Cultural Inspiration
This piece was inspired by modern renditions of classical cubism as well as Pablo Picasso’s piece Girl with a Mandolin made in 1910. The visual style of finished cubist pieces inspired me more than the process. Cubism influenced my piece in the way artists deconstructed their objects of inspiration, viewed it from every perspective, and reassembled it into a finish work. That process of de and reconstruction inspired the meaning behind my piece not the actual process. Cubist artist such as Pablo Picasso and George Braque spent years developing a new analytical art style. Their work showed an object from every angle. In my piece I deconstructed parts of a community and of a person. From what I learned from years of observing people and communities in everyday life people change with their community. If you analyze and break down a person their community will be a part of what you see. Stylistically my inspiration came from modern artist who also were inspired by cubism. Their work is more of a simplified version of master works from classic cubism. This simplification inspired the visual aspect of my work because it’s going to be viewed by masses of people and I want them all to get a similar message. Pablo Picasso’s Girl with a Mandolin also inspired the connection between the background of my piece and the stencil. In his work the Woman and the background almost blend together. This inspired the idea of the background showing through the stencil and becoming a part of the profile.
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Pablo Picasso- Girl with a Mandolin, 1910
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Planning
The background sketches went through similar phases of simplification in the planning stage. The first sketch began with cubist faces with different profiles broken into basic geometric shapes combined with floating background shapes. This sketch looked to busy so I moved to filling the space with overlapping geometric shapes with the intention to use them in the face to bring the work together. As my stencil developed into a more triangular base so did my background I wanted the piece to develop unity so my last sketch simply broke the page into colored in triangles which resulted in the final idea for my piece.
Process
Background
The background process began with a 5000x5000 pt paint document. I broke that page in half with a black line horizontally, vertically, and along both diagonals. From there I continued to break the piece into more triangles with lines splitting the whole page or individual triangles equally. The next step, once I was satisfied with the amount and variance of triangles, was to fill the piece in with color. Finally I filled the black lines with white.
Background Experimentation
In the first experiment (to the left) I tried the idea of one of my planning sketches digitally just to see if I liked it better than my final planning sketch the circles and triangles looked awkward just as they did in the sketch. The next experiment (to the right) was with the concept of using one color and white space and relying on the lines to separate the work. This experiment lost the meaning of diversity in a community and all the different "pieces" that go into a person. The third and fourth experiment (middle two) were playing around with the colors within the work. Using pale colors or making all the triangles of a certain size the same color. Both of these lost my eyes interest which meant they'd lose other peoples interest too.
StencilThe stencil making process:
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Screen Printing
1. Aligning the stencil on the background
2. Placing the screen on the stencil print side up
3. Placing a bead of ink at the top of the stencil
4. Using the squeegee to spread the ink down the image
5. Lifting the screen, washing the screen, and repeating
2. Placing the screen on the stencil print side up
3. Placing a bead of ink at the top of the stencil
4. Using the squeegee to spread the ink down the image
5. Lifting the screen, washing the screen, and repeating
Meaning
This piece is made to show we are all products of our community. Pieces of a larger picture. The background is full of color and various triangles representational of all the pieces of a community. The stencil is an abstract side profile made of triangles, but it is blank. This shows the oppertunity for influence and individuality despite being a product of a community.
Reflection
Compare
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Contrast
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The idea behind my piece was well though out but the execution of idea fell through. The background was developed thouroughly and I was able to get it exactly how I wanted it to look. The stencil, once I looked at it on the background, should've been significantly bigger. I wanted the profile to be a focal point with the background colors showing through but the color I chose was to opaque and the stencil was to small for the proper effect. Similar to the other MIAD project the screen printing process should've been slowed down in order to wash the screen in between each stencil to be able to properly align the stencil which would've left the piece clean with a clearer message.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Cubism analytically broke down a object and pieced it back together from multiple perspectives. This inspired the meaning behind my work of breaking down a community and a person to reconstruct it into a representational piece.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People are a product of their culture and community.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was connections and community. How do you represent people being a piece of a greater picture?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Cubist artists generally started with classical art and once they perfected realistic works they moved to fully analyze and create a deeper understanding of art and create new styles.
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Cubism analytically broke down a object and pieced it back together from multiple perspectives. This inspired the meaning behind my work of breaking down a community and a person to reconstruct it into a representational piece.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People are a product of their culture and community.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was connections and community. How do you represent people being a piece of a greater picture?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Cubist artists generally started with classical art and once they perfected realistic works they moved to fully analyze and create a deeper understanding of art and create new styles.
Bibliography
Tate. “Synthetic Cubism – Art Term.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/synthetic-cubism.
“Cubism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism.htm.
“Cubism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism.htm.