Provide at least one link to a page or site that includes both visual and written documentation of the artist's work.
Above image: Still from Andres Tarkovsky's The Mirror
Thursday, January 13, 2011
E-Journal #2: Influence and Reference
Provide at least one link to a page or site that includes both visual and written documentation of the artist's work.
Above image: Still from Andres Tarkovsky's The Mirror
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I learned about Nina Berman as a sophomore and fell into a personal love/hate push and pull over my feelings for her work. I was captivated by her Purple Heart series, her photographs of men and women in the military who had been injured/disfigured while in the line of duty. I feel such a strong pull to this subject because of my best friend/boyfriend Ryan, after seeing the mental and physical damage done after he returned from Iraq it pissed me off and made me want to jump right into action and just do something.
ReplyDeleteWith my Senior Studio work I struggled in how to represent "Thank you" without saying it and then I struggled with feeling like I was exploiting Ryan and his situation and figuring out what to edit out and if I should really show his injuries, I haven't really done that in my photographs yet. Half way through Senior Studio I was reminded of Nina Berman by Dawn Roe and I went on to her website and looked back through the Purple Heart series and all of her other series. The one that held my attention most this time was The Marine Wedding. It’s a heart-breaking story of a highly disfigured solider that comes home to his fiancé and their life leading up to their marriage.
The documentary series of the Marine applies most to my work, the difference being I am not the outsider looking in, I’m very much in all of my photographs. Her work also gave the idea to work closer with Ryan on my series and while the idea is my own as is all the work I still very much need his input and perspective so I don’t end up exploiting him or his Unit.
http://ninaberman.com/anb_port.php?dir=mw&mn=prt
I had a hard time finding an artist that related to my work specifically, but after researching I kept coming back to the site “DiscoverdArtists.com” that had multiple pieces of work from different artists that related to the recent economic downturn. My work relates to the economic downturn, and more specifically to the contemporary trends of the housing market. The artists I looked at have sold their work to this internet gallery to make it more accessible for viewers/buyers. Like me, a number of these artists were inspired to make artworks related to tight credit, high unemployment, and corporate greed. The art questions corporate greed and who was responsible for the economic outlook. Issues I am still working on so I can translate them in my own work. I specifically liked the comment “art that communicates their concern about credit, unemployment and corporate greed and the effects of troubled times on the common man,” because that is exactly my own inspiration for my own work. It was also inspiring how photographer Robert Hicks says, "... I also connect with my images of those who try to find a way to survive in tough times – as represented in No More Credit - and find opportunity in the midst of the crisis.” He discusses his personal involvement to his work, but also that there is hope in all this negativity. Next I looked at South African artists Grady Zeeman, which is a good reminder of how the economic crisis is worldwide. Her painting of Unemployment line was hanging in my studio all last semester. I liked how she discusses how she wants to change the circumstances of South Africa through her art…
ReplyDeletehttp://www.discoveredartists.com/artist/GradyZeeman
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/grady-zeeman.html
I came across Sara Rahbar at the beginning of winter break because I was struggling to get my ideas into a concrete stage... I wanted to come across another artist that was making similar comments to my work and through the same use of textiles.... There were only a couple artists that I could find, but most appropriate and similar was the work of Sara Rahbar..
ReplyDeleteIn her statement she beautifully states:
"I work to work out the turbulence that exists within me,
I am healing myself and at the same time communicating an immense pain."
I only came across this updated statement when I looked her up again for this blog post assignment... I find it interesting that her statement is closely related to what i recently wrote about my own work:
"My artwork is a visual chronicle of my encounters and development as an individual. It is unintentionally honest in that it functions as both an escape and confrontation with the challenges that come with growing up and establishing a sense of self. "
It seems that we are both influenced by our personal experiences within our diverse cultural upbringings... however, where we differ is my interest in finding peace among a personal struggle of crossing borders, and hers is about finding peace between the two regions she has grown up in, and are at war with one another. She too is using the symbolism tied to flags as a way to convey her ideas, and also creating a type of hybrid flag... Where i meld the imagery of two pre-existing flags, she melds the american flag with textiles pulled from her Iranian culture. Her flags are visually more dramatic and theatrical, with stunning details that can be appreciated from all points
http://www.sararahbar.com/index.php?page=23
I remembered Dana telling me about an artist she had seen in Philadelphia last semester. Shannon Collins (McLaughlin) is a painter, photographer, illustrator, blogger, and general enthusiast of all things cute. She creates self proclaimed "adorable art" which I thought represented the same type of imagery I am going for. Her kitschy style brings a bit of humor to her works that include images of "furry critters": birds, squirrels, farm animals, bats, and other exotic creatures. She juxtaposes the images of each animal with something that animal eats, ex. chipmunk and acorn. In addition to her cute illustrations of animals she also does photography of people and animals. I like that she explores multiple media when creating artwork and doesn't put herself in a box.
ReplyDeleteApart from what I could find on her website and blogs, she doesn't have a distinct artist statement. But what I can understand from exploring her many websites, she is passionate about her animals (5 to be exact), and like me has a passion that leads her to create art about them. Though my art is more about my own personal obsession for Simon, and relating to our society's larger obsession with pets, I can find parallels between my work and Shannon Collins.
http://shannoncollins.com/home.html
http://youwannatalkjive.com/
http://www.fromagephotography.com/
When searching for artists that dealt with identity and transition, I found an artists called Roberta Coni. I saw her water series a long time ago but forgot about her paintings. The initial draw was her amazing painting talent, making her paintings look almost photo realistic at times. She has a series called "Erasing" in which she starts with portraits of old women and erases their face with heavy brush strokes. She has a very painterly style with a touch of realism that is very impressive. I wanted to combine very detailed elements with more expressive elements and have found this artist that did something similar.
ReplyDeleteHer website has her work but does not include an artist statement or includes the ideas behind the work. I did find an interview with the artist in which she discuss the "Erasing" series. She explains that the work deals with the person's identity being erased due to Islamic laws. Her work has a political tie but I see a connection with the portrayal of identity. My work has dealt with erasing/fading the figure into the background and kind of making the identity more ambiguous. Her paintings in the series are head and shoulders with the face being erased. There is a connection of the face holding the identity and removing the face removes the identity. When looking at her other series such as the water series, she is interested in erasing the figure. Figures are concealed in the water and appear to disappear. I like the idea of using a more natural element, like water, to fade the figure away.
http://www.robertaconi.it/index.php?lang=eng
http://soundboardmag.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/interview-with-artist-and-passion-for-freedom-winner-roberta-coni/
I stumbled upon Bryan Lee O’Malley’s work a few months ago; my friend wouldn’t stop raving about the Scott Pilgrim comic series and its movie adaptation. I checked it out and at first I didn’t see anything special about it, but as I started to read more I couldn’t put it down. He has a way of making his work so drastically different from what you would think of when you hear the words “comic book”. It is so unlike typical comic books, where the main character is a realistic, bulky man in a spandex suit, and the dialogue is at a level where kids can read it without a problem. Instead, this series focuses on an awkward, lanky boy in his early twenties, drawn in a very cartoonish and exaggerated style with emphasis on eyes, and the dialogue (not to mention the flow of the panels) is so much more mature and complex. I find it very interesting how much I’ve grown to love his style; so much that I’ve found myself imitating it in a lot of my artwork. I really enjoy a lot of his other artwork as well, or at least the little of it he’s posted on his blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://radiomaru.com/
And then there’s Daniel Clowes. Aside from O’Malley, Clowes is my favorite comic artist of all time. One of his books, “Wilson”, is an autobiographical comic which features constant stylistic changes. It’s absolutely fantastic. HE is absolutely fantastic.
http://danielclowes.com/
I also find it interesting (and annoying) how little background information is available about these comic artists. I suppose that falls under the “How does a comic book become museum worthy?” issue that plagues me so. Perhaps they're just modest or don't believe their work to be deemed "fine art"? I don't know.