Metamorphosis

Cubism

Also in some of my paintings I have some inspiration in the Cubist movement by Pablo Picasso and George Braque. This was the first style of abstract art, which evolved at the beginning of the 20th century in response to the world that was changing with unprecedented speed. Cubism was an attempt by artists to revitalize the tired traditions of Western art, who believed has run their course. The Cubists challenged conventional forms of representation, such as perspective, which had been the rule since the Renaissance. Their aim was to develop a new way of seeing which reflected the modern age.

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm

Cubism was a revolutionary new approach to representing reality invented in around 1907/08 by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque who aimed to bring different views of subjects (usually objects or figures) together in the same picture, resulting in paintings that appear fragmented and abstracted

What inspired cubist style?

Cubism was partly influenced by the late work of Paul Cézanne in which he can be seen to be painting things from slightly different points of view. Pablo Picasso was also inspired by African tribal masks which are highly stylised, or non-naturalistic, but nevertheless present a vivid human image. ‘A head’, said Picasso, ‘is a matter of eyes, nose, mouth, which can be distributed in any way you like’.

http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/cubism

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm
https://www.pinterest.com/kerry1402/cubism/

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Kirchner was one of the greatest expressionist painters and helped found the German Expressionism in century 20. The war experience, led him to have mental breakdowns, and suicide at 58 years old. Best known for his genre painting of Berlin street scenes and colourful female nudes and Self-Portrait as a Soldier (1915, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Ohio). He also produced several examples of poster art, influenced by German Gothic art (woodcut) and African sculpture.

Portrait of Gerda, 1914
Self-Portrait as a Soldier, 1915
Station in Davos, 1925

http://www.wikiart.org/en/ernst-ludwig-kirchner/portrait-of-gerda

My teacher Robin Alert in one of my tutorials, on my first academic year, he analysed some of my paintings, and he told me that my technique of using strong brushstrokes and bright colours, can be regarded as a characteristic of German Expressionism.
So, I have been searching on the subject and found certain characteristics of German Expressionism, and also I did some research on one of artist of this movement, which was Ernst Ludwig Kirchner which will be described below.

Expressionism is a general style of painting. It encompasses most of the genres, notably landscape painting (including townscapes) and portrait art (including caricature). Typically, an expressionist painter has aim to show how feel about a chosen subject. Thus, for instance, shapes drawn, colours used, thickness and texture of paint applied, as well as the type of brushstrokes used, will be chosen so as to best convey the painter’s attitude to the object or scene represented.

The precise characteristics of an expressionist work vary wildly, according to the attitude of the painter. Where strong feelings are involved, an artist may resort to quite an unrealistic distortion, or even semi-abstract forms while colour may be especially bold or garish. Other less incendiary feelings may be conveyed in a more subtle fashion, using symbolism or ironical juxtapositions. In contrast to this, Impressionism – itself an extreme version of naturalism – is all about optical truth: namely, the capture of a particular visual moment in time, exactly how it appears. The expressionist artist, however, has no interest in recording visual truth: he is simply interested in expressing his feelings and emotions in the paint.

Displeasure with the traditional conception of reality as represented by Impressionism was what characterized this new rebellious generation. These modernists were aware that the depiction of outer appearances comprises only one aspect of reality, and cannot penetrate to the essence of things.

They had realized that both the most painstaking analysis of what they observed, and the depictions of mental processes were inadequate to express complete being.

My acrylic painting on canvas

On my first academic year, Level 4 in Fine Arts I started to develop my work and focus on the theme domestic violence x human relationship, socio-economic and political and psychological context.
To develop my theme I also created drawings on the sketchbook and I did acrylic paintings on canvas by following up the preparation of the performance and installation.
I inspired my painting work on the German expressionism such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; I also sought to look at the work of other artists to gain inspiration for the subject matter such as Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman photographs, and Punch and Judy.
At all my color palette, I make use of colours and strong brush strokes, and I try to create my own techniques painting through the inspiration on the other artists as Picasso-Cubism- abstract art, distorted human figures, and also in the artist Francis Bacon among others.

My goal with my artwork is to provoke awareness about the various forms and kinds of violence.