Advanced Life Drawing : October 2017

Monday, October 16, 2017

Political Body

Given the current political climate, I was really excited to do this project. The past month, let alone the beginning of the new administration, has led to an abundance of different news topics, policies, tragedies, scandals, and natural disasters. Normally I’m presented with an assignment, I’ll choose something that I can relate to or something I’m familiar with. This time I wanted to choose something that was an experience/ perspective that I haven’t had.

I decided to choose the commonwealth status of Puerto Rico and all the resentment and division that comes with it. The United States acquired Puerto Rico in 1898 and has since become an organized, unincorporated territory. Those on the island are Americans, making them natural born citizens, however, they are not granted the same rights as those who live on the mainland. They cannot vote for president and are disenfranchised on the national level. The local government has held many referendums on the status of the island to stay with the status quo, statehood, or independence. This question has deeply divided the people over the past decades. In 2017, a 5^th referendum resulted in a 97% vote for statehood, however, they had a historically low voter turnout of 12.4%. Both hurricane Irma and Maria have led to increased tension and frustration with the United States and their management of the island.

I began my research of artists who made political statements. The first artist I came across was Ai Weiwei, whose art is critical of the Chinese government. This is a good parallel that I wanted in my own drawing. His “Marble Arm” sculpture shows a portion of a figure giving the middle finger. I thought this was both a funny and provocative piece that made me consider how I wanted the figure in my drawing to pose. Another artist I found was Hans Haacke and his “State of the Union” exhibition. These works prominently display the American flag and how the U.S. has become a more divided nation. The prominence of the flag made me want to incorporate the US and Puerto Rican flag into my own piece somehow since they are both so similar. Displaying both flags or using words to connotate a county would better anchor my drawing. Luis Camnitzer is a Latin American artist who uses text frequently in his works. His work “Leftovers” conveys the political turmoil in the region. It represents how insignificant and trivial certain members of society are. The text being used is the label “Leftover” alongside a number. Most of his artwork displays some kind of caption alongside the work and often with criticism of the government. One other significant influence is Barbara Kruger. Her powerful use of both caption and image was something I wanted to implement. Her consistent use of a red bar behind her text is seen in my drawing, a call to her and the red used in both the American and Puerto Rican flag.

Since this was a drawing focused on Puerto Rico, I wanted to see work from people who came from or still live one the island. Arianna Chikki Cuesta took a photo during a demonstration for the US government to audit the tremendous debt. This photo shows the people coming together and being politically active during a difficult time. The people of Puerto Rico are continuously upset with the United States government and how is still imposes its colonial rule. This influenced me to have a woman displaying her frustration with a sign, usually seen in protests. A few years ago Rosenda Alvarez painted “La Puerta de la Bandera” on a giant door in Old San Juan. This mural quickly became a symbol of national identity and a prominent piece of art in the town. It was later painted black when the fiscal oversight board was imposed over the island. I decided to also incorporate this into my drawing to show the increasing disappointment with the United States through the growing black consuming the red portion of the flag.

Resources/Influences:

Barbara Kruger

Ai Weiwei

Hans Haacke

Luis Camnitzer

Arianna Chikki Cuesta

Rosenda Alvarez

Referendum news

La Puerta

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Project #2

I wasn’t sure exactly where I wanted to go with this project at first. I did however know that I wanted to base it around women’s rights because it was and still is so prevalent in society. I’ve always found that my work is a lot better when I’m passionate about it, (and it makes the process more fun too) so I wanted to pick a specific subcategory of women’s rights to base my piece around. With the Trump presidency came a lot of policy changes as the government shifted from a democratic president to a republican president. One thing that he was so passionate about was wanting to ban abortion, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. That to me was a slap in the face to all women. It felt as if he just disregarded women as human beings. Although I don’t personally use birth control, it felt like a stab in the heart to see our own president be so malicious to our own rights. Why does he get to decide what we can and can’t do with our bodies? Why does he even get a say? Are men superior to women?

All these questions started to run through my head and that's how I knew to start my project. I first began with researching womens marches past to present to get a better understanding of other people's perspective and not just mine. One thing that really hurt my heart was when I saw this picture of an old lady from a women's march when Trump was elected president with a sign that said “I can't believe I still have to protest this shit”. Its 2017 and apparently women still have to fight for basic human rights.

That lead me to looking up and discovering artists that produce work solely around women's rights. My first influence came from an artist named Michele Pred. Her art is eye catching and bold. She states that she wants to “spread the message [women's reproductive rights] and provoke conversation” which I thought was a very powerful statement. We do need to provoke this conversation or else nothing will be done to fix the issue. By being silent, you are part of the problem (and I think that goes for a variety of issues not just this one). What I liked the most about her work is that she uses purses, pins and t-shirts as ‘small-scale political billboards’. It's very different from the basic white canvas and makes it stand out that much more. Regarding one of her more famous pieces of the purse, she states that the 'vintage purses reflect the fact that we are stuck in a past era that we need to escape’. After researching her work more I learned that she donates five percent of the proceeds to NARAL Pro-Choice New York. She’s not only showing everyone the issue at hand, but she’s working to fix it by donating.

Another influence was Indira Cesarine. Owner of The Untitled Magazine, The Untitled Space, Untitled Productions and The Untitled Boutique, Cesarine is a women's right activist, feminist, and incredible artist. Her artwork is beautiful yet empowering. When I first saw her 'Protest’ piece, I immediately was drawn into her work. I love how her work varies from black and white to neon signs and colors that draws your eyes. She isn't tied to one medium; she has sculptures, and paintings, and photography, and mixed media that inspired me to use paint and charcoal together.

From there, I had this idea in my head that I wasn't exactly sure how to execute right away. I wanted to draw a girl in a vulnerable state and then somehow depict how everyone else but her gets a say in what she does to her body. At first I was going to draw an up close study on a woman's torso and crop out her head to almost “dehumanize” her to show that's how the government views women. It sees women as just bodies not people. I then realized that when I’m most vulnerable, I curl up in a ball or the fetal position which I liked so I asked my roommate to crouch down in that position as I took a photo of her and used it as a drawing reference. In order to make my work more literal I drew a hand coming out of nowhere holding the girl to represent Trump/the government/anyone else besides the girl. I drew the hand really big to touch on this idea that Trump/the government has a bigger say and has the power to override women's rights and take away Planned Parenthood. I originally was going to paint the hand and leave everything else black and white, but there was something so interesting about the sketched hand and how it looks almost like a mechanical hand. I didn't draw her feet as she touched the hand to say how these people have taken a piece of her and they don't care. I really liked how the line contorted hand contrasted with the fully rendered girl so I kept it that way. I painted the background blue to represent how this world is male dominated and how males have a say in a female's decision. I used the words “If men could get pregnant, birth control would be from gumball machines and bacon flavored” from a protest sign I read in my research.

Influence 1: http://bust.com/arts/13939-vintage-purses-are-small-scale-billboards-in-the-fight-for-reproductive-rights.html

Influence 2: http://indiracesarine.com/artwork/

https://www.womensmarch.com/global/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/21/womens-march-aims-start-movement-trump-inauguration/96864158/

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/05/trump-obamacare-repeal-senate-242346

https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/laws-policy/federal-government/donald-trump-abortion/

https://statusofwomendata.org/explore-the-data/reproductive-rights/#chapter

Project #2: Brainwashed

Jade Smith

ART 311

Cindy Rhem

Oct. 16, 2017

“Brainwashed”

I found inspiration for my graphite piece entitled, “Brainwashed” while researching about female body images and artists who have taken on this subject in their work. My research led to several inspiring female artists who have addressed this issue head-on in their creative work. I’m very passionate about highlighting our culture’s obsession with the “perfect body” and its negative effect on women and young girls. In our culture, the ideal female body is tall, thin, and possesses a voluptuous chest and rear end. The media has set the standards so high that the “perfect” body is unattainable for most everyone, which has left many women and girls with physical and mental disorders. As an aspiring artist, I would like to highlight the beauty in every body – thin or curvy. Lauren Greenfield is a renowned photographer who has won awards for her work addressing the private worlds of American girls today. In her book Girl Culture, 100 photographs reveal how the girl culture has changed into that of an exhibitionist. The photo on the cover of her book says it all – a young girl trying to make her chest appear bigger because her size isn’t enough. Maureen Connor is another artist who confronts traditional views of women by drawing attention to body size, gender, and age. Thinner than You (1990), evokes a powerful message by depicting a ridiculously tiny black dress on a thin pole representing the human body. Another piece of Connor’s work shows lingerie being stretched and pulled, which provokes the viewer to contemplate the unreasonable criteria established for a women’s appearance. Katya Grokhovsky, another feminist artist, provided ideas for “Brainwashed.” Grokhovsky has received a lot of attention for One Fine Day (2013,) a photo of a heavy-set girl with text on her t-shirt, which shows the shameful ways that women’s bodies are discussed. Her performance, One Fine Day (2013) utilizes textual descriptions of her body to encourage the often disgraceful and sarcastic ways that people talk about female bodies. L.A. Raeven, are twin sisters known for challenging the fashion industry and the pressures placed on women at work. A photograph from their film A Dream helped to inspire my drawing depicting a young girl appearing in the mirror dreaming that she could look like someone in the magazines. Ivonne Thein’s series Thirty-Two Kilos (2008), or 70 lbs., was an eye-opener. Although the photographs were unsettling, they had a huge impact on me. Thein brings attention to the ultra thin bodies shown in the fashion magazines. Her photographs have been altered to make thin women appear even smaller. These women are shown in model poses and they are wearing very little and they wrapped in medical bandages.

Girl Culture