Self Assessment
Learning Outcome 1: Aptitude & Ability in Elected Areas: What skills or strengths do you think you demonstrated in these electives? What did you learn that confirmed your choices? Where did you struggle, and how did you improve?
In my chosen electives (sculpture, fashion and painting) I believe I showed many different key skills in each elective! In sculpture I used skills like following directions and trying new processes ! I would usually go in immediately with making and constructing somthing but I followed the plan of coming up with doing words that will then lead to an idea for a sculpture! It was difficult to slow things down as I am use to jumping straight into making but I found this really beneficial in creating a peice that not only connected to my theme but it had more of a Meaning and symbolism than if I were to have just made somthing that was too literally connected to movement. In fashion I struggled at the start as it is the elective I’m not very familiar with and didn’t quite know where I was going to be strong. I found it very helpful to bring some of my sculpture ideas and pictures I had taken from the last elective and bring it to fashion! Once I decided to do this I began enjoying this elective much more! I used time management skills here as I found this elective period to go very quickly and tried my best to create as much as I could in the time we had! I chose Paintings as my last elective and it was probably my favourite since I mostly paint in my free time! The skills I used for this elective was working quickly and on large scale which I was not use to. I like to take my time while painting and also never really do large peices but I decided to go outside my comfort zone and woke very largely. I really enjoyed this elective as I done multiple very quickly messy paintings and ended up like the unfinished look to them! I also focused more on people rather than what I had been looking at before and found this to really help me progress in my project concept.Over all I think it was really helpful to explore a theme throughout different areas of art and it can help to look at your idea from different angles. The only thing I believe I struggled with was maybe the short time we had in each elective and just the project over all that I found it to go by so quickly so I had to focused on creating and not worrying about making a finished piece. This then led me to doing a lot of work at home to as I felt I had so many ideas but not enough time to try them all which is why I was working on a oil painting at home through out the project and also done some sketches and marker pieces at home just to explore didn’t ideas.
Learning Outcome 2: Creative Use of Materials, Media, Processes: Which materials or processes did you explore? What creative risks did you take? How did your material choices support your ideas?
Throughout the three electives I explored many different materials, media, processes and techniques in order to see my concept in many lights, forms and perspectives! I used many recycled paper bags, and old boxes, cardbord, paper, masking tape, paper mache, textiles, fabrics, acrylic paint, oil paint, wooden panelling, raw canvas, the process of life drawing etc. Creative risks I took were trying to create sculptures from recycled paper and card that I had in my apartment! I wanted to explore the idea of the piece looking hand made and little pieces being but together to help convey the concept of support and building up by people around us so I believe my material choice in this case really Supported my idea and theme!! While in my painting elective we explored quick paintings with acrylic paint and acrylic washes on paper and some also on raw canvas but I felt I wanted to expore other ways and techniques which is why I created an oil painting on wood panel at home that I worked on after college most days I think this really helped me understand my them in another way and see which medium worked best for the message I wanted to get across. Much like the recycled paper, cardboard and paper mache, the way the oil paint allowed me to work more slowly and place paint on the board in pieces rather than blending really helps build the idea of tiny pieces coming together and supporting eachother to create a bigger picture!
Learning Outcome 3: Research & Contextual Understanding: What research did you carry out? Which artists, designers, or movements influenced your work? How did your research appear in your final outcomes or Tumblr?
I looked at many artists and found it really helpful to looks at artists that explored themes or ideas that ie as looking into at the time but also when ie as doing the sculpture elective, I looked into artist who done sculptural work and same for fashion and painting! I believe this really helped me to understand what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go with each elective and see how these artists works really suited their choice in materials and processes.
In my sculpture elective I looked into artist such as Richard long as his work included a lot of hands and his use of spirals and repetition made me really think of movement in human connection! This influenced my first sculpture of repeated hand shapes being stacked and intertwined to create hand sculpture. I also looked at Dorothy cross as she made hand sculptures too which reminded me of Richard longs paintings but this was more of a 3D piece which led me into making my second sculpture of hands which were larger and more life sized. I of course used primary research of my own hand to create these to be proportionately accurate.
For my sculpture and also my fashion elective I looked at the artist Lorenzo Quinn who is a very iconic sculptor who creates very massive hand sculptures which can be seen in Venice! I really enjoyed looking into his work as it not only revolved around hands which is what ie as looking into but his whole idea and Meaning behind his work was about support and people moving and building eachother up which I loved the connection to my concept so this was soooo fascinating to look at his may of conveying this concept! I researched Elsa Schiaparelli who was a fashion designer who incorporated a lot of handss into her fashion designs which helped me to see how I can mix my sculpture work with fashion and textiles! I then wanted to look more into nostalgia and growing up so I looked into the designer Jeremy Scott who incorporated a lot of bright colours, childhood characters and cartoons into his designs which helped me to look at my idea from a more young and childlike angle which I did like but prefered my designs based on my sculpture work.
Then I started my painting elective and really loved looking into many different painters like Cecily Brown who was quite colourful, messy and abstract which helped me when I was doing lots of quick, large and messy paintings. Julian Freud was another painter that I really admired and took lots of inspiration from with my oil paintings and portrait's, he inspired me to take my paintings a little less serious and enjoy the brushstrokes and placement of colours.
Learning Outcome 4: Creative & Conceptual Development: What ideas were you trying to communicate? How did your concepts change as the project developed? What parts of the project show your conceptual thinking best?
The ideas I tried to communicate was the support and movement that people and things can give in our lives! I wanted to look into the different things that effect us and cause movement in our lives so I original was going to look into childhood teddies, toys, movies, books, friends, family etc. So I started with the concept of hands and its ability to show support and connection through humans and how it can also be interpreted as showing the opposite. The movement people cause in our lives is not always good but it moves us in a direction no matter what! When I started fashion I wanted to continue this idea but maybe also look into objects and shows and nostalgics movies so ie as looking into fashion designers who explores this theme but I didn’t end up liking where it was going so I stuck with hands. Then in painting i realised he mated to solely look at humans and how the people around us can move us. Make us laugh and hover all bring joy and love, support and care to our lives. So my project slightly shifted but not too much! I also believe I focused my project on this specific area of my concept due to the short time I had to explore this theme!
I believe my conceptual thinking is apparent in my first elective where I made a list of doing words connected to my concept which I then related and built into an idea which I really liked and I believe showed my idea quite well but not in a too litteral way! I then brought this concept into my second elective which I believe was a smart idea and it really helped me to build onto what I had already started to create!
In my painting elective I believe my choice in images tht I very quickly and messily painted showed my conceptual thinking as I started with childhood photos and the. To a graduation picture to show stages in my life that support was very apparent but I didn’t end up liking the graduation idea so I then focused on a painting of me and my friend laughing which I then created small marker drawings of me and my siblings laughing together. These along with the oil painting of me and my dad laughing together really helped me to grasp my final concept and tidied up all the ideas that I wanted to get across into one concept! I believe painting really helped me to focus in on what I wanted my project to mean!!
Learning Outcome 5: Commitment, Motivation, Self‑Reliance: How consistently did you work throughout the electives? How did you manage your time or overcome challenges? What evidence shows independent thinking or initiative?
I believe I worked consistently throughout my whole project! During fashion ie as absent for a day or two but I worked on artist research when I was sick!! After college at home I worked on artist research alone with an oil painting and some sketches. I always tried to focus my concept idea and make sure my project was going where I wanted it to go and that I was getting my concept idea across!! I think I managed my time very well I made sure to have enough artist research and that I looked at artists who would actually help me and inspire my project each week! The only challenge I faced was the lack of actual in college time I had to work as I had BEd lectures and turorials that messed with my studio time but I tried my best to make up for this by working on stuff at home! I believe my primary research of childhood photos and looking at my own form for hand sculpturing shows my independent thinking and initiative. I think I showed great motivation, self resilience and initiative by working on projects at home as I felt I wasn’t getting enough work done in college as I was missing so much due to going to UL and CCS so this really made me determined to create work in my own time!!
How did you bridge your three elective areas? We had 5 intended learning outcomes for you but did you discover any unintended learning outcomes?
I bridged my electives by carrying work from the previous week to the next elective. I used pictures from my sculptures to create designs in my fashion elective! When I first got the theme and came up with my idea, I looked into child hood photos so before my first elective I had printed some out and drawn some of them too in preparation for my sculpture week which I didn’t look at human connection but in a more symbolic way so when i went to fashion I did use my sculpture but I also tried to use patterns and designs from my childhood pictures and drawings to create designs but id didn’t end up loving so I stuck to the hand sculpture idea. When I went to painting, I wanted to move a little away from hands but still keep with human connection so I done paintings of my original childhood photo sketches and slowly moved to pictures of me and my friends and to people and children laughing together. I believe all these little pieces intertwining From elective to elective really helped me to explore my project throughout the whole time period but while using lots of different materials and proccesses!!
A learning outcome I discovered was how helpful it was to explore the same theme throughout different art proccesses and also if a particular theme or idea is not working for you then it is okay to change or move your focus elsewhere where and it may even be better to look somewhere else as you will hve fresh eyes and you won’t be sending your time doing something that you aren’t enjoying nd isn’t working out for you!