Clothes-minded #1

For a while now, I have been interested in creating a variety of paintings based on the clothes I wear. I like the idea of incorporating the wide variety the shapes and colors in an artistic medium. One day, my etching professor, Lee Walton, gave me an assignment to create from the outfit I had on. With the influence of my color coded closet and some suggestions from multiple professors, I started my first in the series as a collage. My two studio classes for this semester consisted of a collage class and an etching class, and I decided to use both aspects. I dyed the papers by wetting and pressing them together, while at the same time embossing them with blank plates. I arranged the collage to moderately resemble the repeated shapes and designs of the outfit I had on. I plan on making more and thanks to my friend, Kevin, I have some of my outfits documented.

Tuesday's outfit

Making The Best Of It

One of the early assignments for my Variable Topics of Drawing class involved making some smaller collages. Today, I submitted one of my favorites to EVERYTHING(an alternative art magazine). I used the layering of red mesh to create this composition. I'm really interested in materials of different transparencies, and the relationship and commentary they can create. This piece is an example of using the same material and transforming it into different hues and shapes. One of the constant lessons that I am learning is that you don't need a million different ingredients to create something beautiful or meaningful. Barbara introduced us to a poem by Kay Ryan entitled "The Best of It", that I feel describes this aspect of the piece:

The Best of It

However carved up

or pared down we get,

we keep on making

the best of it as though

it doesn't matter that

our acre's down to

a square foot. As

though our garden

could be one bean

and we'd rejoice if

it flourishes, as

though one bean

could nourish us

This poem really speaks to me in terms of artwork and life in general. Only having "one bean" in your garden, you put all of your love and care into its well-being. This minimalist love helps us grasp the importance and sometimes need for simplicity. As a painter, I feel most successful when I can describe a lot with a small amount of mark. Within this collage, I am attempting to nurture this singular material in order to produce something nourishing. By "making the best of it" you can turn something average into something extraordinary. In a world of complexity and chaos, sometimes the simple, little things are the ones that make us stop and "rejoice."

In a less technical and material based approach, my connection to this piece, other than being the creator of it, lies in the cellular qualities of the structures. While putting all of the pieces together, I noticed how much these forms reminded me of blood cells. These tiny things that are a living part of you. You don't necessarily think about them on a daily basis, but they are constantly with you. In life, I feel like the little things are what make you special. Its a little bit of yourself and the "one bean [that] could nourish us."

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...