"Daughter of a Dragon" (Self as Subject)

For my self as subject assignment, I explored my surfaced emotions on the space that me and my body take up, specifically in regards to the scar from the small pox vaccine I received after I was born in Taiwan. This scar rests on my left upper arm and is usually covered by my shirt sleeves. But this summer, I spent a lot of my time wearing sleeveless shirts, which reminded me of this scar.

As a Taiwanese-American identifying person, I struggle between feeling at home in the United States or in Taiwan. As an immigrant from Taiwan, I am constantly reminded of my "alien" life in the States. This scar is proof that I was not born in the United States.

I was intrigued to find a pose that allowed me to showcase the scar. In the beginning, I had a vision of a pose that was more reserved and almost shamed about the scare. But as I was trying out poses that I wanted to draw, I realized that I did not want to seem "shy". I was proud of my scar and I was grateful to have gotten it. Thus, I began to try poses that seemed more empowering and courageous.

I chose this particular pose because to me it represented someone who is already moving forward in her life and takes a moment to just pause to acknowledge the person behind them - almost in a "so what?" way. And that is how I feel about my scar. I am living my life the way I want and I don't care about what other people think about my scar and will justify my Taiwanese American identity forever. The dragon surrounding me represents the image of my soul and the space that I want to take up. I want to be more vocal and stand up for myself and by channeling the inner dragon in me, I hope that I can.

Some sources of inspiration for my piece was Frida Kahlo, James Jean, Deng Wei Wei, and photographs of Anna May Wong .

Roots, 1943 by Friday Kahlo

Frida Kahlo's piece, Roots (1943), spoke to me in the way that she painted herself surrounded and connected to her surroundings. The vines are coming from her body and wrapping around her, with her blood flowing though the leaves. I enjoyed this aspect of connectedness. By wrapping the dragon around my self, I wanted to relate the dragon to me, similar to how Frida connects herself to the tree of life.

These images of Anna May Wong from Llyod Corrigan's film, Daughter of the Dragon (1931), was a huge source of inspiration for me. The images of Anna May with the dragon either projected or on her clothing was so intriguing and invoked a sense of empowerment to me. Dragons are seen to be a very powerful and mystical beasts. I wanted to channel these imagery in my self portrait because I relate to these images.

These pieces are from James Jean, a Taiwanese-American artist. His pieces are so magical. I loved his use of simple color schemes. In the piece on the right, the subject is not colored in while the background is filled with deep blues and bright oranges. This juxtaposition allows for the piece to pop out. I want to allude to his juxtaposing styles with my self portrait and dragon, by having the dragon be more 2D like to show that this dragon is not of this world, but more of a spirit. James Jean us of color reminded me of the traditional style Chinese paintings like below. 

These pieces are from Deng Wei Wei. I took inspiration from his dragon pieces to learn from. These dragon piece reflect more traditional styles of Chinese art, which I wanted to allude to in my dragon piece. There are big difference in western dragons and eastern dragons and I used Deng Wei Wei's pieces as references. 

My piece explores my feelings about the space that I take up and the space that I want to take up. It's also an exploration of my Taiwanese-American identity in how I am both yet each individually all at once. 

References:

Frida Kahlo

Anna May Wong (1, 2)

James Jean

Deng Wei Wei

Artist Statement

Artist Statement- "3 Eyes"

        I had been thinking a lot about my own life in this transitioning period between a student and an adult, and in this process I realized that we exist in 3 ways, as individuals, as a species, and as a planet in the universe. I wanted to represent these three stages of life through my artwork. The series is composed of three eyes. Each eye represents a “perspective”: Individual, earth, and universe. I found that using mixed media was the best way for me to express myself and convey the concept. Even though I am not a painter or a drawer, but a filmmaker, this project aided me in learning how to express myself through art. I think that the translation between concept and execution is one that requires a lot of technical skills and self exploration. I lacked some technical skill, as art has never been my strong suit, yet I found myself enjoying the process and learning a huge amount of information about how I can get better. Since this is my last art project in Chapman, I wanted to make my piece geared towards a style I have been working on and also as a reflection of my own state of mind at this present moment in my life.

Process pictures:

Final Artwork:

Archetypes in my Closet

I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the role fashion plays in constructing one's identity. It began when I encountered a quote in Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara that said, "You don't buy clothes--you buy an identity." This statement ignited a plethora of questions: did I agree with this statement? How did I choose the clothing I bought? Was it simply a matter of aesthetic taste, or did each item hold a piece of my identity that I was trying to express?

I have also spent a considerable amount of time studying archetypes of women in literature, art, and film. They are simplistic character roles that are used consistently across time and across plot lines. There is the hero, the seductress/lover, the free spirit, the nurturer, the queen/boss, the damsel in distress, the rebel--and of course different forms of hybrids between these categories. In studying fashion branding and archetypal images in literature, I began to wonder: what clothing do women in each of these categories wear? Then I became self-reflexive: what archetypal category does my clothing choices put me in? 

I decided to use the Greek goddesses to explore this idea further. I decided to focus on the first generation of Greek goddesses--the daughters of Cronus. Hera is the queen archetype--she rules over Mount Olympus with Zeus. Demeter is a nurturer/free-spirit--she is the goddess of agriculture, and as a result, she is in touch with the Earth. Hestia is the nurturer--she is the goddess of the home. I searched through my closet. I realized that I am channeling my inner Hera whenever I rock a blazer and attend business meetings. My green flannel--which I wear during cold hikes and in the garden--reflects my more Demeter-esque characteristics. And though I never thought I would associate myself with the Hestia--I realized that I sport a kitchen apron every day while I'm making my meals. These archetypes are part of my identity, but my identity is multifaceted and therefore showcases a different archetype according to the circumstance.

So--as an exploration of my own feminine identity--I decided to make these articles of clothing fully indicative of the archetypal women that they represented. I decided I would use embroidery to depict these women--after all, it is a very "feminine" medium. Beyond that, I had never embroidered before, so creating the pieces was a lesson in a traditionally feminine skill. The act of creating these women was allowing me to fully understand a more "feminine" realm of talents, as well as recognize what feminine characteristics I represent in my fashion choices. Now, when I search through my closet, I will be confronting the feminine archetype that my clothing reflects, and I will make a conscience decision in choosing what female identity I will wear.

Close-Up of Hera

Close-Up of Demeter

Close-Up of Hestia

Sex Ed

In this final series, I sought to study the female body in its different stages, and how the way we learn about bodies evolves as we grow. The series, titled Sex Ed, is a set of four 20x30 collage pieces. Each has writing from different educational sources. The first looks at how children learn about bodies – there is little to no talk about sex, but rather nutrition, health and safety. The second uses text that would be used in a preteen health class to talk about puberty. The third goes onto more mature topics such as consent and birth control. And the last piece addresses how women self educate themselves through the internet, with advice columns pulled from women’s magazines.

The figures on the pieces each have an intentionally distinct look. The details of the bodies reflect on how women at particular life stages perceive the body. Through this, I communicate the transition from innocence and insecurity to knowledge and confidence. A particular element I included in each figure was different hairstyles. This is a personal touch to the series, as each hairstyle represents a hair style that I had at each of these stages in my own life. As a black woman, hair can be a very significant part of my identity, and for me, each of these hairdos serves as reminders of who I once was and who I am becoming.

The idea for my final project was not initially this one. I was inspired to change topics after having a conversation with a few of my female friends about what sex ed was like at our respective schools. Some people were raised with little to no information about sexual health, while others learned a lot from their schools, parents or friends. The conversation got me thinking, and made me realize that what we know and don’t know about our bodies can seriously affect how we see ourselves. Not enough information can make us feel as though we are not normal, and may even make us fear our own bodies. The more we know about our bodies, the more we can understand why they are the way they are, and therefore become more able to love ourselves.

I made sure to lend the overall tone of the piece to the aspect of education by combining text with textbook like drawings of the figure. The first piece shows the most basic image of the female body imaginable, one that most children see when they are in elementary school – no detail or body hair at all. The other drawings in the series maintain a similar style, except show a more accurate view of what the female body is like at these stages, capturing both the visual aspect and the overall feeling a woman may feel through the pose being used.

Through this series, I wanted to explore the body in its physical, academic form, while also exploring the emotional side about how women feel about their bodies. The experience of creating these works was a very eye-opening experience for me – writing and typing all the things I have learned about my body throughout my life refreshed my memory and took me back to when I first learned about those things.

The Plant People

        When taking a life drawing class, we spend most of our time analyzing, drawing, and embracing the human body in our work. The human body has always been something that I've been interested in incorporating into my work, much longer before I even know figure drawing was a thing. I always wanted to draw portraits of my friends and family growing up, and now that I've taken two figure drawing classes, I can comfortably say that I am familiar enough with the human form now to utilize that knowledge in work I create going forward with all of the practice that I've had. With this knowledge and comfortability, I wanted to create works using my imagination and taking the concrete human figure and turning it into something more exotic and dream like. Imagery of psychedelic art and surrealism have always wowed me. I find myself drawn to imagery that contains a wide variety of cool and warm colors that contrast and play off of each other, and have a "dreamy" or "fairy" like quality. When we did the hybrid body pieced, this really got me inspired to create more works that embody the human form but aren't fully human. 

        Drawing inspirations from aspartame style artwork, I created a body of 3 works that are all the same size on 18" by 24" pieces of water color paper. I then did a back ground wash using either gouche or water color paints in pink tones. Then I sketched on the initial drawings using pencil, drew over it with sharpie marker and then colored in the bodies with colored pencil. I chose to use anything but skin toned pencils, because I wanted these female figures to look human but also make it clear that they aren't entirely human, but something other worldly. After that, I added on the collage elements of plants and flowers either covering the face completely or surrounding them as if the nature is all they live amongst, and are a part of it. I really wanted to amplify the idea of a human and nature hybrid, and make these women almost like "plant people", where they are half human, half plant. Then I aded some 3D collage elements like glitter, flowers, rhinestones, and splattered some water color paint to add more dimension to the pieces. After experimenting with this style of art and creating human nature hybrids, I feel compelled to continue this as a larger series and draw inspiration from this theme of work as a larger part of my artistic practice.

Threaded Tension

Threaded Tension

            Like a photograph, a drawing is a captured moment, an instant. It is a representation of a specific time and a specific thing in a specific place. In Threaded Tension, all of these distinct moments are bound together, both physically and metaphorically. They create a web-like structure, quivering with tension between them. Touch one, or even breathe too heavily, and they all shudder in response. There is inherent symbolism of connectedness in the images being sewn together, and too the quality of women supporting one another. But the meaning goes deeper than that, likening the bodies to prey caught in a web, capturing both the moment in time, but also the woman herself.

            The series is a collection of 35 sketches done on 3”x5” cream-colored cardstock. The installation is about 5’x4’ when hanging on the wall. Each sketch is a focus on a portion of a woman’s body. There are hands, feet, torsos, backs, legs, and shoulders, but never a face. The sketches have heavy outlines and are minimally line shaded, reminiscent of illustrations in old textbooks. The poses captured shy away from being sexual in nature, and instead tend to show bodies at rest or in simple, common poses: reclining, standing, sitting, etc. There is inherent vulnerability of the women in their nakedness.  The images are all sewn together using red thread. The sketches are pierced through the image itself, and tend to follow the lines that are already there, incorporating the thread into the visual. It either follows a section of the outline, or an instance of shadow. The pictures are tied together for support, hanging from the six or seven sketches that are pinned with tacks to the wall. They hang at different angles, some crooked, some falling forward.  

        I approached this project differently from my others. Most of my work is very concept driven; I deliver the concept first, and construct the work to fit my concept. With this project, concept came second to making it. So often I come up with a concept I’m happy with, only to dread making the actual piece. The activity of making the actual piece is not enjoyable. I designed this piece to function differently; make a piece in which I enjoyed making it, and find the concept after. When doodling, I often draw little bodies, or little pieces of bodies. I choose to draw bodies because I find it quite satisfying to draw something from life and find that it resembles life well. I chose to incorporate the red thread for all of the symbolism that comes with it as well as for the fun of using it. “Red” and “Thread” have such themes of passion, blood, anger, connectedness, binding, tangles, order, etc, that I expected it could be flexible enough to allow me to focus on concept as a secondary action. I also have a history with needlework and similar crafts. Over the summer I thoroughly enjoy my job as a summer camp counselor where a large part of my job is to teach kids how to knit and sew. Doodling and sewing are both warm parts of my past and present that I wanted to honor with this series. 

The Body

Autumn Wyatt

The Extension of the Body

After studying the body for the entire semester, I wanted to produce a project that explored the body in the many layers in which it is taught in a drawing class. When drawing the body the initial step is to present the body as a solid form with curves and straights. This is the outside layer, what everyone sees when looking at another human being. Drawing the body, however, gives an artist the opportunity to look at more than just the surface. An artist dissects the body in order to draw it with the right proportions and the right volume. The artist must understand what is inside the body in order to draw what is on the outside. This is the idea that I wanted to pursue while making my final project. For my final series, using tracing paper that measured approximately 9x12 inches, I created 16 drawings. Four drawings make up one piece within the series, meaning there are a total of four pieces in the series. Each of the pieces is made up of an ink drawing of the body, a red and blue watercolor of the muscles, a yellow watercolor of the bones, and a green watercolor of the circulatory system. The four drawings are all painted in the same body position in order to show how the different layers of the body would be positioned and appear if they were be seen individually. I drew a total of four body positions to present a range of positions. The subjects of my series are dancers. The reason I chose dancers is because a dancer’s body combines beauty, strength, and flexibility, making it easier to see the muscles, bones, and veins when looking at them. When creating this piece, one of the main artist’s I looked to for inspiration was Edgar Degas. Degas is famous for his paintings and studies of ballerinas. He considered their movement and attempted to capture the expression of dance through his paint or pastel. He studied these dancers and, rather than drawing them exactly as they appeared, he drew the expression of their movement. This is why in my piece I did not draw the layers of the body exactly the way an anatomy book would present the body, anatomically correct. Rather, I imagined that if the body were moving the insides of the body would appear more abstracted because they were moving. On the other side of the spectrum, however, I drew the body to appear as if it was frozen in time, capturing the gesture and the position of the body as though it was giving the artist the opportunity to study it. I developed this idea for my final series because I wanted to create a project that amassed everything I had learned about the body and everything I had experimented with for mediums during this semester of life drawing, turning it into one solid project.