Title: Freshly Cut
Size: N/A Medium: Plaster and Clay Sculpture Completed January 2023 - Exhibition Text -Freshly Cut is a plaster and clay sculpture. With key inspirations from modern sculptor Tina Yu as well as notes from Salvador Dalí's The Face of War. While the topic of mental health has changed widely within the years, it is still often misunderstood. I wanted my piece to represent the notion of suffering in silence, an experience that is common with a struggling mental mindset.
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- Inspiration -
A Taste of Summer by Yu, 2020
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Tina Yu is a New York based artist who focuses on sculpting. She creates ornate designs and transforms them into epoxy clay sculptures. While she mainly focuses on creating humanoid structures, these two inspirations use fruit as their main subject. (Both of these inspirations come from a point of aesthetic inspiration)
A Taste of Summer is meant to immortalize summer and the moments captured within. I wanted to replicate the overall look of this piece. Seeing Yu's process and the way she maintained a "normal" outside while having a glamorized/intricate inside. This gave me the idea for the exterior of my sculpture (having a shiny outside) with a "darker" inside. Yu's Big Sparkly Blueberry has also inspired me in this sense as well. Big Sparkly Blueberry has a somewhat similar subject to the previous inspiration, however it has a darker twist (within the eye on top). When working on the actual process of my piece I wanted to emulate Yu's overall process as well. This is because Yu works with a similar medium (clay) and replicating her technique would allow me to better achieve my message. |
Big Sparkly Blueberry by Yu, 2021
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The Face of War by Dalí, 1940
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The Face of War by Salvador Dali depicts a literal and figurative face of war. It's expression is stuck in a permanent look of sorrow and pain. Dali utilized this piece to express the horrors of war that he was able to view during 1940 (more specifically the end of the Spanish Civil war). Dali himself had felt a mass amount of guilt during this time period as well. I wanted to capture this look of pain in my piece as well. While the contexts are obviously very different, the overwhelming feeling of pain is something that most can relate to. I had also wanted to capture the uncanny feeling of the works expression as well, how the emotion seemingly repeats forever.
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- Planning & Experimentation -
As I began planning for what to do for my choice piece as well as how to approach it, I ended up deciding to do a sculpture. I had come up with the idea for using a pomegranate as my subject due to the beauty and intricacy of the fruit.
Once I decided on a medium and the subject I started thinking about how I would go about making my sculpture as well as how it would look. I knew I wanted to see the inside of the fruit, since the outside is rather plain (tending to be one color) so I had decided to have my sculpture be two halves. One half would represent the "normal" side, looking like a normal pomegranate. While the other half would be more abstract, having a face instead of seeds. I had wanted the whole sculpture to come together as one whole circular shape (the fruit) to represent one's mental health as a whole.
I wanted the sculpture itself to be very lightweight, so I decided to use a mix of clay, paper mache, plaster, and aluminum foil. The plaster would allow my overall structure to be strong while not being too difficult to work on. This is similar to Yu, who uses epoxy clay, a material that allows her works to be both lightweight and strong. After figuring out how to do the sculpture itself I experimented with different faces, since the other half of the sculpture would just be a normal looking pomegranate. I was unsure about how I wanted the face to look, just knowing that I had wanted it to look somewhat uncanny and unsettling while portraying a look of pain. After looking more into the inspiration of Dali, I was able to finally settle on an expression I thought would best express the emotion I had wanted. |
I made sure to create a larger more detailed final expression, since this is the one I wanted to translate for my sculpture. After doing so I created a color pallet I thought would look appealing overall. I worked on what colors would pair well together, thinking about what colors I would use as shading or bases. This was good practice as well since I figured shading would be a key aspect of my sculpture since I didn't want to use any harsh lines. After this experimentation I was able to begin the physical process.
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- Process & Experimentation -
To begin my process I first decided to create a paper mache base to build up on with a mix of plaster and clay. I did this by blowing up a balloon to my desired size (about the size to fit in both my palms) and then covering it in two layers of newspaper. I made sure not to fully cover the part with the balloon knot, as this would be the pomegranate stem later on (I would also need it to pop the balloon).
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After letting the layers dry for a day I popped the balloon and began cutting the base vertically. After doing so I used two bowls to maintain the shells shape, taping them down as I began to add my plaster. I did this in order to make the overall structure stronger for my end product. Making sure both shells were efficiently covered, I let it dry for approximately two days and once dry I filled up both halves with aluminum foil. After filling it I added cardboard inside of the shells to cover the insides.
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For the first half of my sculpture, I filled the inside with a light yellow clay waiting for it to be almost dry. I took a mix of red colored wooden beads and red clay (which I molded into spheres) and began gluing them on the yellow clay. I did this to make it look like the seeds of a pomegranate, later adding white highlights and a glossy varnish.
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*Finished first half
Working on the second half of my sculpture was somewhat difficult due to my lack of supplies. I first added a base layer of clay to the bottom of the shell, later painting it a similar light yellow color to the other half. I then sculpted the face with more clay, making sure to focus on the overall texture. I added wrinkles as well as an expression similar to my inspiration (Face of War).
I had experimented with different ways to sculpt a nose for the face, something that was somewhat difficult for me since I have never sculpted one before. While my inspiration's expression does have a nose, after making and arranging one for my own piece I did not feel satisfied with how it looked. Ultimately I decided to opt out of a nose, feeling that it would only distract from my piece as well as make it look similar to a deformed fruit. |
Before beginning the painting, I made sure to fill in the base cracks with more clay. After letting the clay dry I made sure to paint in the face details, sticking to a color palette of browns, reds, and yellows. This color pallet was important since I wanted to emulate the sickly nature that is found in the expression from The Face of War. I also made sure to make the eyes and mouth look similar to a cluster of pomegranate seeds. I had also added some highlights to the eyes and mouth as well. After painting I added beads to emulate tears as well as a glossy varnish.
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- Critique -
Similarities:
-Both Dali and I share a similar expression, one of the key takeaways I had wanted from my inspiration. Even in the placement of the eyes, as well as wrinkles the viewer would most likely be able to point out my inspiration. There is also a similarity in emotion as well. I had wanted to demonstrate the pain that comes from struggling mental health, and The Face of War invokes a similar pain experienced after a traumatic event.
-Since I had wanted to share a similar aesthetic to Tina Yu, both pieces share the ornate detailing/shiny exterior. While I wanted my messaging to be dark I wanted the overall look of it to be more bright. Yu shares a similar look, most of her pieces containing some darker/uncanny themes or subjects. This was the key takeaway I had wanted for my own work.
-Both Dali and I share a similar expression, one of the key takeaways I had wanted from my inspiration. Even in the placement of the eyes, as well as wrinkles the viewer would most likely be able to point out my inspiration. There is also a similarity in emotion as well. I had wanted to demonstrate the pain that comes from struggling mental health, and The Face of War invokes a similar pain experienced after a traumatic event.
-Since I had wanted to share a similar aesthetic to Tina Yu, both pieces share the ornate detailing/shiny exterior. While I wanted my messaging to be dark I wanted the overall look of it to be more bright. Yu shares a similar look, most of her pieces containing some darker/uncanny themes or subjects. This was the key takeaway I had wanted for my own work.
Differences:
-While my piece shares an expression with Dali, and is very similar to the inspiration my piece does not have a nose. This was a stylistic choice because I did not feel like having a nose in my work added anything, and instead cluttered my piece.
-Overall color between both inspirations is also different. Dali has a darker warm pallet and Yu with a more saturated bright color pallet. My own piece leans towards more saturation (with a bright exterior) however the inside is more muted and darker.
-The process it took to create my piece was very unlike Yu. Her process appears to be very polished, whereas mine was somewhat messy. This is most likely due to the difference in material. Since I was working with plaster for my structure I was more prone to mess, whereas Yu simply just uses armature wire and aluminum foil for her structure. This also leads to a difference in the texture of my piece. Yu's works are often smooth and almost plastic-like, whereas mine is more rough. This adds to my meaning while paralleling my inspiration.
-While my piece shares an expression with Dali, and is very similar to the inspiration my piece does not have a nose. This was a stylistic choice because I did not feel like having a nose in my work added anything, and instead cluttered my piece.
-Overall color between both inspirations is also different. Dali has a darker warm pallet and Yu with a more saturated bright color pallet. My own piece leans towards more saturation (with a bright exterior) however the inside is more muted and darker.
-The process it took to create my piece was very unlike Yu. Her process appears to be very polished, whereas mine was somewhat messy. This is most likely due to the difference in material. Since I was working with plaster for my structure I was more prone to mess, whereas Yu simply just uses armature wire and aluminum foil for her structure. This also leads to a difference in the texture of my piece. Yu's works are often smooth and almost plastic-like, whereas mine is more rough. This adds to my meaning while paralleling my inspiration.
- Reflection -
Being able to choose what to pursue in terms of art was something that I had enjoyed a lot. I love sculpting and being able to venture into different forms and messaging was something that I think improved my skill in the medium a great amount. I am proud of how I was able to go about creating the sculpture itself, as well as being able to translate my ideas. The mix of color and detailing are all cohesive and are able to boost the overall messaging of my piece. If I were to approach this type of sculpting again I would most likely make sure I had enough material as well as improve the overall construction of the piece. Personally I think I could have done better in refining the construction, but apart from that this work was something I had thoroughly enjoyed.
- Connections to the ACT -
1) Clearly explain how you were able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your art?
While experimenting with what expression I wanted to convey for my sculpture, when I looked deeper into the inspiration of Dali I was able to create my final expression design. Having Dali as inspiration directly impacted the way I went about the facial expression and emotion of my piece. The same can be said for Yu as well, since I had wanted to replicate the overall aesthetic of her own works as well.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both Yu and Dali would be able to see the key inspirations from both of their style, Dali especially due to the stark similarities between both of our expressions.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures etc. while you researched your inspiration?
During my inspiration phase I learned more about how artists can convey emotion through their works. Some in more obvious ways, while others look at the audience to create their own emotion.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to find inspiration that heavily expressed emotion, since this was a key part of my own work. Mental health obviously being the key part of it.
5) What kinds of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Emotions have very complex intricacies and due to the spectrum of mental health, there is bound to be both positive and negative outlooks.
- Citations -
Suh, Ryan. “An Analysis on ‘The Face of War’ by Salvador Dalí.” Medium, Medium, 9 Mar. 2021, https://rrsuh.medium.com/an-analysis-on-the-face-of-war-by-salvador-dal%C3%AD-4b5787fdf749.
Yu, Tina. “Tina Yu Art.” TINA YU ART, Tina Yu Artist , 2015, https://www.tinayuartist.com/.
Yu, Tina. “Tina Yu Art.” TINA YU ART, Tina Yu Artist , 2015, https://www.tinayuartist.com/.