Thoughts and Prayers are not Enough! 

In this assignment I wanted to stray away from the conventions of portraiture and square paper compositions. I wanted to represent and reflect on Obama’s speech on the Oregon shooting in a visual way. I think that a shooting by itself is a huge problem society should address, but when it’s being repeated every few months, then it is a crises the whole nation should address head on. This piece is an invitation for action and a reflection piece on how special humans are. Firstly, I didn’t do it on a piece of paper because that seems to be the status quo of art assignments. In his speech he talks about how things eventually become routine and we are numb to them. I wanted to visually represent a removal from that. I chose to use a minimalist approach, combining Chinese and contemporary ink use to create a silhouette of a thunking person. The silhouette is supposed to represent thought and prayer, and show that thought and prayer is not enough to cause significant change to a major problem. The material used is a thin piece of tracing paper. Its fragility is aimed to suggest the fragility of human life. I was very inspired by the work of Xie Zhiliu (1910–1997) who used ink on paper to depicts landscapes and figures. His ink work is very detailed and the strokes have a very free and winding shape. The lines are quite thin and he leaves most of the page blank, embracing an almost minimalist style. I was very interested in merging this aesthetic with a modern political and social matter. The silhouette is filled with different shapes, forms, and masses that create a sort of collage. The patters that I employed in the figure signify the complexity and beautify of the human mind. It also depicts how fragile and precious human life is. The piece is supposed to be free of a single composition and its elements are meant to be rearranged every time its shown. Furthermore, the tracing paper is supposed to be used in any color wall, so that its setting contributes to the artwork itself. I aim for it to be viewed in whichever way and anywhere the audience wants to see it. It hopefully conveys a message for all and everywhere, and suggests that anyone who can see this artwork is partially responsible for the problems in our society. Xie Zhiliu’s use of ink heavily inspired my own process. I didn’t use a pen at all. I limited myself to the stick, varying its sharpness whenever appropriate. I used a variety of shapes and forms, but I mostly tried to use as much negative shapes, contrasted with positive shapes as possible. I wanted the text to be more of a banner than a simple sentence, almost as if it could be used in a protest or posted in a wall. Although I rarely politicize my work, I wanted to take advantage to bring light to an important issue in American society that transcends any differences between us. 

Artwork: Wang Hui (Chinese, 1632–1717

Xie Zhiliu (1910–1997)

Sources: http://www.artcritical.com/2008/12/14/landscapes-clear-and-radiant-the-art-of-wang-hui-at-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art/

http://pamayres.blogspot.com/2010/10/metropolitan-museum-of-art-mastering.html

http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/tracing/9.html

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/past_exhibitions/2012/chinese_ink_paintings.aspx

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_painpeac.htm