#unswad

[thousandfootwall]

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...No longer be... Excerpt from work included in the ‘Transmission’ exhibition in Black Box @artdesignunsw, opening on 1st Nov 2018. #art #animation #language #unswad (at UNSW Art & Design) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpLeNY-lSbJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1dvfbfkiwkuxx

[thousandfootwall]

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Can we.... Excerpt from work included in the ‘Transmission’ exhibition in Black Box @artdesignunsw, opening on 1st Nov 2018. #art #animation #language #unswad (at UNSW Art & Design) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpEgECLlb5Z/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1j0rv8zpwe0jx

[hamishmcphie-blog]

Final Work; Their September Issue

For assessment 2 I wanted to refine the work I put forward for the first assessment, and see how I could continue to explore a similar avenue but present a more refined depiction of my topic. I took much of what I initially discovered from my practiced based research and experimentation and applied that to developing the second work. This time I used the influences of several artists that look a both ‘the body’ and ‘erasure’ within their work as well as the value we place on physical beauty and attributes. These artists included John Baldessari, Joe Cruz, Martin O’Neil and Helena Almeida.

With their work in mind I appropriated aspects and components of each to explore the various avenues of my piece. Rather than using found images like the previous assessment (a technique used by Baldessari and Cruz alike), I went and selected portraits I had photographed (including a self portrait) and honed the focus in on the faces of individuals that depicted the features that are often categorised into traits of masculine or feminine energy. Things such as lips, eyes, jaw structure, facial hair etc. Then continuing with the multi media approach I used the 3 primary colours to break down the barriers and structures of those masculine and feminine attributes, exploring how these facets are more or less constructed ideals of a narrow view on gender. The primary colours act as a visual metaphor for both the construct of gender and simultaneously the multiplicity of gender in its spectral nature, as every colour in existence is made up of that original primary triplet.

I drew a great deal of inspiration from each of the artists I researched and tried to pay tribute and adapt some of their own practiced based techniques. Baldessari explores the depiction of human body parts in his pop art works, which often highlights and brings attention to the fascination that we as humans have with categorising and labelling people based on features and attributes. His use of bold colours that hide faces was something that greatly influenced my choice to use geometric shapes and how I layered them. Cruz similarly used bright and outlandish pops of colour to draw focus in on old photographs to give them new life, much like I have used similar bright pops of colour to draw attention to the aspects of each photograph that has been erased. Much like his work I hoped to depict a complimentary and contrasting presentation. The influence of O’Neil is illustrated through my use of strong geometric imagery along side the multi media approach to collaging the images I photographed. I continued to develop my process further by manipulated the printed images further, by cutting and re-arranging - presenting a dysmorphic view on the traditional depictions of the human face and its many features. This technique of O’Neils, much like Almeida, draws attention to a specific notion due to its variance from the norm, or absence. Almeida also influenced my work in the way she both used herself as a subject but also her approach to erasure, once again, as a means of drawing focus in on something due to its absence. The work has a strong sense of minimal design and blends that contrastingly with the black and white photographs to highlight the contrast between the structured ideas surrounding gender, and how there is always the ability to ‘re-arrange’ and change that structure.

Baldessari, J. and Welling, J. (2009). John Baldessari. Parkett, [online] 86, pp.30-35. Available at: https://www.parkettart.com/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/529 [Accessed 6 Sep. 2018].

Bray, C. (2014). Joe Cruz. [online] People of Print. Available at: https://www.peopleofprint.com/solo-artist/joe-cruz-3/ [Accessed 13 Sep. 2018].

e-flux. (2016). Gender fluidity and the waning power of men. [online] Available at: https://conversations.e-flux.com/t/gender-fluidity-and-the-waning-power-of-men/3841 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2018].

Le Jeu de Paume. (2016). Helena Almeida. My Work is My Body, My Body is My Work. [online] Available at: http://www.jeudepaume.org/index.php?page=article&idArt=2648 [Accessed 13 Sep. 2018].

The AOI. (2014). The AOI - Martin O’neill. [online] Available at: https://theaoi.com/2014/07/31/martin-oneill-industry-insight/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].

[hamishmcphie-blog]

Experiments with b/w portraits contrasted and complimented by the minimal primary colour designs. I am quite fond of the ‘crying’ image, however I thing the use of geometry compliments the discussion of structure and social boundaries in the context of gender.

[chriscasaliworld]

Exhibition catalogue

Exhibition Catalogue; Flux

This exhibition is a group show at Gaffa Gallery, Sydney that I have work in. It also marks the end of my Master's Degree at the University of New South Wales Art & Design. 

[threefootsquareunsw-blog]

Monica Rudhar All That Glitters 2017 Wax

@monicarudhar

[threefootsquareunsw-blog]

Monica Rudhar Almost 2017 Porcelain 

@monicarudhar

[artdesignunsw]

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