Through portraiture, Skin Deep: The Elusive Aphrodite addresses the prominence of female beauty in
the lives of women. The rich surfaces found in these paintings utilize the power of mark and symbol to
address the detrimental effects of this pursuit of beauty. The paintings are informed through interviews
with women from a specific demographic regarding their notion of beauty. In each picture the subject
is captured in a pose inspired by Venus or Aphrodite. While Aphrodite once represented the ideal
form, contemporary society has discarded that model for an often-unobtainable archetype.
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Hi everyone,
I'm working on writing my thesis and producing my final body of work. The thesis is really close, so my big goals have to be met a little after mid-term (by March 1st).
So the plan is by
March 1st:
- 4 new paintings (build 2 stretchers, fix 1) - 3/4/12 - Currently hanging!
- 30 + mannequins
- 3 body casts
- 10 sets of prints
- An awesome finished Thesis paper (research component)
To achieve my production goals, I have to make a mannequin daily, and have to spend way more than the minimum amount of hours in the studio. To achieve my research goals, I need to reinforce my paper with researched facts, to expand the information I provide on influential artists, to write more about my paintings (so far I've written about two), and to finish chapter four. I have exactly 28 pages of my thesis (I've attached part of ch. 1 so that you can see what it's about), and it could be anywhere from 40 - 60 pages, without the pictures and extra pages, like chapters and index.
By May 6th
- 10 more sets of prints
- Teaching philosophy
- CV
- Website
- Professional photography of art
- Submit job applications (at least 10)
- Apply for national and international exhibitions (at least 5)
Some aren't exactly
studio practice, so I may need to set more production goals, but they
are essential to promoting my studio practice. They may not count, but here's hoping. I'm honestly not sure where to go after I finish. I have ideas, big ideas, but I also am looking at a potential move, (transporting giant paintings and big ideas with me), am planning a wedding, am hopefully planning a graduation party, having family down, the works. What I'm saying is, it's gonna be crazy at the end, and I really don't want to commit myself to a new, big project that I can't really devote myself to until August (if I don't land a job). I don't want to stop, so maybe I'll immerse myself in life drawing club, and do studies and explore painting techniques after my review. It can be like the first semester of grad school again!
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2/23/12
Addition artists, that I'd like not to forget,
Sylvia Sleigh
Janine Antoni: Saddle
2/20/2012
Some new artists I've just started looking at this week:
Marlene Dumas: I remember one of these images from undergrad, but I'm just now rediscovering her work. I love the simplicity of her images.
Marvin Kippenburger:
Allows for his figure to become linear, drawing with the paint. Body language is important to note, colors are subdued (opposite of the intense colors I immediately reach for).
Luc Tymans:
So, maybe after the thesis, I can explore a similar type of imagery - using achromatic and monochromatic colors with accented areas (I CAN'T WAIT to start exploring with media again!). I'm looking forward to playing with oil pastels again, too. I've been doing demos in my drawing 1 class, and I've had a pastel craving since.
My paintings are starting to pull together (just in time, phew!). I hope to have my 5 done by next week. I haven't been keeping up with printmaking, so I'll be playing catch up there. I'm not sure what the next step is for my paintings.
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3/4/12
The stretchers are built, canvases are stretched, paintings are painted, and show is hung! It's very relieving to have that part done. The thesis paper is very rough, but it is written as well. I have serious revisions to get started on (but first I have to plan for teaching!). The revisions should be done by the middle of the week, and will be sent out to committee at that point. I also have to prepare my talk for the defense and apply for jobs and exhibitions pronto.
WARNING: I'm sure that most people have submitted for these things normally right now, so for those of you who have thesis coming up, and want to teach afterwards, DO NOT BE A SLACKER, go ahead and pull application packets together now. Teaching and making art is already a full plate that can leave you neglecting your dog and family. After adding the thesis paper, preparing a talk for the defense, hanging a show, and dealing with all of the personal crap in your life, you will not want to be a silly billy like me. Seriously, don't slack. You'll get insomnia, you'll be tired, and you'll get sick (maybe even twice, maybe even the worse you've felt ever, maybe even one of those times will be the week of the show!).
Anyway, I'm finding it very difficult to switch gears from production to the whole office job part of making art. I want to forget about all of the other junk on my plate and keep painting. I have new ideas and techniques that I want to explore, which is probably the result of having to be focused for a year, and I want to explore them NOW. I'm going to try to fit some of these paintings into my schedule, but I honestly may tucker out or senioritis may hit soon (if I keep focused, maybe it won't?). I did look over my ISPO and here's where I think I need/want to accomplish for the rest of the semester:
Production of Art:
Necessary
- Mannequins! Lot's of them! Self-imposed deadline: 3/26/12. That gives me two weeks to finish making the last of them, and one week to paint and prepare for hanging. I have to approve this deadline with Trish. It may have to be earlier.
- Body Casts - Deadline 3/23/12 - Will have two sets - one to give to the women who volunteered to model for the show, and the other set will be prepared with lighting to be hung with the Mannequin army.
- Catch up in print-making. I want to get my surfaces prepared for printing over spring break (the ones everyone did in printmaking bootcamp - Maybe I can borrow someone's notes? )
Ideal (End of the semester)
- Fat rolls mini-series: Maybe 3 smaller paintings and 1 larger final composition. I want to use heavy texture and create gross colors (I'm so drawn to intense, bright, beautiful colors, it'll be interesting to forbid myself from using them until the very end of a painting).
- Printmaking "The Same Dream" series. I used to have the same type of anxiety dreams starting as a kid, and stopping sometime around 15 years old. The dreams always had stormy water, and I was always trying to not be swept away. I'd like to start exploring some imagery that could not only capture the violent thrashing of the water, but also the anxiety that I felt whenever I saw water in my sleep.
- Printmaking replicas of the paintings from "Skin Deep: The Elusive Aphrodite." It'd be nice to get my name out there without compromising the prices of my paintings.
- Maybe 1 tall painting of an image from "The Same Dream" print series. This would be icing on the cake for me. It I could get to it, it would be delightful to do.
Research:
- Thesis paper revisions: To committee by Friday, revised on a rolling basis. Deadline to COGS is April 19 for final revisions, and Final approved Thesis deadline to COGS is May 10.
Other: (All Urgent!)
- Teaching Packet - Philosophy, CV, Website, Photography of student and personal art.
- Job Applications
- Exhibition applications (at least 5)
To summarize, my work is about individual women's responses to their own body image concerns. I have asked these women to identify the source of their image concerns (such as media and family). My paintings are like body portraits, telling the viewer a little about how these women feel through color, marks, and edge clarity. While each person addresses different issues they perceive in their own body, from breast size to hand size (many of other people's image issues seem trivial to the onlooker, but are monumental to the model with the concern), but each model addresses a disconnect between their need to feel confident and the insecurity these issues create.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the past week was spent working on my red painting (I struggle with titles). This painting is about the insecurity she feels and the confidence she forces herself to show (the person she is vs. the person she wants other people to see her as). I've used bold colors to convey confidence, and let the confidence become blurred and obscured by light pastels, conveying her insecurity. I've also let the areas of her body that she feels okay about fade into the background, while her insecurities are emphasized with bold value shifts and line work. I think it's pretty close to done.
We discussed the self-image biography of the models used in your paintings and the effectiveness of the imagery in communicating the feelings of the models
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the varied brushstrokes throughout each piece (i.e., the body vs the hands)
Issues with titling work
Issues with providing a brief abstract of each woman to ensure that the viewer sees the image in the intended way and can tell that you are invested in your work
Discussed the pressures of women in their formative years
Purpose of pattern in your work
Purpose of lost-and-found lines within the work
Discussed discrepancies within the body of work (i.e., the one girl wearing bra and panties)
The interest that we all had towards the black canvas (classical, Nosferatu-like, cinematic)
Overall, very intriguing and well executed work!
I have not written about my visit to Amy Fix’s studio until now.
ReplyDeleteThere was so much to think about. She has chosen a Enormous subject, one that has been around for thousands of years if you think about it.
Like all our perceived human psychological conceptions and misconceptions about our bodies someone out there will fine a way to make money off it.
If there is a perfect Adonis and Aphrodite out there it is only in stone or a persons mind, neither one approaches reality. Are we like the sculpture who crafted Pygmalion, has our society fallen in love with a mythological dream?
We are such fragile and insecure creatures, when we look in the mirror we see only our imperfection in our skin, weight, body shape, not the miracle of our bodies.
Just who imposes pressure to seek this perfection of the two thousand year old marble? As far as those who take advantage of self perception i.e. Ad Agencies they operate on supply and demand.
The main question is how do you approach the individual psychological perception in each persons mind???
When Amy spoke of interviewing all her models, questioning there thoughts on body awareness and their personal opinions on their own bodies it brought clarity to her work.
We all spoke of the need for that clarity, how a few words and specific titles would enhance the viewers understanding.
We spoke of the color and brush work of DeKooning and Bacon.
Amy’s work made me think of the work of Cindy Sherman, her approach of a similar subject in different manner.
as does Kiki Smith.
Drew
Thank you Drew and John! I've been recording what everyone says when they come to my studio, but it helps so much to see it written by someone else. I think the need for clarity (on how personal these paintings really are) is something that I really need to achieve. I'm hoping through titles, and small emphasizing details, I can create this. There also seems to be a preference across the board for spontaneous mark-making as opposed to refined marks pushed towards a correct value.
ReplyDeleteThis past week I've built 4 stretchers and stretched 3 canvases. My blue-green painting now needs further work (GREAT!), because the stretcher was so warped the first time. The edges had to move so that the Willendorf figure maintained a vertical stance, leaving awkward black bars drifting down the sides of my paintings.
The good news is that after so many meetings last week, I've decided that I'm a lot closer to finishing some of my paintings than before (so no more year long paintings, for now). My goal is to finish my thesis this week (I'll post part of it, let's say Friday? That sounds like a good deadline). And I'm going to try to finish two of my paintings by Tuesday. And I'm not going to sleep this month, I think.