Title: Who are you?
Size: 30 cm x 61 cm Medium: Acrylic Completed December 2022 - Exhibition Text -Who are you? are two paintings meant to show the relationship between one's own perception of their own identity, and how that can be twisted depending on who is perceiving them. I often have a fear of how others perceive me and by extension my own identity, most of the time not wanting to be perceived at all. This piece was a way for me to show that. I sampled aspects from surrealist Picasso and was inspired by the muted yet saturated color technique of Jason Levesque (Stuntkid).
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- Inspiration -
Slug Face by Levesque, 2014
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Slug face by Levesque is a Giclee art print composing of one subject. This subject in particular is of a woman with slugs obscuring half of her face. Levesque, or Stunt Kid has been an artist/illustrator that has fueled inspiration for my own personal work. In this case I am inspired by his form of color. His works often stick to a muted pastel color story, while the technique being used makes them in my opinion pop. His subjects mainly deal with organic matter, things like mushrooms, skulls, and slugs. With this piece in particular I wanted to emulate the crisp colors and how smooth it is able to look. This would obviously be a challenge due to the difference in medium, but since Levesque is an artist who I enjoy thoroughly I thought his inspiration was fitting. When I look at this piece I get a sense of almost uncanny valley, a feeling I wanted to replicate in my own piece as well.
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Slug Face by Levesque, 2014
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Girl before a mirror consists of an abstract depiction of a woman looking at her own reflection. The woman's reflection is seen as darker than what the woman actually looks like, giving the work a sense of contrast. When looking at this piece the viewer can almost sense the contemplation in the woman's expression. In my opinion the piece has an almost melancholy tone to it. The way the woman is staring at her reflection is almost questioning. When I look at this piece it feels like the subject is reflecting on her own identity. She is viewing herself from an outside lens, in this case from the perspective of the mirror. Having this theme was something I wanted to replicate. Having that feeling of seeing your identity in a different view or perspective is something I relate to deeply, hence the inspiration.
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Girl before a mirror by Picasso, 1932
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- Planning & Experimentation -
Initially when coming up with ideas for this painting I wanted to do a form of transformation within identity. The best way I thought to do this was paralleling the metamorphosis bugs go through. I thought this idea/concept was able to challenge me, but as I was drawing up concepts (things like a cicada coming out of its shell or a cocoon) I realized that the subject matter I was trying to capture did not mesh well with the intended theme of my piece. I continued to brainstorm certain ideas I thought would best capture my theme, eventually settling on a diptych of a human figure.
The theme I now focused on was the difference in perception when it comes to identity. Ones perception of self (and their identity) is often different than what others may perceive, in my opinion this leads to a "collage" of identity. When around different people our personalities change, and in my case this can lead to questioning which one is the "real" you. Identity can be seen as subjective, something I wanted to portray in my piece. My thought process for this was to have one "non-perceived" identity and then parallel that one that is being seen. I demonstrate that with a collage of different facial features, |
After creating my final structure I was having a hard time deciding the color story of my piece. I was torn between wanting to have a pastel color theme, or having a darker theme. I decided to create different color pallets to test out how it would make my piece work. Once I did this I came to the conclusion to have a grey body with a dark rich red background with plenty of shading. I thought this end color choice would best fit the aesthetic I wanted for my piece. Once the colors were chosen I was left to brainstorm about how to display the facial features of the second painting. I knew I wanted to add a 3-D effect but I was unsure of how to achieve that. Initially I thought I could simply paint the features onto the canvas while shading around them, but I knew it would not give the same look I wanted it to. I then realized that I could use loose canvas as my base and later attach it to the canvas once finished. This ended up being my final idea, however I did experiment with the idea of first sewing and stuffing the canvas to make it pop even more. But this idea inevitably did not work due to it being too difficult for me to complete (I had practiced with some extra canvas and I had struggled with sewing it).
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- Process -
While I have painted on canvas before, and also own my own canvas roll, this piece was the first time I had officially stretched and primed my own canvas. This process was surprisingly easy and did not take as much time as I thought it would be. I first chose what size I wanted my canvas to be (30 cm x 61 cm) and then cut out an appropriate size of canvas to warp around the framing. I then stretched the canvas around the frame while using a staple gun to keep it in place. Finally I primed my canvas with two layers of gesso.
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I had decided to use the grid method in order to transfer my image onto the canvas. It took some trial and error but after overlaying a grid onto my concept it was easy to do. I had some difficulty making both images look the same, but I later revised the most noticeable points. I decided not to add the facial features into my transfer, since I was going to use more canvas to add a 3-D effect (instead I just added X's to indicate where I wanted the features to go).
After transferring both images onto both canvases I was finally ready to paint. I first mixed my background color in a large quantity. I wanted to make sure I had enough of this color since I wanted it to be a rich red with dark undertones (something that would be somewhat difficult to make exactly right). After I made the background I started to mix colors for the body as well. This took some trial and error because I kept making the color a cooler gray than what I had wanted. But I figured that I could simply lighten the color as I shade the body. For my first canvas I decided to paint the body before the background adding rough outlines of where I wanted to shade later in my process. For my second canvas I later did the opposite because I realized that it was much more easier.
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After this process my first canvas was done, and now I just needed to add the 3-D detailing to the second. I first began with mapping out where I wanted these features to be, then I tried cutting out different sizes for the eyes, nose and mouth of canvas to see how they framed the face. After deciding on a size I made a rough sketch (raw canvas side up) of how I wanted the features to look. I ended up having to change the style because when I placed them on the canvas they did not mesh well with the overall piece. After finalizing my sketches on the canvas I took black paint to shade and outline the features. I did this in order to show as much of the raw canvas as I could. After painting them I began distressing the canvas pieces with an X-acto knife and some scissors. I wanted to make the pieces look like they were cut quickly, while looking aged as well. I then attached the pieces in the marked areas of the second canvas to complete the piece.
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- Critique -
Similarities:
- In terms of similarity my works concept shares notes from Picasso. Both pieces have to deal with terms of identity, and how it can be seen. In Picasso this is seen with the woman looking at a twisted version of her own reflection. And in my work it is seen with a collage of different facial features filling in the empty "non-perceived" version of itself.
-Since I had wanted to display some inspiration of Levesque the style of coloring and the facial features is similar. I wanted to go for a somewhat stylized facial feature, while leaning towards a comic style (something that I think of when looking at Levesque's works).
-The composition of Girl before a mirror is similar to my work. It displays opposite subjects, the same can be said for my own painting.
-Since I had wanted to display some inspiration of Levesque the style of coloring and the facial features is similar. I wanted to go for a somewhat stylized facial feature, while leaning towards a comic style (something that I think of when looking at Levesque's works).
-The composition of Girl before a mirror is similar to my work. It displays opposite subjects, the same can be said for my own painting.
Differences:
-Both inspirations contain a bright colored subject and background, Picasso's leading towards a more neon style and Levesque with a bright pastel color scheme. I wanted my piece to be more dark, hence the strict dark color palette (the only "highlight" being white).
-The overall process in terms of coloring was different from Levesque. This is due to a difference in medium and overall goals with the piece. Levesque utilizes a strong and saturated coloring technique, oftentimes not having the colors blend with one another in order to maintain a comic book style. Unlike Levesque I wanted my colors to blend/mesh with each other.
-The overall process in terms of coloring was different from Levesque. This is due to a difference in medium and overall goals with the piece. Levesque utilizes a strong and saturated coloring technique, oftentimes not having the colors blend with one another in order to maintain a comic book style. Unlike Levesque I wanted my colors to blend/mesh with each other.
- Reflection -
Overall this project was very engaging for me. I have painted before but having a "strict" but fluid theme of something that can be interpreted in a variety of ways was very entertaining for me. I found it challenging at times trying to make every detail "perfect but my end result made it all worth it. Being able to facilitate a new skill in canvas stretching was also something I enjoyed thoroughly. I was also able to experiment with my own painting skills, I think they have become more refined as a result. If I were to redo this piece in the future, I would most likely try a different style and maybe even a different color technique or pallet. I think changing these things would transform my work entirely.
- 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?
Having the influence of Picasso within my piece made it take on a surrealist/abstract tone to it. This can be seen with the composition of the face (both perceived and non-perceived), whether that be taking on random segments of different facial features, or having a void instead of a distinct face (and similarly an identity). Picasso's inspiration makes my piece have a dream-like presence to it, leaning towards an uncanny valley in a sense, something surrealism partakes in frequently. Similarly Levesque influenced the way I painted my piece/my color pallet throughout. I directly wanted to emulate his style of color due to his inspiration over my work.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both inspirations would see the influence of surrealism in my piece, as well as the overall tone. Levesque would also see my color technique most likely as homage to his own work.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Identity is often a very fluid thing that has no concrete definition, and due to this broadness (it means different things to different people) there are many iterations (like in Picasso's work) of what it means.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
When looking for inspiration within my messaging I was directly looking for pieces that can be connected to identity. When I had my first idea of doing transformation within identity I wanted to maintain a theme of metamorphosis. This theme eventually carried over into my later research and concept since the subject of my piece is being changed based on being perceived.
5) What kinds of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research and inspiration I began realizing how fluid identity is able to be. It is ever changing and doesn't have to be seen as one concrete concept.
- Citations -
ds-admin. “Picasso’s “Girl before a Mirror” |.” The Drawing Studio, 14 Jan. 2015, thedrawingstudiotds.org/picassos-girl-before-a-mirror/.
“Slug Face.” Sprayed Paint Art Collection, 2014, ` sprayedpaint.com/products/slug-face. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
Levesque, Jason. “Stunt Kid.” Stunt Kid, www.stuntkid.com. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.
“Slug Face.” Sprayed Paint Art Collection, 2014, ` sprayedpaint.com/products/slug-face. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.
Levesque, Jason. “Stunt Kid.” Stunt Kid, www.stuntkid.com. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.