Sunday, August 22, 2010

coming to an end



So I am finally getting to a finishing point in this project. Not only have I completed all the images I had the time to create but I also figured out how I am going to pull this series together to make it look like the images go together. I know that this project started off as something completely different but I was expecting it to evolve into something completely different. I knew how I wanted to execute the images, I knew what elements I wanted to incorporate, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to pull them all together because I knew each image would have it’s own meaning. At first I thought that I would work with a timeline to help give it some congruency but that wasn’t strong enough to pull all the images together. I will still use this concept but it will pertain more to the order of how the images will be displayed on a wall. I have been searching for that one element to bring it all together and it finally came to me with the help of my class critique (thanks again everyone!). I had come to class with an experimental image that had one of the composites sitting in a frame that was on the ground. Without thinking much of it, I brought it into class just see what everyone thought. My professor immediately loved it and threw out the idea that ALL of the images should be contained within the frame. Fearful that the images would look redundant, my classmates all assured me it wouldn’t. Then one person said exactly what I needed to hear. She said some of the images are a little jarring at first and the frame makes it easier to approach. After saying this, the series concept that I had been waiting to stumble upon came to me. All of these images are glimpses into my world so the thought of someone walking by some random place and seeing one of my images in a frame left behind would really enhance that idea. So I went up to Asheville to my mom’s house because she has a bunch of frames from the 60’s and 70’s. I wanted the frames to look worn and tattered like they have been sitting there for a while. I also wanted them in unidentifiable place because I didn’t want any focus to go to where these images might be found, but rather they could be found anywhere if your looking for them. I also worked with nature a little bit and included the ground and pinecones or broken pieces of brick left behind. They were all shot on a sunny day because these are happy concepts I am trying to get across and because the images are so strong in color and contrast I didn’t want them to look like illuminated images within frame. My professor was keen enough to point that out at the critique. I hadn’t noticed how the image tended to look like one that had a backlight behind it and that is not what I want. I always love it when critiques not only help seal an idea but when people are able to point out things you haven’t noticed. Anyway, once I get all my composites in their frames I know I will be able to write a very solid artist statement…I just need to see my series completed in front of me to do so. (p.s. the color is WAAY off on the image just so ya know)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

So one of the things that I really truly love about this project is that as I continue to work on it, I am flooded with more and more ideas. Never in my life have I been on such a roll in terms of creativity. The last few times I have been working on this project I kept getting ideas to replace some of the drawn elements with actual textures that exists in the world. I ended up going to an antique store, walking around, and photographing different textures and surfaces that could possibly be used in the project. This has turned out to be an extraordinary idea for this project. As of now I am currently working the image entitle, “Buddha Thoughts” (shown above). Although, I still feel I have not reached the final design of the image I do feel I am getting closer and closer to where it needs to go. I still need to play around with the color palate of this image…as this seems to be the hardest part with this particular one. It probably has something to do with all the elements that are being used…I still need to play around with a couple of different color styles and hopefully I will find what I am looking before the end of the week. This image is the only one that I feel has A LOT more work and experimentation to do on it.

What I have also done with the images that I got from the antique store is use them for the surface for me to sit on. This one image that I began working with includes golden arcs from a sculpture that I have duplicated and warped to fit in with a pre-chosen universe image I have. Although, I am still playing around with the orientation and placement of these golden arcs…I am LOVING how it looks. The gold reflecting light gives the image so much more depth than what I have been working with. These images will fit into the “future” section of the series but will be towards the end because when I look at these arcs I think of my sketches but on a way more developed level…like the sketches are beginning to take on their actual form as they move away from their rough idea phase. I defiantly need to keep playing with different surfaces especially ones that react to light in a cool way like metallic ones. This project has come so far from its beginning phases and the journal that I have to follow this progress has been absolutely crucial for its development. Not only has this project provided for me a series that is loaded with ideas but I feel like I am also honing in on a very productive working method. My journal is loaded with thumbnail images all separated by category. First I have my people images of myself in the studio in different poses, then table-top photography of all my little objects to be used, then images of the universe that I wish to incorporate, then images of my contemporaries work for me to use in the “present day” section of the series, and NOW I have loads of images that is nothing but textures and surface areas. Needless to say, my journal has enabled me to create this project. Without having all the elements in front of me (as opposed to browsing on my computer) I would not have been able to come up with the best possible combinations. I love it! This project could not be going smoother. And the best part is…I finally feel like I am creating art that directly reflects who I am as an individual. I am so excited to see where these crazy ideas could lead to a year from now. I am already extremely pleased with my start…but I KNOW this series will go somewhere absolutely spectacular one day…its just all a matter of my getting comfortable with working with so many different elements. YAY! I am pleased

Monday, August 9, 2010


I feel I am getting even closer to where I need and want to be with this series. One thing that I was really focusing over this past week was the incorporation of the universe images and HOW I want to go about including them. I am learning through this series and through sketches that the proper universe image makes ALL the difference. If I choose the wrong one it could look cheesy and flower-power looking or it just distracts too much from the other elements. I must say that I LIKE that this is the case. Since I do know that this series is about breaking out of the world’s comfortable atmosphere and exploring new territories, its so nice that choosing the CORRECT location in the universe becomes extremely crucial. I am no longer literally and metaphorically just floating through space.

Another experiment that I played around with was incorporating myself in different ways and just always having me placed somewhere in the foreground. In one image I actually turned myself into a silhouette to work with a piece of art I found. In the above piece, I chose to not ground myself in the image but rather make myself apart of the shape and form. This particular image (the one above) is also a great example of me really thinking through what universe images to use. I knew I wanted to incorporate the drawing of the fetal man but I wanted it to look like he was apart of the universe and not just pasted to it like the images of me. I did a lot of searching and was able to find the right universe shot to use with the illustration. The results are exactly what I was trying to get. I also searched high and low for the perfect ground to include in which I was able to incorporate the surface of a planet as my foreground.

Aside from these two new ways of approaching this series, I have also pin-pointed how I want the series to work within itself. I’ve decided to break it up into three different sections. Past, present, and future. There are two images for the past which include the couple dancing in front of the stars and the hugging couple with their mirrors. Those images come from the past and for fellow Pink Floydians, they represent the past. The present will have three images that include one element that is not my work to signify other artist that are my contemporaries. The image included in this blog is an example of the present. Then for the future I want the images to really be centered around the drawings that I do so as to represent thoughts in the process of being produced, and therefore alluding to the future. The only images that will include my drawings will be for the past and future sections because when I think of the past I think of all my sketches that lead me to where I am today. Also when I see my current sketches, I think of all things that will be produced in the future from my current ideas.

Sunday, August 8, 2010


My work has really taken a turn but at the same time I feel I am getting closer to where I want to be. I started this project not really knowing where I was going to go with it but I had an idea of the formula I wanted to start with. I knew I wanted to work with the universe, I knew I wanted to include me, and I knew I wanted to have some sort of drawing or sketch involved with the image and its shape and form. I also knew that is was very important that I make sure that the photo of me looks realistically grounded. I am not so concerned about light because I don’t believe that we really know how light works within the universe so I am not sure I can gauge a proper assessment on how it would look in a photograph. As far as I see it the universe is more of a background for the image a metaphorical representation of thinking outside the world we know. I feel in the first blogs I got a little caught up in trying to define one meaning and that has proven to be the opposite of what I really want these images to represent. They are suppose to be snapshots of subconscious exploration. I am not wanting to really pin point what everything means within each image. In fact I would like the opposite of that. I once did a painting that looked very Dali-like and I never knew WHY I placed each element in the image the way I did. Then one day when I was at a concert I started thinking about the image and it all made sense to me…it was an representational image of what I felt like my talent meant in this world. I liked that I didn’t know everything at first but that it came to me later and instead of allowing the conscious to lead, you allow your subconscious. I am sure other artist went with this method as well such as Picasso or Dali. I want these images to do the same for me. I want to explore my subconscious through placing different elements in different ways while combining different elements that might not normally fit together. In this particular image I really like how the drawing gives the photograph form and a different kind of depth especially since my point of view makes it look like I am interacting with image. I would like to explore replacing some of the sections of the drawings with photographs of actual surfaces. I was thinking of elements like metal from a giant trash can or stained glass sections from a window. I would of never come up with this idea had I not just thrown myself into this series and allowed myself to explore. What I also love seeing is me actually interacting with my own drawings…that to me is very satisfying to see and it also inspires many more ideas such as experimenting with different mediums. In another image I am next to an element that was painted with gold paint pen and then scanned through. The results are quite interesting and it makes me want to try different types of mediums to incorporate into this series.