Kusama goes on to say “The space is without composition – without beginning or end but it is a sculptural object, a room environment that project characterises an attempt of creating a new world” (Kusama, 2012, pg188) Kusama wanted to create a piece that never ends or starts, in way there’s almost another world being created and also it gives the viewer different emotions of being amazed and confused at the same time because of the dots she creates and context within itself.
This quote relates to my work because the is just as important as the image within the space that is why I do not over crowd my work and why the backgrounds are always simple patterns, such as a simple bold, single colour background, swirls or sponge blobs of coloured paint which adds character and a personal connection to the piece and space in which it is in, a never ending cycle of pattern, dots and decoration within the contrast and the story telling of both expressing emotions of being confused and being wondered at the same time.
String art is a arrangement of nails on a piece of wood board and string is wavered through a grid of nails to create a pattern and decorative image or design of your choosing.String is not the only material that can be used such as, thread and wire but they all kind of resemble sails on a flag.
I found that using the nails to create an image such as the elephant shown above gave it a hard and bold statement similar to that of Chris Ofili and his elephant dung stating that the world is not easy and you must hammer and nail yourself to go on each and every day it also gave the piece an abstract feel to the piece so I thought this will be another link and an extension to my nail pieces as well as looking at a different area all together and by doing it on a larger (A3 scale) made the image stand out and really let my viewers see the nails from all angles. Placing the string between the nails were quite difficult but after tying the string on I got to go crazy and wild on the direction in which the pattern and the string went but maintaining the image of the elephant was the focus of the piece so I cut the string into sections instead of a continue line because it would look all messy and it didn’t flow the way I wanted it to so cutting it to sections was not only easier on myself but it worked overall better.
Artists related to String Art are Lenore Tawney, David Wojnarowicz and Kazuko Miyamoto.
Body Marbling is very popular at festivals by simply dipping your arm or other limbs into a barrel of paint that transfers the pattern onto the skin and can easily be washed.
The dip – dye consist of Guar Gum mixed in water, Mordant solution is added but optional known as Alum is used to thick up the solution. Colourant is then added such as the paint with high pigment or even fluorescent after dipping wash in clean water to take left over paint off and finally leave to dry, it will stay on for 8 – 10 hours. You are ready to party!!
Body marbling can not only be transferred onto the body but many other things, such as clothing, shoes and even hats.
I hope to experiment with body marbling myself and hope to add another element and maybe a performance within my work.
See website : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arerNtH8awc
Perry goes on to say “A narrow pilgrimage trail across the infinite plain of the world” (Perry, 2005, pg252) that even though the journey is long, tough and hard the progress of learning new skills and experience can help you to express and improve oneself and within their own work through a simple brush stroke and a dot on a page. This relates to my own work because I am going through that progress of learning and gaining knowledge in understanding as I create more and more pieces and expressing it through emotions and that sense of repetitive movement as if going on a never ending journey with not only my artwork but within myself searching for something that will inspire me and that journey for me starts with a single dot.
These are images of Mum’s Tattoos which led me to create a pieces that resemble million of holes that the needle makes within the body, this led to the idea of paper on canvas and punching holes with a nail to create a detail yet powerful piece’s this also links in with the large paintings of dots such as the hawk painting i did. This style proved effective in texture and displaying a sense of the ugly with the beauty such as Chris Ofili did with many of his elephant dung paintings such as Homage, 1995 to Afrodizzia 2nd Version 1996. I hope to create a large piece focusing more on the pattern and less on the tattoo itself. I will also incorporate light behind the image itself expressing the form of beauty as well as contrast and another element and brings the piece alive and standout within the space and brings emotions to the viewer.
Rose : image 1
Mum’s grave rose : image 2
Mum’s rose Tree : image 3
I hope to produce a much larger piece of work in using the same style with the canvas and punching holes through the paper but focusing more on the pattern side and less on the tattoo itself. I will also incorporate light behind the image itself expressing the form of beauty as well as contrast and another element and brings the piece alive and standout within the space and brings emotions to the viewer.
The LED really makes these pieces stand and add a sense of beauty to a otherwise ugly progress of using a nail to create the image. I really love that the light comes through the holes after placing the lights randomly around the canvas producing a wonderful array of pattern, detail, texture and decoration compared to my dotted painters involving UV and darkness.
Yayoi Kusama goes on to say “That the world relates to one big polka dot among a million of stars” (Kusama, 1965, cited in Tate, no date) that to Kusama the world is made of all these dots that link within one another and that links in with everyone and not only within art itself but the everyday actions of life.
This quote relates to my own work within the dotted pieces I create such as Kurt (hawk) and Lionel (mandala lion) that repetitive action and that the world is made from one, huge polka dot.
This is a image of a hawk tattoo on my older sister (Emma) done in dots that glow – up under UV light with the colors to match the shading such as red – black, orange – grey and yellow – white with black solid strikes of paint around the image itself to bring the piece forward. This was difficult because sometimes i lost my place and some mistakes were made but i think it adds another texture and element to the piece, such as when it is under UV it becomes something different and new altogether. I will go to another with my own tattoo of a mandala lion with black dots and different pattern background.
