Latest Posts by soniartem - Page 2
My own drawing of a traditional Slovakian woman for my project ‘Then and Now’
Inspired by one of my favourite illustrators Katarina Kerekesova for the graphics workshop :)
Printmaking workshop,
We printed with oil based inks after sticking the design onto some board, by using the printing press. I photocopied my favourite coloured print and reversed its colours on the photocopier, I love the colours that came out, pinks, purples and yellows. I also really enjoyed creating the black print and printing it out onto coloured paper which I think looks really effective. Overall, it was interesting to try out these new processes.
Social comment and Anish Kappor.
Anish Kapoor , ‘A Brexit, A Broxit, We All Fall Down.’, Photoshop, 2019
This photoshop piece by Anish Kapoor is as curious as it is controversial. It depicts a huge open wound running through the middle of the UK splitting it in two. The bright scarlet of the fresh blood of the wound and the green of the countryside starkly contrast each other. The huge black space in the centre, looks like an emptiness that may expand. The piece is striking full of juxtaposition and I think that it also mirrors xenophobic attitudes. It is without a doubt controversial which echoes much of Anish Kapoor’s work. He studied at Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design and was born in Mumbai in India.
The piece was specially commissioned by the guardian newspaper. Anish Kapoor has called the piece “A Brexit, A Broxit, We All Fall Down.” The Irish Times stated that it looks like a ‘photoshop project by a sullen teenager phoning it in’, people on social media have also commented that the artwork looks like a vulva. However there is more to the work than meets the eye despite the fact it may look simple. Kapoor is known for his anti-Brexit views which are mirrored in this piece and has let the piece speak for itself by not revealing any information about its possible meaning.
The deep hole seems to have no end, alluding to the political situation with Brexit which has been going on for 4 years straight with almost no solutions. The wait for some sort of deal has felt endless which I think is possibly what Kapoor wishes to convey in the work. The wound is also running through the centre of the UK, which is maybe representing the Brexit vote with almost half of voters wanting to remain and half voting to leave, I think it means that this artwork is showing political divisions. Kapoor is known for his use of the ‘blackest black’, one of his most famous pieces “Descent into Limbo (1992)”, a 2.5 metre hole was dug and coated with a deep black for an exhibition in Portugal and a man actually fell into it. This idea of an uncertain void is prevalent in his photoshop artwork. A profound blackness which looks terrifying and precarious. Anish Kapoor has often commented on Brexit and has said “We’ve allowed ourselves as a nation to enter a space of unknowing” referencing the great unknown which is the political situation.
In my opinion, this artwork by Kapoor challenges society in a unique way. The wound could represent the impact that Brexit has had on the lives of British citizens abroad and EU citizens in Britain, complicating their livelihoods unnecessarily. British citizens living in the EU are now feeling alienated from their home country. Travel restrictions may be put in place and it is becoming more apparent that certain freedoms may be taken away from each individual. This has deeply wounded relationships between Great Britain and the EU and these wounds can not be healed easily or will bleed forever.
References:
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/anish-kapoor-s-brexit-art-it-looks-like-a-transition-year-photoshop-project-1.3848177
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/03/anish-kapoor-brexit-artwork-britain-edge-abyss
https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/41032/1/man-fallen-into-anish-kapoor-artwork-hospitalised-descent-into-limbo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anish_Kapoor
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brexit-prejudice-scientists-link-foreigners-immigrants-racism-xenophobia-leave-eu-a8078586.html
Multiculturalism and prejudice, Elizabeth Catlett
Elizabeth Catlett, ‘I have always worked hard in America’, Lino cut 1946, printed 1989
The linocut ‘I have always worked hard in America’ presents three women all undertaking the same chore but all at different stages. The image seems to be in a house and the three women appear to be maids showing how hard African-American women worked in America.
Elizabeth Catlett was an artist who tackled themes of feminism, racism and prejudice and the African-American experience in the 20th century in America in her work which is mainly lino and woodcuts. Her work reflects the experience of African-American women and was inspired by her own experiences, black history in America and the experiences of three of her Grandparents who were slaves. She once said; "(My) purpose is to present black people in their beauty and dignity for ourselves and others to understand and enjoy and to exhibit my work where black people can visit and find art to which they can relate."
After graduating in Fine Art in Iowa, she won a fellowship which allowed her to join the most important printmaking workshop in Mexico, the Tower Grafica Popular. In this workshop artists tackled social issues such as fascism and literacy through prints. There, Catlett made a set of 15 linocuts called ‘The Negro Woman’ in 1946-47. The print, ‘I have always worked hard in America’ particularly stands out. The three women seem to be doing the same chore in a repetitive manner. They all look the identical and are completing the same task which I think hints at the racist notions toward black women in America throughout the 20th century, treating them like the same person, and the fact that the only work that women could find was domestic housework. The hand of the woman in the foreground is large, it is not in proportion at all with her body. Catlett did this for expressive purposes but I also think that it could be signifying that African-American women were overworked. The fact that the hand is in such awkward positions may indicate the women feeling exhausted and drained. Furthermore, it is so noticeable that the women look very similar, they could almost be the same person. Catlett could be showing one woman at different stages of her work, implying the repetitive nature of the work of the women and the never-ending nature of their situation, highlighting the exhaustion of African-American women in the US.
This print may also reflect on Catlett’s own life experiences as she was arrested in 1949. This was due to her own activism and because of the fact that some of the members of her printing workshop were members of the Communist Party. She was banned from entering the United States and was labelled an ‘undesirable alien’ by her home country. In 1962, she renounced her American citizenship and became a Mexican citizen. This makes me wonder if her piece ‘I have always worked hard in America’ challenges her exile from America. The print was created long before she was banned from entering the country however in a way, I think it is relevant to her own life and may have reflected her feelings toward her circumstance.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI5o3cqrBb0
https://renee-phillips.com/famous-black-artists-who-confronted-racism-and-inequality/
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2000.95
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai3/segregation/text5/catlettnegrowoman.pdf
Painting workshop. Here are some photos of how I created the canvas and started painting. It has been amazing and very useful learning how to create my own canvas and I am loving painting on it.
My work for the Addams family brief. I did some character designs, a pencil portrait of the whole family and then a poster design too :).
My poster of Wednesday Addams is inspired by the painting by George De la Tour ‘Magdalen with smoking flame’. I was inspired by the under lighting in this painting and the darkness with the only source of light visible is the candle. I took some of my own photos of my sister (bottom right of mount board) holding a candle to light up her face in different ways. This gave an eerie and gothic effect. Inspired by George De la Tour and my experimental photos, I created my own poster design for the Addams family show, of Wednesday holding a candle, under-lighting her face. (Oil on Paper). I also created an underlighting effect on the writing too.
My small illustrative piece was inspired by a quote from Morticia from the 1964 Addams family series. She says ‘Life is not all lovely thorns and singing vultures you know’. In my illustration Wednesday is cutting rose heads off of their stems which is something that Morticia does as part of her gardening routine in the Addams family movie.
I enjoyed experimenting with different character designs and creating a board based on the famous and gothic Addams family.
How have contemporary values and media impacted upon the 16th century genre of Still Life?
Still life has changed dramatically throughout the ages but it is still popular today even if we might not realise it. Ranking the lowest in importance in the hierarchy of genres, established by the French Royal Academy, the still life was seen to require less skill than portrait paintings and historical paintings. However despite the perception that still life paintings were easier to paint, they explored dark and morbid themes usually to convey the message ‘memento mori’, ‘remember you will die’ and ‘vanitas’ ,originating from the word ‘vanity’, which would remind the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldly pleasures . This was done by using skulls in compositions and candles that had just been blown out with the last wisp of smoke visible, symbolising death blatantly. On the other hand, some messages were more hidden in the paintings. Many pieces reflected death and human nature in a very subtle way. This can be seen in Jan Davidsz. de Heem: Still-Life with Lobster and Nautilus Cup. The tipping cup could show the fragility and instability of humanity. The lobster is seen at the bottom of the composition and was regarded as something exquisite and expensive, only intended as banquet food. The lobster is inedible and ugly when alive and in the ocean but when dead, it possesses its delicious and beautiful qualities and is seen as something expensive and intended for the upper-classes. Maybe Jan Davidsz intended this to also reflect humanity and death.
The golden age of still life painting took place in the 17th century but throughout the 18th century and 19th century it became slightly less popular. In the Victorian era, still life compositions included every-day house-hold objects. However flower paintings gained a lot of popularity in the 1800’s, painters like Manet, in his painting ‘Bouquet of flowers’ (1882) and Van Gough in his ‘Still Life with Irises’ (1890) made their canvases bloom with their lively and vibrant colours with the intentions to make the paintings aesthetic and pleasant to the eye with harmonious colours. In the 19th century, the still life was adopted by Pablo Picasso and painted in his cubist style which was full of colour in contrast with the very first still life paintings which were full of shadows and chiaroscuro.
Nowadays, still lifes are created in a much different way influenced by new media. Instead of using the traditional oil paint and canvas, photography is used to capture aesthetic and ornamental scenes. These photographs are usually shared on social media instead of being sold or exhibited in a gallery. The purpose is solely to look pleasing to the eye or are created to show the life of the photographer of the arrangement. They often exhibit lavish food and drink that looks impressive or books and items related to the photographer. The still lifes are carefully arranged to look as perfect and possible. Although these photos with a pleasant colour palette do not have hidden messages of death and mortality, they reflect society and its quest for perfection in the modern age where you are what you post.
References :
https://www.britannica.com/art/still-life-painting#:~:text=The%20painting%20generally%20considered%20to,Lowlands%20during%20the%2017th%20century.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/british-watercolours-still-life-flower-painting/
https://www.romepix.com/blog/the-dutch-golden-age-in-art-pieter-claesz
https://fashionhedge.com/2017/06/19/net-bag-trend/
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/v/vanitas
Landscape art, Jeanne Claude and Christo.
Wrapped Trees, 1988
‘Wrapped trees’ by Jeanne Claude and Christo, is a unique piece of land art. The two artists worked together and were an art duo which focused on large scale artwork throughout their careers. Claude was from Morocco and Christo from Bulgaria, they were both born on the exact same day in the same year on the 13th of June 1935 and got married in 1960. Their artwork focused on wrapping up huge man made structures or huge natural structures. One of their most famous works was wrapping up the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995 which took 90 climbers and 180 installation workers to complete. This was done with polypropylene fabric and rope. Another piece that they are particularly well known for is wrapping up the West Coast of Australia in 1968. The fabric covered one million square feet, its size shows the sheer scale in the work of Claude and Christo.
The piece of land art ‘wrapped trees’ was created in 1988 and took 9 days to complete. 178 trees in a park in Riehen in Switzerland were covered by transparent fabric, and this artwork was left up for 3 weeks. The original plan was to wrap 330 trees in the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, however their plan was denied. The trees were wrapped with 592,015 square feet polyester fabric which is the same fabric used in Japan to protect trees from frost, snow and general winter weather. The fabric was all tied on just by using rope. The finished piece is very effective and the trees look ghost- like, mysterious and out of the ordinary. The fabric changed shape slightly and blew in the wind, at different times of the day, different colours light and different intensities of light would shine through the polyester fabric. This created a diaphanous effect which allowed all of the individual branches to be seen. The piece of land art was up in November, so the start of winter once all the leaves had fallen off of the trees. This allowed the branches and main structure of the tree to be seen clearly. The fabric also shrouded the trees in a way that gave the impression of the shape that all of the leaves would take if they were there. This use of negative space almost highlighted the absence of the leaves which gave a ghost-like quality to the work.
Christo once said “Jeanne-Claude and I borrow space and create a gentle disturbance in it for just a few days. When they appear for a few days, they carry this tremendous freedom of irresponsibility.” This quote reveals a lot about the intention behind the work of the artist duo. After all of their work, Claude and Christo made sure that the ropes and fabric that they used were never thrown away but recycled. It is possible that their work overall reflects the alteration of the natural world for our human needs; it could be a message about climate change and the environment. On the other hand, the work ‘wrapped trees’ could be about the fact that nothing lasts forever and everything is fleeting. The artists have to take their work down eventually, if they don’t then they would be intercepting with nature. In the quote, Christo talks about the ‘freedom of irresponsibly’. The artists had the freedom to put their work over the trees but then it is their responsibility to take it back down. This may reflect the importance for everything in nature to return to its natural state.
References
https://christojeanneclaude.net/mobile/projects?p=wrapped-reichstag
https://coveringchristo.wordpress.com/rationale/
http://www.artnet.com/artists/christo-and-jeanne-claude/
https://christojeanneclaude.net/mobile/projects?p=wrapped-trees
https://coveringchristo.wordpress.com/rationale/
Installation art and Roman Ondak
Roman Ondak, ‘Event Horizon’ - installation art, 2016-17
Roman Ondak (1966) is a contemporary Slovak artist who grew up under the communist regime (1948-89), this experience is reflected in much of his work. He explores alternate political possibilities and questions the failure of the communist regime in his pieces. His exhibition, ‘The Source Of Art Is In The Life Of A People’ was exhibited in the South London Gallery in 2016-17. The centrepiece of the exhibition was ‘Event Horizon’ which uses an 100 year old oak tree sourced from the area around Žilina in Slovakia where Roman Ondak is originally from. The oak tree is split into 100 separate discs and on each of these discs is a certain event in history which Ondak has chosen. The exhibition lasted for 100 days and on each day, the consecutive disc was put up onto the wall until all of them were up on display.
The first disc of the oak tree which was put on the wall represented the year 1917 and Ondak has chosen the Russian revolution to be the main event in that year. The events are printed onto the wood in which its natural qualities like cracks and the grain are still visible. This gives a more organic and textured feel to the installation.
The title of the Installation is particularly interesting, it is called ‘Event Horizon’ which is the boundary around a black hole from which no radiation or matter can escape. It is called the event horizon because it is at that point of a black hole where space and time begin to change and distort. This scientific title may reflect the efforts of the Communist Regime to encourage atheism across its states and promote science and technology. Ondak has used this idea of a liminal zone around a black hole to convey a certain meaning in his work. History is something that we can not change, and in Ondak’s installation he is simply stating facts about the past. The past can not be changed however calling the piece ‘Event Horizon’ ,referring to the state in which history can be altered, may reveal Ondak’s own desire to change it. This juxtaposes and contrasts with the heavy, old and historic oak tree which is not malleable and can not be distorted. Perhaps highlighting some oppression he may have experienced when growing up under the regime.
The use of the oak tree which is specifically from his region in Slovakia symbolises Ondak’s roots and his own history and how it is a part of him. The oak tree symbolises knowledge and resistance which reflects one of the overarching meanings of the installation, passing knowledge down to other generations so that they too may learn about the past which is a fact and can not be changed.
Sources:
http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/roman-ondak-the-source-of-art-is-in-the-life-of-a-people
https://www.estherschipper.com/artists/61-roman-ondak/works/14255/#:~:text=Event%20Horizon%20is%20a%20sculptural,exhibited%20aligned%20in%20a%20row.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/event-horizon
https://www.southlondongallery.org/exhibitions/roman-ondak-the-source-of-art-is-in-the-life-of-a-people/
My main piece for the project ‘A distance forms around our bodies. Inspired by Hasegawa Tohaku’s misty forests and Charity Henderson’s blurred faces. It is oil on canvas and I stitched a veil on top of the painting to give a sense if mystery and distance inspired by Monet’s painting of his dead wife Camile and the veiled busts of the 19th century.
My final sculptures. Two characters inspired by Baba Jaga and Nastenka from the Russian (1964) film Morozko. They show the juxtaposition between old and young and naïve and wise. They are also inspired by the woodcuts of Kathe Kollwitz with their harsh lines and feeling of movement and expression. I covered a pair in ZIP to create a metalic effect, a pair in copper and left it to oxidise and I painted a pair with acrylic paint and finished them off with gold leaf.
Some face casts made from plaster and painted with acrylic paint inspired by Hasegawa Tohaku's mystical paintings
Sculpture and patination, Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois , ‘J'y suis, J'y reste’ (Here I stand, Here I stay) - Sculpture, 1990
Louise Bourgeois is known for her surrealist and abstract sculptures. Her assemblage piece ‘Here I stand, Here I stay’ (J'y suis, J'y reste) is of a pair of feet resting on a roughly cut block of marble with a glass house placed on top. In 1967–68 Bourgeois travelled to Pietrasanta in Italy, which is where she discovered the same marble quarries from which Michelangelo sourced his material.
Bourgeoise’s work often explores the themes of feminism, family relationships and the unconscious. Born in 1911, she grew-up in Paris where her family owned a tapestry gallery and tapestry restoration business. When Louise Bourgeois Mother became ill with Spanish flu, the family hired a British au pair to teach Louise and her brother English. However the au pair soon became their Father’s mistress. This caused him to neglect Louise and her brother which was especially hard for Louise as she had to also care for her sick Mother often. Those childhood feelings of abandonment would become prevalent themes and ideas in the future artwork of Bourgeois. She married an American art historian and lived in America for the rest of her life, leaving her childhood in Paris behind.
The patination of the pink marble is irregular and coarse which makes it seem worn and ancient and this juxtaposes with the smooth texture of the feet which are also sculpted from the very same marble. The glass house which sits on top of the feet gives a certain fragility to the assemblage. The heavy marble again contrasts with the delicate house construction. It seems almost too fragile to be a safe shelter. This could possibly reflect Bourgeoise's own childhood which left her feeling exposed and alone in her family home. The fact that there's only one pair of feet could be referencing the abandonment she felt as a child and could reflect the unstable and lonely atmosphere. The house may also represent Bourgeoise's life as an artist. It gives a home to the bare feet which stand on a rugged piece of marble. This suggests that her art had given her a new way to express herself and fathom those feelings that she experienced as a child.
Sources:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/656887http://hdamarly.over-blog.com/2015/06/louise-bourgeois-enfance-et-creation.htmlhttp://www.theeastonfoundation.org/biography
Joiners for my photography workshop based off of the theme ‘distance forms around our bodies’, inspired by David Hockney’s joiners and the photography of Jingna Zhang. These were done through photoshop, I merged various photos together. I really enjoyed this workshop, I hadn’t done much on photoshop before so this was really new and interesting.
Sculpture workshop : Today I cast my sculptures in plaster and after painting them with shellac, I covered them in PVA glue and sprinkled them with copper and oxidized it so that in a few weeks they will go green. This will give an old feel to the sculptures. I am also going to paint some with acrylic paint and some with shoe polish
Some sketchbook pages for my pathway project, ‘A distance forms around our bodies’
My own photos for my Pathway project which were inspired by Charity Henderson’s work. She paints portraits in neutral tones and blurres them out slightly at the edges creating a smudged effect. Some parts of her portraits are in focus and some are completely blurred. I experimented with putting plastic bags in front of the face to made some white highlights and putting tracing paper on the face to smudge features
Sculpture and Patination, Giovanni Strazza
Giovanni Strazza, ‘La Vergine Velata’ (The Veiled Virgin’)- Carrara marble, 1850′s
Believed to have been carved in the 1850’s while Giovanni Strazza was in Rome, this sculpture depicts The Virgin Mary with a light veil over her face. It is made from Carrara marble which derives from Tuscany. This type of marble is white with smokey grey veins that run through the stone regularly. Other sculptures made from Carrara marble include ‘David’ By Michelangelo and The ‘ ‘Lacoon and his two sons Antiphnates and Thymbraeus’ in Rome. This type of marble has an elegant and timeless appearance which is why it was popular in ancient Rome and is still used today.
Marble is a hard material to work with and in ‘The Veiled Virgin’, Strazza has made it look very soft and delicate even though marble is resistant to chisel and cutting, which shows Strazza’s skill. The veil falls intricately across some braids at the top of the head and gently drops to the bottom to the bust. The face of Mary indicates that she is either deep in prayer or grieving. The way that the veil has been carved highlights Mary’s feminine face shape and at the same time blurs some of her features giving a sense of mystery to the piece. Using veils in sculpture however was nothing new in the 1800’s as it was inspired by the ‘wet drapery’ that was used in Greco-Hellenistic sculpture.
The bust ‘The Veiled Virgin’ is now exhibited in a convent in Canada and can be viewed by appointment. Not much is knows about Giovanni Strazza so therefore it is unknown what the true meaning behind the sculpture is. The 19th century was a time of nationalism on the rise in Italy. The image of a vailed Virgin Mary was often the symbol of Italia which ultimately could mean that the sculpture could have been a symbol of the newly united Italy. This makes the use of Carrara marble vital as it was native to Italy. On the other hand, the piece could be a symbol of Strazza’s religious devotion to the Virgin Mary. This is further supported by the attention and care which was given to the sculpture to perfect every single fold of the fabric and to give such a gentle expression of the face which highlights his admiration for her. Traditionally, marble is a material used to give a sense of nobility to the subject which highlights the importance of the Virgin Mary in Strazza’s eyes and the Catholic Church.
The overall finish on the bust is neither extremely shiny and polished however nor is it so soft that features can be barely made out. The patina on the marble of ‘The Veiled Virgin’ is precise and smooth which gives the bust a more realistic effect and in that sense brings the statue closer to the viewer and creates a certain ethereal beauty.
Sources:
https://www.marmirossi.com/en/news/focus-materials/the-carrara-marble-a-white-marble-with-history
https://mymodernmet.com/the-veiled-virgin-sculpture/
https://www.franceculture.fr/sculpture/a-fascinating-transparency-strazzas-veiled-virgin
My animation called, ‘My New Home’ inspired by Lauren Child’s book illustrations and animated stories about ‘Charlie and Lola’. The theme throughout is about our ever changing environment and the environmental issue of sea pollution. I loved making this animation and I especially enjoyed taking all of the photos, Sooooo many photos :). I used a light box to create a slightly translucent effect. The piano music was composed specifically for this animation and played by my sister Zuzy.
My sculpture workshop. We are studying character design and designing our own characters. Here are my characters in process. I have finished sculpting them in clay and in the next session I coated them both in latex to create a mold. My next step is to cover them both in modroc and fill them with plaster, which I am looking forward to.
Van Gough and the quality of paint
Van Gough ‘Olive Trees’ - Oil on canvas, 1889, 51 x 65.2 cm
Van Gogh, born in 1853 in the Netherlands, despite only selling one painting in his lifetime, he is one of the most well-known post-impressionist artists in the entire world today. His particular painting style and unique use of paint have made his work instantly recognisable. His early works, like ‘The Potato Eaters’ are dark and sombre and reflect the paintings of Dutch masters. However, his style began to evolve after he purchased Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, which were delicate and full of colour and extremely popular with impressionists at the time. He also went to Paris in 1886 to join his brother and there met the great impressionist artists, Monet and Gaugin. After this he gradually developed his bold style.
The work of Van Gogh is intense in colour and his strong brush-strokes give his work an emotional quality. The technique that he used for most of his paintings, and which he became well known for, was Impasto, which is the thick application of paint onto a canvas so that the brush and palette knife strokes can be visible. This not only gives the painting a rich texture but also gives the illusion that the paint is coming out of the canvas.
‘Olive Trees’, 1889, by Van Gogh is a painting of huge significance in Van Gogh’s life. Gaugin visited Van Gogh in 1888, they argued and disagreed during this visit. The tensions between them caused Van Gogh to cut off his own ear. He was taken to an asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence, and despite the fact his mental health was deteriorating, he produced a range of diverse and stylistic paintings that depicted the hospital and the grounds around it. One of these paintings is ‘Olive Trees’ which is exhibited at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. This painting is oil on canvas and uses the impasto method heavily. The brush strokes are extremely distinct and the trees are twisted and contorted perhaps reflecting Van Gogh’s own state of mind at the time. Furthermore, he was fully aware of the connection of olive trees to the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus prayed before his betrayal and ultimately his crucifixion. It is likely that this painting represents Van Gogh giving up his suffering to God amongst the olive trees as Jesus Christ, making the ancient trees a symbol of surrender and repentance. Van Gogh was religious and even had the position as a missionary in Belgium earlier in his life. He believed that we encounter God in nature, which inspired his En Plein Air paintings.
‘Olive Trees’ is just one of the many examples of how Van Gogh connected religion with nature in his own style. His use of the Impasto method gives his work a particular sensitivity and striking quality which, without a doubt, influenced the art of the twentieth century and his legacy will surely live on.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8IinPk5PqI
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/4971/olive-trees
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Olive_Trees_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
https://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/biography.html
An oil painting which was part of my A-level coursework, inspired by Caravaggio. (Oil on Paper)
How does the use of concrete inform The Memorial For The Murdered Jews of Europe?
‘Denkmal für die Ermordeten Juden Europas’ ( The Memorial For The Murdered Jews Of Europe) Concrete memorial, 2004
The Memorial For The Murdered Jews Of Europe is situated in Berlin and stands as a poignant reminder of The Holocaust in 1941. This memorial was designed by the Burro Hapold group, a group of engineers from all around the world, the US architect Peter Eisenmann’s design was the design that it is based on. The memorial took 17 years to build, it was finished in 2004 and it consists of 2711 concrete steles over 19,000 square metres. The monumental memorial lies in the centre of Berlin near to the Brandenburg gate. It stands as a memorial to remind us of the horrific events of the Holocaust in the same city that the perpetrators had their offices in.
Concrete is a reliable and durable material and is used in architecture as well as in sculpture and memorials. Throughout history, it has been used to communicate different ideas and messages and is easily accessible to anyone. This memorial is an example of how concrete can be used to convey a certain message. From a distance, it looks like a cold grey sea. The steles are dark grey and in a similar shape to coffins. Their height varies, some are just 20cm tall and some are 4.7m. The steles are meant to create an uneasy and confusing atmosphere which is further created by the ground underneath because it is wavy and creates a ripple effect.
Although it is in the centre of the capital city, when you enter into the memorial, the din of the traffic fades away and it is almost silent in there. Due to its enormous size it is hard to run into many people, so it gives you a sense of isolation and you can feel the cold of the concrete around you. As you go further into the concrete memorial, the steals get higher, it feels intimidating and you feel very entrapped by this structure. When looking up, only the sky is visible.
The memorial has many different interpretations. Some say that this sombre grey memorial represents the dehumanisation of the Jewish people during the Holocaust some also say that the different heights of steles represent the gradual escalation of the third Reich’s persecution. It is a possibility that the plain group of steles show the collective guilt of the German people. Another interpretation is that the strength and durability of the concrete reflects the strength of the Jewish people over the ages in the face of persecution. It is without a doubt that its function is to commemorate a tragic event and is set in concrete so that it may never be forgotten.
~ I have used my own photos
Sources
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/memorial-murdered-jews-europe
https://www.museumsportal-berlin.de/en/museums/denkmal-fur-die-ermordeten-juden-europas-ort-der-information/
The last 2 days of the textiles work shop. We printed with real plants using disperse dyes to achieve more delicate and fine prints. I printed these on cotton and on polyester, which brought the colours out more. The last day of the workshop was experimenting with screen printing, using plant shapes that I had used for the previous two workshops. I experimented with different colours and layered my prints to create interesting patterns. This was a great experience!
What does the Sagrada Familia’s form tell us about its function?
Antoni Gaudi, La Sagrada Familia, Basilica
The Sagrada Familia is a basilica that has been under construction since 1882, designed by Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi dedicated his life to this masterpiece and near the end of his life he even lived in the Basilica. When Gaudi died in 1926, only a quarter of the construction had been completed. Construction is estimated to be finished by 2026.
Gaudi was always inspired by natural forms and once said ‘originality consists of returning to the origin’. He stayed true to his words and did not include straight lines in his designs as nature has no straight lines. The Sagrada Familia is one of the most well known buildings designed by Gaudi and inspired by the natural world. It’s function is to be a place of worship, however Gaudi uses the idea of nature to uphold religious values and reflect biblical moments. The inside of the Basilica has been designed to look like a canopy of leaves while the pillars, which are 22 metres high, are intended to look like huge tree trunks. So that inside it feels like a forest where the canopy allows a lot of natural light to shine through. Another fascinating feature of the Sagrada Familia are the two main facades. One façade is the Passion façade, and the other, the Nativity façade. These two represent the birth and death of Jesus Christ. On the Passion façade, the stained glass windows are green and blue, which when the sun shines through them, drench the whole Basilica in blue melancholy light, to reflect death. On the other hand, the windows on the Nativity façade are red and yellow which then allow orange light to shine through to represent birth. These aspects of the natural world are used by Gaudi in his architecture to give the impression that we are in a natural space.
The Sagrada Familia’s appearance reflects the importance of the natural world and brings us closer to the origin which is nature itself. When approaching the Basilica from the outside, you feel overwhelmed by the monumental scale of the construction and the details of the façade. This building gives an instant impression about it’s function, as a place of worship, glorifying something higher and sublime.
~I have used my own photos.
Sources:
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/15-amazing-facts-you-need-to-know-about-la-sagrada-familia/
https://blog.sagradafamilia.org/en/divulgation/stained-glass-windows-how-they-were-created/
https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/sagrada-familia.htmlhttps://time.com/sagrada-familia-barcelona/
Some prints of plants that I have been working on in the textiles workshop. This explores negative space, the space inside and outside of plants. Some are studies painted directly onto the fabric with ink and some are printed in coloured ink.
This is a mask made from cardboard which I have just finished as part of my art foundation course. It’s a poppy seed head. I made it rattle inside using dried peas and rice.
A marionette of the Moon which I've recently finished. I made her with salt dough and sewed her dress. I have never made a puppet before, so this project was very interesting and enjoyable :)
I started off with planning her out. She is inspired by The Spanish play ‘Bodas de Sangre’ by Federico Garcia Lorca’. In this play, the moon is a character inspired by Spanish magical realism and represents wisdom and fate.
I made the body out of wire and salt dough To link all of the separate joints together I put wire hooks into the pieces, hooked them all together and then out them in the oven to cook. The dough cooked for a few hours. However, some parts were still uncooked when I took it out of the oven so some hooks slipped out. I put these back in with a glue gun and left the whole body on a radiator for about a week to allow everything to dry through. After it was all dry, I painted the face and hands and created the dress which I painted with water colours. The colour surprisingly came out quite well on the fabric. Some came off onto my hands when handling the puppet but apart from that, the paint overall stayed on well. I also embroidered stars onto the dress with white thread and added dots of silver paint, to represent the night sky.
To attach the strings to my marionette puppet I glued hooks onto her hands and head and attached the strings onto two sticks. This worked fine and you can move her head up and down and her arms and hands. I planned to put strings onto her feet too however it was difficult to string the marionette up under her dress and it was also unnecessary as the feet aren’t really visible.
I loved this project a lot, I’m happy with the final outcome. :)