my grad piece for my BFA in sculpting, the result of years of art making, researching familial and cultural history, and writing about my work and that of artist’s that influence me.
this piece references histories of trade with red river carts and the commodification and consumption of identity. it explores the ways in which Métis material culture uses louis riel in juxtaposition of the red and white kitsch that paints the so-called-canadian landscape. using our material culture as a tool of survivance to oppose mechanisms of colonialism that serve to drown it out in a sea of hudson’s bay company stripes and red with the red and white maple leaf’s stamp of approval.
is anyone else like. insanely hyped to go back to college just bc u missed ur college friends so much. like idk maybe it's bc i live 6 hours away from everyone else (i go to school 4 states away from home) but RAHHH IVE MISSED THEM SO MUCH. and now you're telling me i get to go set up a fun room with two of my closest friends and a hamster and two frogs and do art all the time and learn things i actually am interested in and be in one of the best twins i've ever been to for the next 9 months and im NOT supposed to be excited??? like yeah there are downsides but COME ON PEOPLE
this isn’t about theatre, but it’s still important.
i just finished rereading The Catcher in the Rye - truly my favorite book of all time ever. the best narrator voice I’ve ever seen. I read this book as assigned reading in the 10th grade and I, along with probably my whole class, saw myself in the very relatable life and language of Holden Caulfield. my favorite part of the entire book is when Holden is in the taxi cab, and asks the driver, you know what, I’ll just find the quote.
"Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million.
He turned around and looked at me like I was a madman. "What're ya tryna do, bud?" he said. "Kid me?"
"No—I was just interested, that's all."
Holden doesn’t care about the ducks, really. Well, he may just be interested, but he’s also extremely self aware, and very worried about his own fate/mortality. growing up is scary. where do the ducks go when the pond freezes over = where does Holden go when time passes too quickly, and now he has to leave his adolescence behind him?
I’d love to see this as a play. in 10th grade, I imagined playing phoebe over and over again. but i could be holden too. if only the JD Salinger foundation would release the rights!
Concept art of Anxiety for my BFA thesis project: The Power of Will Also for sale on my Etsy! https://www.etsy.com/shop/LeggyLeohttps://www.etsy.com/shop/LeggyLeo
shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew is good until it’s not
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: why? is shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew? so good? until act 5?
let’s unpack this.
I’ve always loved Taming of the Shrew, simply because of Kate. I think she is firey, passionate, proud, and not content with just sitting around waiting for a man. same, sis! I think she is one of few characters that shakespeare wrote for women of any real substance. that is, until she goes back on EVERYTHING she says in act 5, and the audience watches Kate as she is essentially brainwashed, and the characters on stage are like, wow! looks like petruchio tamed the shrew! *drop curtain*
acts 1-4 for Kate are stunning. when petruchio blindly agrees to marry Kate (for her father’s money) - he doesn’t really understand how...it may be difficult...to uh..., non-consensuallyforcesomeoneintomarryinghim? ah, but women didn’t have rights back then! ((that’s why acts 1-4 are wonderful! we finally shine a light on gender stereotypes and social hierarchy, deception in marriage, and all sorts of delicious themes that, in the 1500’s were swept under the rug!))
my favorite speech of kate’s is the one where she begins with ‘no shame but mine. i must, forsooth, be forced to give my hand, opposed against mine heart’
translation: i won’t just bring him shame, i bring myself shame if i go through with this, with giving away myself against my own will.
and, of course, there’s Act 2 Scene 2 when petruchio actually meets Kate, and she schools him left right and center about how she will not be reduced to his standards of her, because she is above the patriarchy
until she isn’t? in act 5?
I don’t want to spoil the ending (in case you haven’t read it) but, it’s, just, it almost seems like act 5 was written by a different playwright!
but at the same time, i get it. how else could shakespeare tie this one up in a little bow, like the rest of the comedies? it is the 1590’s, afterall. i know this for sure: i would have respected shakespeare a lot more if Kate could have saved herself.
I’ve been wanting to create a side blog/catch-all brain dump space for things I am reading/studying in school. I’m an acting major at a music conservatory, living that BFA life
on this blog, you may expect: script/film reviews, my opinion, recommendations, studying/school habits, maybe some monologue recs? & a general peak into the life of an artist. hope that’s cool with you
BFA Student Focus: Jeff Wheeler // By Raevyn Dumas // 2.16.16
Consumed // Ink, Water Color and Colored Pencil
Ayris: Where do you draw inspiration from when you make grotesque art?
Jeff Wheeler: A majority of my inspiration when making grotesque art comes from dark or gory imagery that I find in things like comic books, graphic novels, mangas, and films. I'm really into art that looks super exaggerated or pushes the boundaries of most people’s comfort zone. I tend to amplify the gore in my work, not because I'm a psycho, but because I have so much fun drawing it.
A: How do you feel skateboarding culture has shaped your perspective of art? Do you feel this strong influence might limit your art in some fashion?
JW: Skateboarding and artwork have always kind of gone hand in hand for me. They've both always served as a creative outlet and a way of self-expression. In skateboarding you're not told how to do it or given regulations or restrictions, that’s the beauty of it. With that being said I'd definitely have to say that skateboarding has brought limitations to my art. I always approached art with a similar state of mind so when I started going to school for illustration I was a little discouraged when I starting being taught the "rules" of art making. I feel like I didn't take criticism well or didn't take in all the information that I could have due to being so stubborn to change. I’m so grateful that I snapped out of that mentality because it had definitely kept me from growing as an artist.
Slam // Ink, Water Color and Spray Paint
A: How does mixed medium play into your art style and what are the advantages/disadvantages with working between physical and digital mediums? Do you find that using both has its own influences to how your art is presented?
JW: Combining mediums and seeing how different ones react with one another is one of my favorite things to play around with when making a piece. I'd have to say I prefer working traditionally over digitally. But they both serve as different, equally important ways for me to present and make my work. When it comes to things like self-promotion on social media or making a good piece in a short amount of time I'll most likely always choose to work digitally. You can make a clean piece that you don't need to scan in or wait to dry; it’s really convenient. But if I'm doing a personal piece I'll chose to work traditionally a majority of the time. What I love about working traditionally is the fact that you're physically changing the surface of an object, whether it be paper, canvas, a brick wall, fabric, etc. I feel when working digitally I lose that same level of craftsmanship. When I make a mistake on a traditional piece I'm forced to work through it and make something of it. I can’t just click command Z. Sometimes happy accidents are my favorite aspects in an art piece, you don't really get that digitally.
A: What are some of the more challenging obstacles you are facing in your art?
JW: The most challenging obstacle I face in art is trying to be more conceptual. I tend to focus real heavily on character design and get caught up in the little details of a piece. This causes me to lose the overall feel I was trying to initially convey. I'm constantly trying to push myself to look deeper into a concept and try to stray away from being super obvious and in your face. I'm definitely still working on this and it’s a struggle every time that I'm brainstorming for a piece.
A: How many concept sketches do you go through to create a piece like "Consumed" and how do you know you've found where you want the piece to be?
JW: I go through quite a few different concepts before coming up with one that I'm satisfied with. With an illustration like "Consumed" I knew I wanted a monster, a skull and a human that was sort of morphed into one being, what I didn't know was how I was going to do it. When I decided I wanted them all coming out through each others mouths I then had to figure out which order they'd be coming out. Each of these stages probably took around 5 detailed thumbnails then a few more when deciding how I wanted to compose the piece. I know a piece is where I want it to be when I actually start getting hyped on it, it starts to convey the feel I want it too and it's drawn and mapped out to The Creature from the Compost
Medium: Inked traditionally, Colored Digitally the best of my ability.
The Creature from the Compost // Inked traditionally, Colored Digitally
A: Where did the inspiration for "The Creature from the Compost" come from and how did you incorporate that into your final work?
JW: "The Creature from the Compost” actually came from an assignment I had in my Digital Illustration class. The assignment was to take a superhero or villain and create a character using inspiration from the hero or villain's name. I chose "Swamp Thing". When I thought of the word "swamp" I thought of vegetation. From vegetation I thought of Vegetable and it kind of kept evolving from there. He's supposed to be emerging from a compost pile to keep the gross, slimy feel you think of when imagining a swamp.
