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)

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

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.

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.

This image is suppose to sister the piece before this one with the people dancing on with the universe behind it. The image of the couple also came from the long lost Pink Floyd images book. I just love the idea that the couple is generating. The first image I did with the people dancing was about sharing experiences together and growing from it this is image is about learning who you are through shared experiences. Every relationship we have challenges who we are as individuals and I just love seeing a couple kissing and at the same time checking themselves out. I wanted to have them in a field or near the pyramids as the land they are on so I am still in the process of breaking that down. I am also still deciding WHICH universe picture I want to put in the background for this one. Both images (this one and the dancing couple) are still lacking their drawings and doodles on top of them because I am still designing those images. I do really like that they are dressed on classic clothes because it puts a time era on the image and that is another reason I chose to scan these images rather than photograph them. With photographs I could eliminate those pixels and paper look to the images but I rather like that they look antique (because they are!) and I want the viewer to gather that information on their own just by looking at it. This image still has a lot of work to be done on it but I am really pleased with beginning stage. I almost want to start a time line with this series where these images would be the first ones and the last ones would be the images that include me and all the ones in between could have cultural references from the time in between then and now.

Last Thursday we got to go to Turner broadcasting and see the behind the scenes. It was a pretty fantastic trip and I learned SO much. One of the things that really pleased me was seeing that the camera they use for photographs AND filming is the same as my camera, the Mark II. I knew they would be using that camera but it still feels really good to SEE that I have the same equipment as the professionals. One of my favorite parts was seeing how the composites are made. They had little quick time videos that broke down the work that was involved to create their posters from the original image to the final print and that was just incredible to see. Watching the creative process of a successful company is extremely rewarding…I got so many ideas just watching them and I was able to answer some questions on my own that I had been wondering about their production. It was also really neat seeing what KIND of environment these professionals work in and it was so chill and not stuffy like I thought it would be. It was actually very bright and creative and so were all the people. Michael gave us his card and said we could come down whenever we pleased and watch a photo shoot….I am SO doing that.

This image has begun to really take form as well as open up a whole new world for me in this project. I thought I was going to be limited when it came to using only me for the images of the person but I see now that I don’t have to limit myself. I like the idea of incorporating the old into the new because that is pretty much what this project is about…the old affecting the new. This image has a lot of meaning for me because it comes from the Pink Floyd collection of art that pretty much has never seen the light of day. I want to continue using old images from their collection because they are aesthetically pleasing and they work SO well with my concept. Pink Floyd cleaved the way for music and took rock and roll to the next level that it HAD to go to. Floyd is one of those bands that understood the importance of evolution and I feel like took music as a whole under their wing and took it upon themselves to help it evolve. I believe rock and roll would be dead if it wasn’t for Floyd stepping up and understanding that it had to go somewhere new for people to want to continue to follow it. These days my favorite genre of music is called space rock with is rock with an electronic twist. The bands play tracks that they have produced in the studio for an album but then live they take some of those tracks and go into 20 minute improvisational jams so it becomes cerebral music. I wouldn’t be listening to that music nor be the person I am today without Pink Floyd thinking outside the box like they did. This image becomes even more powerful once you understand this background information I am giving you. Pink Floyd took one of the things that grounds us as humans (rock and roll) and raised it to a universal level. So, when I look at this image I see Pink Floyd in the people tying us to our roots as rockers and then I see the universe in the back and I think of where they took us. Music is an extremely vital part of my life…I sometimes call it my IV to life so its no wonder I wandered off to the music side of the world to be incorporated in this series. I want this series to represent all the happy and optimistic thoughts and feelings I have about the world we live in and how it all ties us to the universe. Music has also given hope for my future and my future husband…it has allowed me dream of images of us dancing on the moon with the stars at our backs so it feels absolutely incredible to verbalize my dreams through imagery and photography. I feel a lot of power coming through these images as I composite them and when I look at them I DO see MY brain on paper and I love it. These images are MY imagination and I am finally at a point in my life where I am willing to invite others to see some of my personal dreams and fantasies…I finally have the strength to invite others into my world. Maybe that is what I will call this series…”The Invitation”. Yep, that’s exactly what it will be called. An invitation to my imagination.

I have begun to work on another piece for my project. Its about being together in far off places. So far all of my ideas have only included me or just one person. I would like to have at least one image that has the idea of two people sharing new ventures together. Part of this series is about encouraging people to step outside the box and start using their imagination correct? Well in lure of that I would like to also touch on the idea of doing just that but as a shared experience. Part of what inspired this project is me trying to tell myself to think outside the box and to really utilize my imagination. It’s an attempt to try push me to live above the regular and average standards of human life. Well, one day I would like to get married and share my life with another human being but at the same time I in no way would want to stop living life the way I know how to live; therefore I must be ready to share the way I live and look at life. This image is not only a promise to myself that I will one day share my creative life with my husband but it also to encourage others to want to share their particular ways with their significant other.

Apart from the romantic connotation this image has it is also the merging of the old and the new. This refreshes the concept I mentioned last week about the past being the foundation to the future and having appreciation for what our ancestors did to help springboard us to where we are today. Here is an image from Pink Floyd’s collection of unknown art. This image was the front cover for “The Collection of Great Dance Songs” done in 1981. First of all I found the image completely intriguing and very appropriate to use for my series. The concept is surrealistic yet deep. It makes me think of how humans could not survive without our ties to our very own planet. It makes me think of human beings that are very “grounded” to the world they know. These two thoughts are exactly in line with one of the ideas my series is centered around….connection relating to growth. I chose to look through Pink Floyd’s work in the first place because they are a great living example of what my series is trying to get across. They were all about breaking boundaries and stepping out into uncharted territory, with the help of their current technology. I like that the scan of the image causes a grit effect to occur on the dancers. It will allow the viewer to automatically know that the image is from the past and not the present. That last sentence makes me want to find something so that I could put an image in this series that connects the present to the future. I will have to explore some options. Anyway, the basis of this piece is that we have to do this together, we have to grow together, and we have to learn to love and utilize our planet together so we can keep progressing fantastically into the future.