Thoughts on Self-Portrait Collage

In my Variable Topics of Drawing class, we are getting to the tail end of our self-portrait collage. With this in mind, I am feeling a little uneasy about the final product. A few weeks earlier, I made a list of things that need to happen in my work:

1) Edit what isn't working

2) Bring some clarity to the piece

3) Develop 3D form idea more clearly

4) Experiment with a variety of materials

5) Lose self-conscience approach

6) Develop figure

7) Form structured red and blue shapes within thought bubble

Going back over this list, I noticed one thing in particular that I cannot scratch off the list. Number 5: Lose self-conscience approach

I don't know what is going on in my head this part of the semester, but I can't shake this feeling of unease, worry, and embarrassment toward my work. Things that are not class involved seem to be flourishing in way, while with class work I feel stumped. There is a cloud that, at least for right now, I can't get through. The game plan is to continually push myself to not think and just make. I am writing out my concept in hopes of clearing my head a bit from this mess.

Concept:

We as bodies are just the vessels of our mind and soul. I am an inanimate object without what makes me me. I could look completely different than the way I do, but still be myself on the inside. Due to the inevitability of change, it is also very clear to me that I will physically look different years from now. I want to portray the puppet that is a body as this scribbly, amorphous, and dead looking figure, with the mind represented in a thought bubble. The mind is to be represented in red and blue structural yet abstract shapes and forms. These forms when viewed through 3D glasses will show the importance of mind as oppose to the generic vessel.

Early collages/drawings

Current, yet not totally up to date photo

Healium

In an attempt to lighten the load...

Rise of the Mostly-Dead but Still Moving

In honor of the Humans vs. Zombies extravaganza here at school, here are two prints of my zombie etching.

Want a zombie playlist to go with that Nerf gun? Check out these both undead and awesome tracks:

Zombie Killer by Leslie Hall

The Dead Will Walk by The National Lights

Zombie Graveyard Party by Be Your Own Pet

Return Of The Loving Dead by Nekromantix

They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh! by Sufjan Stevens

Operation Lovechild Update!

As I posted earlier this month, Operation Lovechild was completed and recorded, but there is more to tell! While in the computer lab of the library, I noticed that one of the blogs I follow, an open [sketch]book by Suzanne Cabrera, had a new entry entitled "love note". I checked out the entry and found out that she saw and was positively affected by one of my valentines! My heart leap when I read her entry and all of the comments that people left. It is really nice to know that it is around a month later and there are still lingering effects of my acknowledgement. In Suzanne's entry, she says "the note wasn't meant for me", but little does she know that it was. My notes are for everyone and I am so glad that she helped spread Operation Lovechild to even more individuals. Check out her entry here http://www.anopensketchbook.com/2010/03/found-this-on-locker-near-drink-machine.html

Don't Forget.

You are Loved.

It's a Piece 'o Cake!

As I am a girl with a very dear love for baked goods, birthdays are my time to shine. Whether its cookies, cupcakes, or the traditional birthday cake, I try to put a lot of work into it. I want to create something unique for the people I love. Yesterday, I completed my most recent birthday cake for one of my friends, Geoff. Being a fellow fan of the show Frisky Dingo, I decide that Killface would fit his specifications of white cake with vanilla frosting. Thus, we have Cakeface:

A few other semi-recent birthday creations:

Kate's Cake:

For a fellow painting major, we have here a chocolate funfetti palette cake with marshmellow fluff paint:

Drew's Cookie Volcano:

Drew had a potluck for his birthday. When I realized that I couldn't actually get him a suckling pig with a spit, a cookie volcano was the obvious second choice. I baked somewhere around 80 chocolate chip cookies and 40 funfetti and dubbed it, Mount Chocomanjaro. The premise was that both the cowboys and native americans find a common enemy in the volcano. They must protect themselves from the chocolate syrup lava!

pre-eruption

post-eruption

Sketchbook Pg2

While watching Law & Order, I drew this sea monster. Go figure. Very scaly, slightly agonizing, and just because I felt like it.

Response to a Work by Josephine Meckseper

Josephine Meckseper: Amalgamated

http://www.whitney.org/WatchAndListen/Artists/Meckseper

This video was made with an iPhone of the Whitney Museum(Architecture by Marcel Breuer)

-The soundtrack seemed like a mix of crackling fire and people singing

-Otherworldly

-The sounds match with the shifting of video and images to create an uneasy feeling

-A continuous draw to light sources

-High contrast of darks and lights

-The greenish yellow glow throughout gave an alien/sinister vibe

-Repeated geometric shapes

-Combination of beating sound with sharp frame changes

-Natural college of solid tone and "patterned" shapes.

-Some areas are framed by the angles of the architecture and iPhone

-as if the building itself was a gallery with the outside world as the art

Operation Lovechild

One night, one of my roommates and I got into a conversation about acknowledgement and what life would be like without it. Acknowledgement is such an important element that we can easily take for granted. Imagine never being recognized as anything other than an inanimate object, no one speaks to you, no one even hears you speak. What could that do to a person? It becomes a question of self worth. These real life situations happen all of the time and can lead to depression and possibly something worse. The holidays can be hard and with Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, I wanted to do some acknowledging. I reminisced about Valentine’s Day in elementary school, and how much fun it was to make cards for everyone in the class. So I decided that I would make everyone my valentine. After getting advice from a few of my fellow classmates, I began my stealthy work. In our studio art building we have 132 lockers, 86 upstairs and 46 in the basement, and my plan was to covertly slip a card in each of them. I wanted these cards to be simple but profound and definitely anonymous, just a pleasant surprise of love and acknowledgment. Three reassuring words seemed best: You. Are. Loved.

At 10:14am on Sunday, February 14, 2010, I managed to complete Operation Lovechild under the radar. Every locker had a valentine and I slipped some extras in venting machines and a few other places where people could be surprised. In the days that followed, I began to see my valentines taped in lockers and in sketchbooks. There was some chatter about this project being strange, but I expected as much. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I can live with weirding people out, especially if that means I helped someone else know their worth. I want to continue these kinds of social pick-me-ups, and I have a few plans for the future. Until then, know that you are loved.

Sketchbook Pg1

Here are a few sharpie and prismacolor marker self-portrait doodlens. I like experimenting with contour drawings and blocking in the dark value. There is something interesting about using a different marker for the line and value, they are both labeled the same color but their shade/hue is different.