Exhibition Text
Title: Then and Now
Measurements: 10 in x 15 in (x2 boards) Materials: Ink (pen and marker) Date: March 2022 |
This piece began out as an attempt to create two art pieces that tied old art to new concepts and contemporary issues. I took inspiration from the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (1665) by Johannes Vermeer and "The Creation of Adam" (1512) by Michelangelo. I decided to use a combination of acrylic paint and colored pencil order to express the ideas of transgender acceptance and the Covid 19 pandemic. By copying the images of these great masters and adding modern elements, I was putting a new, relevant spin on influential pieces of art that have transcended time.
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Inspiration
Girl with a Pearl Earring:
Vermeer painted "Girl With a Pearl Earring" during a time in which he made a group of paintings that shared a pearl motif. The oil painting on canvas represents a young girl in a dark space, which draws the views' attention straight to her. Her heads is turned over her shoulder and she appears to be looking straight into the eyes of the viewer. Based on her expression, it looks as though she is about to say something but has been frozen still right before. Unlike a portrait, it is a trine (a Dutch word for a character/type of person). While he may have had a live subject, the painting isn't meant to portray her, but rather a generic woman in a study of expression, costume and lighting (much like the Mona Lisa). Upon seeing this piece, I was captivated by the way the girl in the photo seems so real and so alive. She looks as though she could just as easily come to life in front of me. Vermeer, through his use of heavy contrast (a deep black background and heavily highlighted figure) makes her stand out and appear as though she stands in a stage light. He places her not directly in the center, but slightly to (the viewer's) right, which makes it more visually interesting and emphasizes her. The color palette used in the work are relatively mild, ranging from beige to light yellow, blues, and basic skin tones. He places emphasis on her face through the use of light, which illuminates her features and that side of her body. Movement is created through the folds and falls of her turban, but the eye continued to fall on her face. There isn't a large amount of detail in the folds of her clothes or in the skin of her face, but Vermeer uses this block coloring in such a way that implies the form. |
The Creation of Adam
The Creation of Adam is a fresco painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which resides in the Vatican, and was completed in 1512. It is roughly 10 by 11 feet. Fresco painting is a method of painting with water-based paints on plaster. The ground-up, dry pigments, after mixed with water and dried, become a part of the wall/ceiling and are extremely durable. In Michelangelo's creation, he depicts the "birth" of Adam, the first human being in the Abrahamic religions, lying on a rather plain background (most likely a small hill) and almost looks to be lounging. God is on the right, depicted as an older, muscular man in a white robe and surrounded by angels. The figures, being so similar, imply the narrative that God created Adam in his own image. Adam is handsome, with an athletic figure and could have been the ideal human form in Michelangelo's view. The two figures reach for each other, God authoritative and firm in his movement, while Adam appears leisurely or weak. Adam's face is passive and patient, the same emotion shown in the position of his hand. God appears to be struggling, brow furrowed in concentration. This is to suggest God giving Adam, his greatest creation, life, and he is ready to accept it. Michelangelo was representing the divine breath of life and the creation of man as their index fingers are about to touch. Since it's creation, it has become and iconic Christian symbol and a modern visual of the transfer of both physical and spiritual energies. Some believe that the difference in hand positions and postures are demonstrative of the gap in power between man and God. The red shadow around God and his angels are speculated to possibly be the human brain-giving us consciousness and complex thought. Others believe it symbolizes a human uterus, which is an image of life. There is a feminine figure behind God, thought to possibly be an un-realized Eve. Throughout the fresco, he uses smooth blending to replicate the creaminess of skin over muscle and bone, going so far as to include veins. The realistic image brings the painting and story behind it to life. He shadows the pieces with low contrast, though it might be mostly due to deterioration over time. The backgrounds are rather plain, which was purposeful in not taking away from the divine subject matter and placing emphasis on them instead of their environment. Movement is created in a horizontal and slightly diagonal line between God and Adam, further portraying the transfer of energy. The eye falls along the lengths of their arms, torsos, and legs, moving back an forth along the piece. Their eyes, as well, focused on each other, create this invisible line and movement between the figures. Balance is created in the work through the opposing sides (split from the top left to the bottom right) by God and the large, shadowy fabric around him, and then Adam and the ground he lies on.
The Creation of Adam is a fresco painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which resides in the Vatican, and was completed in 1512. It is roughly 10 by 11 feet. Fresco painting is a method of painting with water-based paints on plaster. The ground-up, dry pigments, after mixed with water and dried, become a part of the wall/ceiling and are extremely durable. In Michelangelo's creation, he depicts the "birth" of Adam, the first human being in the Abrahamic religions, lying on a rather plain background (most likely a small hill) and almost looks to be lounging. God is on the right, depicted as an older, muscular man in a white robe and surrounded by angels. The figures, being so similar, imply the narrative that God created Adam in his own image. Adam is handsome, with an athletic figure and could have been the ideal human form in Michelangelo's view. The two figures reach for each other, God authoritative and firm in his movement, while Adam appears leisurely or weak. Adam's face is passive and patient, the same emotion shown in the position of his hand. God appears to be struggling, brow furrowed in concentration. This is to suggest God giving Adam, his greatest creation, life, and he is ready to accept it. Michelangelo was representing the divine breath of life and the creation of man as their index fingers are about to touch. Since it's creation, it has become and iconic Christian symbol and a modern visual of the transfer of both physical and spiritual energies. Some believe that the difference in hand positions and postures are demonstrative of the gap in power between man and God. The red shadow around God and his angels are speculated to possibly be the human brain-giving us consciousness and complex thought. Others believe it symbolizes a human uterus, which is an image of life. There is a feminine figure behind God, thought to possibly be an un-realized Eve. Throughout the fresco, he uses smooth blending to replicate the creaminess of skin over muscle and bone, going so far as to include veins. The realistic image brings the painting and story behind it to life. He shadows the pieces with low contrast, though it might be mostly due to deterioration over time. The backgrounds are rather plain, which was purposeful in not taking away from the divine subject matter and placing emphasis on them instead of their environment. Movement is created in a horizontal and slightly diagonal line between God and Adam, further portraying the transfer of energy. The eye falls along the lengths of their arms, torsos, and legs, moving back an forth along the piece. Their eyes, as well, focused on each other, create this invisible line and movement between the figures. Balance is created in the work through the opposing sides (split from the top left to the bottom right) by God and the large, shadowy fabric around him, and then Adam and the ground he lies on.
Planning and Experimentation
Throughout the beginning stages of this project, I did some brainstorming in my process journal. This included a deep exploration into famous pieces of artwork that I find myself familiar with and that I believed could be easily transformed into a modern setting. As shown, I outlined my intentions and goals for the work and began brainstorming. I already had a faint idea of what I wanted to do after a conversation with my dad-I planned on transforming two old pieces of art and making them relevant in a modern American context. For this planning stage, I had to think of works that I was already at least partially familiar with and find a way to spin them into a new story. I wracked my brain for things I knew were prevalent and whether or not they could be combined with a few of the artworks I thought of. Initially, I thought of The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai Katsushika. I tied that to ideas of climate change and pollution and considered recreating print into a piece that depicted ocean pollution, with hoards of trash contaminating the churning waters. I also thought of Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer, which has always been one of my favorite paintings. I thought that it might be cool to demonstrate a modern cultural and fashion-based version in which I made the mysterious girl goth or punk. However, just as I began my planning sketches, I found myself branching out in other directions, including that of adding a mask over her mouth and nose. I was also reminded once again by some news channels about the LGBTQIA+ issues happening (primarily in the Southern United States). This brought me into a different area of focus for the brainstorming and I settled on "The Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo and "Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Vermeer, in which I would transform them into a piece about trans rights/acceptance and the Coronavirus pandemic. I decided on using Acrylic paints on the illustration boards, and since I was familiar with the medium and didn't have extra boards to practice on, I tried to dive straight into the project while omitting the experimentation phase. This, in retrospect, was a huge mistake, as I will later explain.
The final meanings that I closed in on for this project were the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the topic of trans acceptance. I felt that both of these topics are very prevalent in contemporary global and american politics, so I thought that these could fit easily into my theme. I would alter "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by placing a mask over her face, replicating the cloth masks billions of people have worn the past few years. I did this partially because I wanted to incorporate how integrated Covid 19 has become in our daily lives, but also based upon personal struggles I have had in relations to masks. It is important to note that I have a neurological disorder that affects my hearing constantly. Over the years, I have learned to read lips, facial expressions, and body language in order to fill in what I might have missed when a person was speaking. But, because masks were required to keep people safe, I no longer had those tools. Since the outbreak, I've struggled to follow along and often leave the other person/people waiting awkwardly for a response I have no idea how to answer too. It's embarrassing and shameful, to say the least, because I feel like I'm coming off as rude or not paying attention. How this connects to the original artwork is in how the painting is most well known for how Vermeer seems to have captured the young lady in the middle of a moment. Her expression is slightly inquisitive, like she's turned around to find Vermeer and was about to say something to him. With half of her face covered up, we lose that extra layer of depth and understanding of the piece, as I do with other people. This isn't me trying to be selfish or claiming that I've suffered more than others during these challenging times-I have discussed with others and read articles about the lack of human connection these years have brought people. I wanted to explore that and the way that we as humans depend so much upon a variety of factors in order to communicate and properly express ourselves.
My other piece, base off of "the Creation of Adam" is based upon my passion for the recent attacks against the LGBTQIA+ community in the United States (particularly in the South). As a part of the community myself, I was devastated to watch as the government stepped further and further back for the sake of hatred and bigotry. I was very active online and had countless discussions with friends, family, and classmates in regards to this issue. In fact, there was a moment in time I was almost brought to tears in a classroom discussion after I had heard about a transgender child who had committed suicide after one of the bills was signed. He had been active on social media and fighting for trans rights, but the new state pressures became too much and he unfortunately took his own life. As someone who is under the transgender umbrella, has had a history with the Catholic church forcing me to change who I was, as well as suicide and depression, this affected me a lot. I thought about all the little kids who are being told that it wasn't okay to try and find happiness in themselves and in their lives because it's disgusting or wrong. I'm thankful I have parents who love and accept me for who I am, but I can't imagine the pain of not having anyone on your side. It's so easy to find blatant hatred for people who only wish to be loved and accepted for who they are and who they love, and it feels like there's only been more and more resistance, especially from religious communities. So, I decided to use this piece to provide a different narrative. Again, I was raised Catholic, but am now an atheist, and I mean no disrespect to the religious art I have changed. It is my belief that if there is a God, he would love everyone, including those who weren't cisgender straight people. I wanted to convey that the creation of the soul comes before the body, and that even if our original bodies change, that there's nothing wrong with that. In his image, people are created as they're meant to be, with growth and shifts being an equal part in that. So, I knew I wanted to cover up or alter certain aspects of Adam's body in order to reference and represent people that fall out of the cisgender binary. I am aware that an argument many people use against trans people is that 1. They are an abomination for breaking the traditional heterosexual roles of marriage and procreation, and 2. That changing to something other than what they were assigned at birth is an insult to God's creation. I wanted to portray the opposite-love and acceptance. Following this, I also did not want to actually draw God's face with the idea that there was one specific image humans were meant to be created in.
Process
The first step in my process phase was to get all of my pictures printed up and the line work done (in pencil) on both the boards and the pictures so that I could create a grid replica. This is a tactic I have used for many works over the last couple years, so it was a relatively smooth process (save for when I got a square off in the Michelangelo and had to redo half of it). I used a ruler to evenly mark all sides of the board, then used the ruler to make accurate lines across. The same process, done earlier on the images, allowed for me to be able to make a more-or-less detailed replica. Once I had sketched out the outlines of both pieces, I began to prepare my paints.
It is worth noting that most of the paints at my disposal are years old. We've collected various acrylics in a large bin, some professional, others from Target-bought art kits better suited to an eight-year-old. However, I found a few that weren't dried out and crusty and began painting, starting with The Girl With the Pearl Earring. I like filling out the backgrounds of my pieces first so I can better perceive the value of the subject matter. Right away, it felt very wrong. Painting on the board was almost difficult in that it didn't spread, even when water added. The best I can describe it was sticky. However, I chalked it up to just being the specific paint tube I was using and just finished the background. Next, I poured out a series skin tone related colors so I could begin working on her face. From the first stroke, I realized it felt exactly the same. I put down a light and darker hue, planning to blend the two of them to create the appearance of smooth skin. To my dismay, it refused. If I'm honest, that's when a bit of the panic began to set in. I pushed forward and kept at it, attempting to paint realistically, but each layer (no matter how wet/combined with water) dried almost instantly on the board and I couldn't blend whatsoever. I decided to keep moving and just hope for the best, picking out some yellow and brown tones for her dress. However, I ran into the same problem immediately. At this point, I had gone through several different brands of paint, but they all had the same result. The process was identical for her head scarf as well. I put that painting aside and moved onto "Creation of Adam" for a change of pace and the hope that something would go better. Once again, I started with the background, mixing together grays, tans, and light pinks to replicate the sky. Low and behold, the same thing happened, and I could hardly get anything to work. Furthermore, the board started to peel away and create tears. At this point, I was super frustrated and didn't know what to do. I couldn't start over because the two boards were the only ones I had, and time was ticking. I took a break, cleaned up my supplies, and started brainstorming again. I didn't want to come up with a completely new concept/design, so I stuck with the ones I had.
I thought back to other styles of art that I had done throughout the years, and the first thing that came to my mind was pointillism, or some other version related to it. We had experimented in it in my freshman year art class, and this past summer I had created a project in a UWM ArtsEco course. I made a collage of a series of photographs of my sister and used a different style of pointillism for each photo. Mind now set on this technique, I grabbed all the black artistic pens and markers I had and set down to get working again.
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I started by experimenting with the various pens/markers and tested out how each of them looked on paper. I wanted to see their width, flow, how much ink came out, etc. so that I knew which ones to use on my work/where to use certain pens. This little experimentation was brief, but I felt that I knew what I needed to know about the materials and the process of creating a piece in this way. With that, I picked out two pieces of drawing paper. I didn't make a grid this time, instead more or less free-handing the outlines of the figures. Once I had done that, I pulled up my reference photos. I went to the edit feature and adjusted to make them black and white instead of colored. I knew it would be easier to translate values onto my own work if I could see the relative values from the originals. Once both pictures were edited, I started making dots. I decided to start with the Michelangelo and filling areas of shadow. This included some areas around God and on the ground that Adam laid upon. I must also admit; I didn't have a method to the madness that was doing hours of pointillism-I kind of just moved haphazardly around the paper, adding more dots to create shadow and depth and hoped for the best. I found that putting in the areas with the most shadow helped me in visualizing, so I continued to do that. What I mean to say is that my process wasn't pretty or controlled like it's supposed to be, but in the end I got it done.
I made a few artistic differences in it as part of the "modernization" aspect of the project. This included eliminating the other angels and the unmade body of Eve surrounding God and omitting the male genitalia of Adam. The angels and Eve were a last-minute decision as I thought more about the deeper meaning of my interpretation. One argument often used against transgender and gay individuals is that Eve was created to be a second half of Adam-therefore, with the creation of only male or female, the only acceptable form of intimate relations is between a man and a woman. The idea that male and female were created as the only form of God's likeness implies that anyone who strays from this is an abomination and deserves eternal damnation. Furthermore, I placed tape across God's face and Adam's chest area. These in combination were the contribution to the modernization and was an input of the overall messaging. With that work done, I was ready to move onto my second drawing.
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The process for my second piece was largely the same, but with a few important differences. As a replication, I had to drown out the background in black, which I did with a large sharpie. I figured that this would be an acceptable exception to the rule, as using the variation of pointillism would take a long time to complete. Once I had a base to cover the darkest value of the piece, I began to fill in other areas of shadow. I started with the area behind her neck and her headscarf, then the darker areas of her jacket/dress. An important thing to note is that I was doing a series of spirals instead of dots so that I could add more variation to the pair of illustrations. Once I felt that I had enough base shadows to the piece, I used lighter, larger spirals to help create areas of light. I was constantly worried I'd made section too dark in comparison to the rest and my reference, but I pushed ahead and just kept my pen moving. The last thing that I completed for this piece was the mask on her face (the modernized difference from the original). I'm a little disappointed with how it looked, but there wasn't much I could do about it. This work went significantly faster than the first, which I was thankful for. I continued to add smaller spirals in areas of shadow for more contrast under the hopes that it would make her look more realistic.
Critique
Reflection
If I'm being completely honest, I'm okay with how this set turned out. It's my second-favorite work I've created for school this year (as of March, 2022) and I feel like the messages behind it were weighty enough to support my theme. This project forced me to be patient with my work and to come up with new ideas very quickly. I had to do a lot of problem solving and quick thinking while making sure I didn't completely shut down after my first failed attempt. For anything other than school, I might have gotten discouraged and given up completely, as I would have wallowed in my own feelings and lost all motivation to complete the piece. However, because this project was for a grade and was required of me if I wanted to graduate, I had to focus on the goal at hand and ignore any feelings I had about the pieces. This lead me to be a little indifferent when creating them, maintaining the mindset that "I just have to get it done". However, I found that over time, I was able to relax into them a bit. On a more technical level, I feel like I didn't improve much on my ability to succeed in pointillism. I'm not super comfortable with it, and while I enjoy the effect it has on an artwork, I don't think my skills are yet adequate enough in order to execute it properly (or at least to the extent that I would like to). I liked how I got to incorporate old and new artwork and enjoyed thinking creatively about how I could alter my inspirations.
Connection To The ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspirations have given me a format to create my illustration with. In this, they acted as less of an inspiration in a technical sense and more of a base for me to build my own concepts around.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The approach that I took regarding my inspirations was to reinvent old, famous pieces of art. Some of the critical analyses of these pieces (such as as Vermeer's ability to capture expression through art and the religious sanctity of Michelangelo's work)
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
The conclusions that I have come to through the process of making these pieces is that artistic principles can surpass centuries of time. The way we present art can also carry immense weight and is a reflection of our society and values.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
The central theme around my inspiration and research was using some of the greatest artists' work and making it relevant to modern day issues. I also wanted to complete a set of works that felt personal to me, both in how I felt about the original artwork and in my interpretation of a current lens.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While I was doing my research, I had to infer about the artists' purposes in creating their pieces and how that affected the presentation of their artwork.
Bibliography
"The Creation of Adam" (1512), Michelangelo https://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelo-creation-of-adam/
"Girl With a Pearl Earring" (1665), Johannes Vermeer https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/artworks/670-girl-with-a-pearl-earring/
"Girl With a Pearl Earring" (1665), Johannes Vermeer https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/artworks/670-girl-with-a-pearl-earring/