Identity
My first theme I chose to focus on was identity. I wanted to play into the idea of a persons uniqueness being lost in a crowd. I did a study to see how I could use encaustics to create an image of a blurry crowd. For my project I added barcodes to the faces of some of the people. The barcode symbolizes conformity and that each person isn't that different when they're all seen together. I utilized the artistic behvahior of communicating though my art a message about social conformity in society. I also took a risk by working in a medium I have never tried before but I think the blurring effect of the encaustics added a lot to the piece.
Oberservation
My idea for observation was to hyper-observe a fly using a microscope. I am using acrylic to create a dyptic, with the images being a view of the fly split into backlighted and not backlighted. I created original art by working off of my own pictures instead of finding reference images online. The process of this painting helped me to develop my art making skills by using observation to imagine the fly on a large scale. As i reflect on this piece, I wish I had created a panel with image transfers of the pictures I took. I think that even after the class is over, I still want to make that third panel because the pictures turned out really well and I would like to make something out of them.
Perspective
When thinking about this theme, I wanted to switch a humans perspective to the viewpoint of the object that person is observing. My idea was to create what it looks like for an animal in a zoo exhibit to look at the people outside the glass. I wanted to use a shadow box to make it seem like the viewer is contained in a space. I placed the images of the people behind the glass at the back of the box. Originally I wanted to paint this piece, but I went through some trial and error and nothing was working. Time began to become a problem but luckily I was able to find a picture online that matched exactly what i wanted. I collaged the image onto black matte board and I am going to secure that onto the glass. To finish it off, I wanted to have something in the foreground on transparency paper such as twigs or trees. I went through a lot of problem solving to get to where I am, by developing, my idea to make it work in the context. Even though I used an image I found online, manipulated and adding to it to create original art. This is the one project that took me the longest, and i had to overcome a lot of speed bumps. In the very end, I couldn't print an image large enough for the size of the box. By matting the image of trees then placing it in the box, it was a big problem solving moment for me and it was satisfying to final finish this project.
Social Commentary
For my forth theme, i wanted to revisit the theme of social commentary but touch on another issue; social media consumption and how it is overtaking our generation. I had the idea to create a human figure using only electronics, mainly chargers and extension cords, as well as computer mouses and circuit boards. I was able to successfully communicate through the project the "anti-technology" message I started with. I took a risk by using a very strange medium but it turned out better than I would have expected.
Illusions
For my last project, i needed something i could do over break but that would still be a fun challenge for me to figure out. I made a 3D illusion that intends to mess with your depth perception. First I used cardboard to create a tapered box. On the inside are lines that that have more distance between them as the box tapers. When assembled, it looks like all the lines are the same distance apart. I took a risk starting this project and not knowing exactly how I would achieve the effect of the lines being spaced at equal distances. It took a lot of time and measurements but I think I was able to produce the effect I wanted. Reflecting on this piece, I wish I was able to create a checkerboard pattern on the inner walls but I ran out of time, so my fallback was to draw only the one set of lines.