable and the loose patches paired with the wires quite nicely, giving the piece a raggedy look.

I would like to revisit casting in another project. I like how I can recreate a desired shape with the casting. The material was very easy to use and it was quite fun because I could shape the layers in whatever way I wanted to. I also want to revisit the human sized sculpture. I think my original idea had potential but I should’ve done some research on how to make it. With this I could also explore more on how the audience perceives an artist’s work, especially one that deals with the depiction of pain. I want to explore how a piece could evoke some type of disgust or discomfort.

[cayly-chia-ib-art]

untitled

Wed May 18, 2016

Acrylic, canvas, modelling paste

Canvas Painting

(unit: Your Story)

Artist Statement

The unit of Your Story was supposed to be a piece about oneself. Maybe one’s experiences, dreams, personality, it just had to do with something about oneself. What I did for this unit was a gathered portrayal of a long term experience with pressured sexual relationships and others. I planned to do a self-portrait that had one half being a promiscuous woman and the other half a severed opposite. In the end, I was quite satisfied with my piece because I painted everything that I wanted to portray first and didn’t have to diverge from my original plans as much. Even if I did, they were a bit better than my original painting technique. In my sketchbook I included a lot of process work because I chose to make my own reference photo by having a photo shoot before painting. I also gathered some images that inspired some small aspects in my painting as well as using one of my artists’ style in the final photo shopped reference picture. 

During my photo-shoot process, I had semi-heavy stage makeup done, wore a pushup bikini and a fluffy coat. Then I took several pictures with provocative photos and in some, smudging my lipstick for a more dramatic effect. During this process there wasn’t anything that was difficult to do. I think I just had to get over the awkwardness of getting my picture taken while in a sexy pose, but other than that everything else went smoothly. After the pictures, I moved onto the canvas. I outlined my picture then painted a mostly pink under layer. I added about 2/3 of the modelling paste for just the coat. I realise that the paste looked much thicker and puffier when wet than when dry. I didn’t really consider this when I was putting it on because I thought that the modelling paste would retain it’s shape. But either way, the coat turned out just fine. The circular stroke texture was still there even after putting on an acrylic layer because the mix of colours helped bring it out. I found that the painting process was quite easy but I think next time I do painting, I’ll use oil paint. I had originally planned the chest to be a nice blend of pink and blue but since the acrylic dried really fast, I decided that I could use a dry brush technique to make muscle strands. The significance of muscle strands would add to the objectification of women’s bodies. The reason why I used mainly pink and blue was because at first I wanted to create a club like ambience with bright stage lights. So in the final photoshopped picture, I added layers of pink and blue gradients. But once I started painting I found it difficult to make it look like highlighted colours instead of the actual colour of the subject. So I went a long with it using two separate sides and a bit of purple in between. I found that the pink worked well in creating a sensual look. The blue was more of an additional aesthetic to balance out the amount of pink. In the beginning I planned for the face to show a sadder emotion than the body was giving off but I was challenged because I didn’t know how to clearly paint this expression. So instead I curved the eyebrows just a little to reveal a bit of confusion and sadness. Then I painted the rest of the face with a light white layer to represent a Japanese “geisha” look. I had this idea towards the end because I remembered that geisha’s were once used to pleasure men sexually but now are used for general arts entertainment. I liked this idea of the “half geisha” mask on the top part of the face because it’s as if I - in the portrait - am putting on a show for men. It added to the theme of my personal experience because of how I felt I was viewed when I was entangled in unwanted relationships. 

In a way, I wanted the portrait to give of a little bit of an unsettling vibe to the audience. I tried to make the figure look very provocative by showing a little more cleavage and having the tongue out. I made the bra pure black to make the promiscuity clearer. The other aspect of my piece was the rift between the mind and the body. This was portrayed by the blurred cut in the head and the colour of the top versus the colour of the bottom. This style was inspired by Henrietta Harris’ portraits and her sort of dreamy ethereal themes. I wanted this rift to show how when girls grow up, their bodies generally develop faster than their minds. Sometimes creating this internal conflict with right and wrong. I showed this moral ambiguity with the grey and white texture on the forehead. This was supposed to express the not-yet developed frontal lobe and also the confusion that the subject is going through. The confusion that is expressed was from my experience with some guys and how I was always manipulated and convinced to doing things I wasn’t really ready for. Even though my body was more mature, I didn’t have a clear sense of right and wrong and also decisiveness to stop myself from doing something that traumatised me later on. This experience drove me to paint what I felt was a representation of my struggle. I didn’t consider much into changing the visual aspect for the audience to understand but I did try to make the seductiveness clear. 

Since I was familiar with acrylic paint, I didn’t have much to struggle with other than using modeling paste. But I did try pulling in ideas from Henrietta Harris and the show “Black Mirror: 15 Million Merits” to start off my project. I initially wanted to paint a series of portraits with deteriorating personalities but I changed by just using myself as reference for one mixed portrait. After this, I feel like I wanted to expand more on my personal experiences as themes for my projects. I feel that I have a lot more to share in terms of this struggle with sexuality. Since I’m still going through these things, most of my life and the events I remember are the ones that have the biggest emotional impact. And usually those emotions have a lot to do with passion and melancholy.