Year 3 Degree Project by Elaine Hedges

Finally Completed my Triptych which was posted about quite a while ago.

I felt that by making 9 of the triptychs that it would look most interesting like that, due to the different colour variations, similarities to each other and symmetry by making it 3 by 3 and having 3 layers, keeping with my theme of symmetry.

I feel like they work well together, some of the colours and patterns are very similar but were created in the moment and at the moment of creation.

By creating it as a triptych I feel it has worked well as a poparty kind of style, similar to Andy Warhol’s own pieces which are created in different colours.

I feel that it would look interesting in a cubed layout 3 by 3 style against a white background, bring out out each layer of colour and pattern this way. I can also mix and match the different colours however I want them to look too.

I feel that adding anymore than 3 layers would over complicate it as then it would disrupt some of the other layers and make them less visual to the viewer. Parts that I would want exposed could potentially end up hidden which is something I want to avoid.

Karla Black’s work I really admire because of the draping style that is prevalent in her work, drawing from artistic traditions such as expressionists painting, land art, performance, to formalism.

Her sculpture are always large scale and are created from everyday substances such as cellophane and paper to create these abstract formations.

According to the Saatchi Gallery, ‘Black chooses her media for their tactile aesthetic appeal: the familiarity of the texture of cellophane or the scent of cosmetics bridges the experience of tangible matter with the intimacy of memory or the subconscious. ‘

Gallery, S. (2015). Karla Black – Artist’s Profile – The Saatchi Gallery. [online] Saatchigallery.com. Available at: http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/karla_black.htm

Similarities between my own work and Black’s is the physicallity involved in both. To create either work is to interact with it on every level, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is a very intense and intimate process that has a large scale result at the end. Both are performances as both can be seen to have had a vast amount of time and energy put into both.

I admire the draping style in her work because it is something that I want to experiment with in my own work, as explained in a previous post. I have experimented to a small extent with the layered of my work and the different positioning and colours but haven’t taken it to such a large scale, Yet.

Kara Walker is another artist whose work is derived from craft materials. She is known for her large scale tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes that are influenced by American controversial racial and gender tensions. Her work addresses specific themes of power, history, race, sexuality, repression in a very concise way

Her work I’ve felt has inspired me because of her use of lighting and silhouettes but also in how her concept is the most important aspect of her work.

Her work’s are all beautifully cut and presented and her use of lighting and colour in the background is key to how her work is portrayed.

She draws from historical sources of information relating to racial discrimination and tensions, from slave labour in America, the abuse of Black Workers on farms and the racism that is still apparent today. She creates the silhouettes to depict different scenes of what had happened.  These scenes were created by composing the images in reverse in order to flip them over once they are cut out and adhered to paper, canvas, wood, or directly to the gallery wall with wax.

Sarah Kent, Visual Art reviewer writes that ‘Instead of sharing genteel pleasantries, though, she dishes the dirt on the plantation-owning white elite. Her top-hatted gents and southern belles may dance and caper, but they reveal their less amiable side as they or their henchmen abuse, torture and kill the slaves they fear and despise.’  (Sarah Kent, 2013)

Kent, S. (2014). Kara Walker, Camden Arts Centre | Visual arts reviews, news & interviews | The Arts Desk. [online] Theartsdesk.com. Available at: http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/kara-walker-camden-arts-centre

The format that Walker, historically uses is classified as a craft but she makes it her own with the concept.

Kara Walker stated that ‘I was really searching for a format to sort of encapsulate, to simplify complicated things…And some of it spoke to me as: ‘it’s a medium… historically, it’s a craft and its very middle class.’ (Walker, 1999)

“Conversations with contemporary artists” (New York: Museum of Modern Art 1999) http://www.moma.org/onlineprojects/conversations/kw_f.html

Concept in walkers work is highly important as is the skill involved in creating not only her silhouettes, but also her drawings. But conceptual art can be heavily criticized.

The issue with conceptual art is that it can be heavily criticized for its reliance on its concept rather than the level of skill involved.

Ben Davis states that “The appreciation of contemporary conceptual art, on the other hand, depends not on immediately recognizable skill.” (Davis, 2009)

Artnet.com, (2014). Ben Davis explains why people hate “conceptual” art. – artnet Magazine. [online] Available at: http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/davis/in-defense-of-concepts11-24-09.asp

Davis explains that contemporary conceptual art has more meaning, depth and intelligence to it than what is initially recognized at first glance. Conceptual art is not just about its aesthetic view, but about knowledge, history and thought provoking ideas.

The art versus craft debate it very prevalent in this and something I feel extremely strongly about. To me craft and art are very much the same thing, both can have concept it is just about how you identify as yourself as an artist, and neither should be penalised for how they identify. Walker’s art speaks strongly to me of this as her art symbolizes how unfairly penalised people have been throughout history for their title. Skin and art.

These pictures are patterns that I found when I originally started this project this year which I stored in my sketch book.

They come from a huge variety of sources, ranging from islamic art, decks of cards, wood carvings, and computer generated patterns.

The website Pinterest I found very useful when looking for different unknown artists works especially with computer generated patterns. I felt that by having this at hand, as well as an online sketch book in the form of my own pinterest account I could keep a large array of different patterns to refer to at a moments notice.

I can even create patterns by sketching when I don’t have access to my computer this way by storing it on my tablet and taking it with me, so I can always create new sketches and patterns while on the go.

I created more drawings earlier in the year in order to experiment more with the different symmetry, shapes and styles that would ultimately feature in my cut outs.

The drawings I found were hugely helpful as they gave me an outlet to refer back to when looking for different pattern ideas, when they were originally inspired by different patterns themselves.

I also created 2 types of collage to refer to. One being a series of different patterns that I found in a number of different newspapers, magazines and leaflets that I found interesting to look at and that might be an addition to my work

The second collage was a colour chart, also collected from a number of different sources. This was to look as how the different colours interacting with each other, if they contrasted or coordinated to help how my paper cuts would ultimately clash or collide once layered upon each other,