Steady Moving Forward

All art is influenced. 

[steadymovingforward]

The Whole Picture

Rag Paper, Photo Album Protecting Sleeves, Waxed thread, Sharpie

May 2015 

Once again, I’ve delved into the realm of illusionary art and interactive art. The same artists as I’ve mentioned before, such as Dorosz, were huge influences. Especially since he even experimented in larger, more interactive worlds such as ‘The Painted Room’ below. 

However, larger and less delicate works such as Whiteread’s ‘House’, 

display opportunities for actual interaction. 

It’s only recently that I’ve realized that the best learning I’ve done is when I’ve been able to physically interact with what I’m seeing, such as the children’s museum when I was young. I don’t think that we change much from children to adult, and interactive art/entertainment should monopolize that. 

It’s works like Paul Nulty’s interactive light design...

that reminded me that art can be beautiful and inventive, but without a connection from the audience, the art may well be useless.

Though I didn’t work with electricity or programming, it’s my hope that interaction with the pages, and the changing views, may help the audience to better understand the meaning behind the importance of every aspect of a picture.

[steadymovingforward]

Media Portraits

Digital Photograph Manipulations 

Spring 2015 

Each of the digital photograph manipulations above is another extension of the portfolio mentioned in yesterday’s post (surrealism on perspective medias). 

However, this series titled ‘Media Portraits’ is a group of photographs loosely based on works such as ‘Rene Magritte’ by Duane Michals ...

(1965)

and, ironically another work by Magritte himself, ‘A Friend of Order’:

(1964)

Both works make a statement on the depicted individual in retaliation to objects surrounding in silhouette. Michals’ work displayed the painter Magritte in silhouette against an easel, speaking to who Magritte was. 

Magritte’s work speaks similarly to the silhouetted individual. 

My works are based on self-made media, and each silhouette speaks to eh media that the portrait-ed individual utilizes to display themselves. In this way, the portraits are  more self-made then displayed by myself.

This new media, self-made media, allows each individual to edit and show who they believe themselves to be, or aspects of themselves.

[steadymovingforward]

Window Screens

Digital Photo

Spring 2015

This semester I’m participating in a digital photography class. For my final portfolio I’m covering a topic utilizing surrealism techniques while creating a photographic conversation on modern perspectives of media.

While exploring my topic I came across several famous surrealist artist however, the section of my portfolio shown above, tilted Window Screens is loosely based on works by Rene Magritte.

In modern education, Magritte may be most famous for his portrait Son of Man.

However, when exploring his works, I found myself drawn to two of his works, both with the same title: The Human Condition.

1933

1935

Both works adhere to an artistic style referred to as ‘a painting within a painting’, and make a statement about the artist and what interior may truly mean. 

Utilizing these pieces as inspiration, I explored what the idea of a store, or the interior of a store may be to the modern individual. I concluded that a store has expanded past its physical boundaries in the modern era, and has trespassed to a virtual platform; just as effectively used as the original brick and mortar.

[steadymovingforward]

Skeptic Circle

Tea Lights, Foam Core, Fishing Wire 

Fall 2014 

This year, I’ve become less interested in what my art means to me, and instead more intriqued by what the audiences sees or responds to. Because of this, much of my art has started to become more audience-interactive. The sculpture above is no different.

Skeptic Circle is a piece ‘in the round’. It’s a sculpture meant to be viewd from all sides, with changing views from different viewer heights and angles.

When orignially beginning my project, I was intiqued by the works of Elba Bairon, a Latin American artist. She works with simplified in the round sculptures carved and sanded from blocks of paper. Below is a sample of one of her shows, Contemporaneo 30.

Each of the individual sculptures is stylized so that shadow helps to create the form, and the viewer interacts by moving through the crowd of sculptures.

Though Bairon’s style was intriguing to me, the way she utilized light and physically placed her audience within the work, I found myself pulled to illusionary art. Below is an example by Chris Dorosz titled, Stasis 79 (The Duchess of Alba’s Wedding).

Though this isn’t a sculpture in the round, I found myself particularly drawn to Dorosz’s installations. He creates his work by artfully placing acrylic blobs in such a way that the image may only be properly viewed from one angle. This forces the viewer to interact and sometimes react through placement.

When I created my own piece, I decided to move the audience in the same way as Dorosz, while at the same time playing with light to create emphasis like Bairon. When viewing Skeptic Circle the viewer must walk around the sculpture until the small units align and the individual is able to see the triangle clearly.

Through creating works that stress the importance of viewer perspective, I mean to engage the audience and emphasize the change that vantage may make in relationship to art and the viewers’ daily lives.

[steadymovingforward]

KIDtech Poster

Digital Poster 

Fall 2014 

The poster above was the culmination of a semester long project aimed at developing a graphic theme. The theme I cultivated evolved into one simple word: KIDtech. This was meant convey the combination of children and technology that has become increasingly common especially in respect to childhood education, communication, and creativity.

When creating my poster, I spent copious amounts of time researching the evolution of technology, especially communicative, which is how my poster design took shape.

The basic structure, or grid format, is based off of print press advertisements. Specifically, advertisement from the time of the industrial revolution. When technology was growing in leaps and bounds, as it is today, and still followed a block-printing pattern.

Notice the easy to view grid-like pattern on the advertisement above.

While researching, I also learned that as far as font was concerned, printers had to make due. In typecasting, using a letterpress was the preferred method for 19th century newspaper printing, and often creating a forced – grid pattern.

I also found myself intrigued by the type itself. Printers were often forced to use whatever type was at hand and ready to use. Jumping off of this, I decided to force myself to use early Macintosh fonts. These fonts, such as Chicago (example below) have come to represent a pivotal moment in personal technology growth. This I found to be directly applicable to my KIDtech report, and so used such fonts in my poster.

The fonts and grid pattern I used in my poster represented two pivotal moments in technological industry: the printing press and development of personal software. In combination with the child-like color pallet, they portray the familiarity of today’s children with technology.

[steadymovingforward]

Repunzel Tiles

Tissue Paper, Modge Podge, and Artist Marker

Fall 2014 

 As displayed my piece ‘Repunzel Tiles’, I had a brief love affaire with the concept of distance in art. It’s fascinating. It’s an illusionary adventure. Artists from different areas and cultures handled different mediums to convey space in flat works.

The ever-famous Lenardo da Vinci utilized several forms, visible in two of his most famous works.

The Mona Lisa utilizes a landscape technique that fades the farthest distances, creating a sense of depth.

The Last Supper, however, exemplifies da Vinci’s skill in Perspective Art.

Half way across the world, an Asian Artist also successfully portrayed distance in landscape in a very different medium, with a different technique.

The 15th Centaury artist Sesshu from Japan created works such as this ‘Winter Landscape’ of art in ink on paper scroll. Instead of adhering to any perspective or highly muted lines, Sesshu simply made objects smaller as he saw them. In ink, I consider this a terrifying technique.

All works above are terrific, I enjoyed dissecting each and every one, however it was Pieter Bruegel’s 16th century work that grabbed my attention and directly inspired my Repunzel Tiles.

This oil piece on wood, titled ‘Hunters in the Snow’ or ‘Winter’ utilized diminishing detail, size reduction (however not in perspective per say), and color dilution to best convey distance.

This is the work I mimicked using screens of tissue paper to dilute and partially obscure former layers of landscape. However, seeing other artists using oil, tempera, wood, ink, and paper inspired me to attempt my own media and experiment, which availed me to learn my own technique and try my hand at innovation.

[steadymovingforward]

Peruvian Sketch No. 23

Pencil and Sketchpad 

Spring 2014

While studying abroad in the spring of 2015 I drew the sketch above. I found myself prompted to draw by combinations of local native art and architecture and the Spanish. Pictured below is one such structure. It is the Catholic Church of Santo Domingo in Peru which was built on the Ruins of the Incan Temple Coricancha.

It was churches like this, and the interior works of native and Spanish combination-design influenced my sketch.

The alpaca, still an important Andean symbol and major industry today often represented the native person in Incan art.

My scetch dresses the Alpaca in 16th centaury Conquistador armor

(image courtesy of http://exploration.marinersmuseum.org/subject/francisco-pizarro/) and represents the Peruvian culture of Andean tradition and Spanish influence.