Art as Knowledge - Phase 2_Erin C 2021

Year 12 Erin C Art as Knowledge Phase 2

Inquiry Phase 2 Contents Table: o Focus o Resolved Work: A Message From the Cosmos 3 Panels (measurements) Acrylic on canvas o Artist Statement o Display View o Individual Panels o Documentation: o Resolved work annotations o Supporting evidence

Focus – Inquiry Phase 1 The focus for my body of work was considering how stages of afterlife are communicated visual from perspectives of both living and dead.

Stemming from my research in IA1 about visual representations of afterlife in different cultures. Many cultures view afterlife as a peaceful thing and believe that the living can interact with the dead. For IA2, I focused on Mexican/Mayan culture where butterflies are a significant symbol.

José Guadalupe Posada, a foundational artist in Mexico and Su Blackwell, who explores 3D paper , ghostly figures and butterflies were my primary focus when developing experimental pieces.

This inspired my body of work “A Message From the Cosmos”. Comprising of 3 paintings with 3D elements telling the story of loss and new-found peace beyond death.

Artist Statement A Message From the Cosmos 3 Panels (52cm x 75cm) Acrylic Canvas Afterlife is viewed in many different forms across cultures. I find that Mexicans and ancient Mayans welcomed symbols of their late ancestors. A Mayan God, Hanab Ku, translates to the Galactic Butterfly which was used as a symbol of spirits after death in connection with the universe around us.

Stemming from my personal interest in spirits and ghosts this work explores the relationship between living and dead. How the living can still find comfort, knowing that their loved ones have found peace. I enjoy the knowledge that many cultures see symbols in nature as signs from the universe but as someone who has struggled with confidence in their future, sometimes these signs are hard to identify. This correlates to the abstract style as I believe that messages are not always clear, but I am reminded that the simplest things, such as a butterfly, are really symbols of hope.

Resolved Work: Display View

“A Message From the Cosmos” 3 Panels (52cm x 75cm) Acrylic on canvas and origami

Individual Panel 1 “A Message From the Cosmos” 3 Panels (52cm x 75cm) Acrylic on canvas and paper

Individual Panel 2 “A Message From the Cosmos” 3 Panels (52cm x 75cm) Acrylic on canvas and paper

Individual Panel 3 “A Message From the Cosmos” 3 Panels (52cm x 75cm) Acrylic on canvas and paper

Developing: Cultural context: inspired by my interest in afterlife in cultures across the world. Specifically Mexican/Mayan and how they use the butterfly as symbols of spirits and see them as messages from the universe.

Also, the symbol of the jacaranda tree as a representation of rebirth.

Connecting these symbols to create ideas of a connection between living and dead.

The abstract style developed through experimentation represents the unclarity of the future and where we will end up as a personal context.

My focus: ‘visual representations of afterlife’ was represented by the ‘physical’ elements in the work such as the butterflies, trees and pyramid but also more literally the 3D elements.

Researching: José Guadalupe Posada and Su Blackwell are main influences for the artwork.

Posada’s fine line techniques create a light undertone for a dark theme of death and make the message behind the pieces more clearly about hope.

Blackwell’s installations create a big impact which was implemented with the 3D butterflies. They create a sense of mass which correlates to the messages of the living connecting with the dead.

Background research on times of day also contributed to the overarching story from sunset to sunrise following the timeline of: ending and darkness to acceptance and vulnerability to finally new life and hope.

Reflecting: Layering of paint and contrasting colours gave the artwork an abstract style relating back to my personal context. This palette knife technique combined with thick paint gave great texture and movement in the panels which helped move the story along and convey the combined message.

Abstract paintings also tend to have light and hopeful visuals which correlates to the symbolism of peace in the work.

Annotated Details of Resolved Works

Supporting Evidence

Preliminary Studies

The field of jacaranda trees in the last panel symbolize rebirth along with the ancient Mayan Pyramid Tomb – serving as a visual representation that the people are dead The abstract style of these trees are linked to the meaning of symbols not always being easy to find

This sky scene was painted to look like space and had to be layered a lot to achieve the space look which relates to the title of the Body of Work ‘a message from the cosmos’ (cosmos meaning universe)

The butterflies in the panels represent the spirit of the lady.

They are a living form that connects her spirit with her living loved ones. In the last panel this interaction can be seen.

This was a media experiment for palette knife techniques. With the butterfly I used lots of impasto which gave textured elements which will be useful for creating movement. The Mayan pyramid structure was created with thin paint. It layered very well over the colourful background. This inspired me to experiment with painting contrasting colours on top of one another This was experimenting with layers and colours for backgrounds. Over the top of a watercolour, blue canvas, I used warm colours with a light handed palette knife technique. This was in order to not scrape away paint to achieve the blended colours but also to not entirely cover the patterns underneath.

This inspired me to use a yellow painted canvas underneath the dark, night scene and the blue painted canvas underneath the light, sunrise scene.

The thick paint also created a nice flowing texture that gives the eye a direction to follow.

The combination of warm colours going into a deep purple also conveys a mood change.

It represents that the mood is going from happy to sad.

Supporting Evidence

La Calavera Catrina by José Guadalupe Posada: The line work of this piece was replicated in this experiment to explore the ideas of mystical influence he captured. I used two pens at the same time to get a double line effect to create more dimension, although, the pen was hard to see on the paint colour I used. I think this thin pen though is what recreates the sense of lightness of the topic of death.

Midnight Sagebrush by Jonathan Harris: Work by Harris capturing Mexican landscapes inspired this experiment with the use of colour. The desert shrubbery inspired new palette knife techniques. Using a rounded knife, I was able to create a cactus like shape and using colours that were not mixed all the way gave a variety in the stroke pattern. In some of the strokes, there are visible yellow streaks which add an element of layering with I liked. I also experimented with using the knife on its side to get the grass strokes. I liked this techniques and will use it in my body of work in the final panel.

In reflection, the new palette knife techniques will be used for the body of work especially in the final panel which is a more natural scene. The experimentation with butterflies was semisuccessful but in the final, using thin pen will not work due to the thickness of the paint. However, it may be able to be used in the background where the colours are lighter and the paint thinner.

Supporting Evidence

Su Blackwell: Specialising in 3D paper works Blackwell has inspired me to create a similar ‘fading away into butterflies’ effect. Also on a parallel, the meaning behind the photo on the left, ‘While you were sleeping’ also is in relation to spirits and how when women are asleep their soul transforms into a butterfly. This piece also reminded me of ‘The Corpse Bride’. A Tim Burton movie also using a cloud of butterflies.

Using a butterfly shaped hole puncher, I was able to create these small butterflies and using a clear thread, suspend them from underneath a table.

This worked quite well but was a time consuming process. A limitation of this however was that after a while the butterflies fell.

In the body of work I used a combination of suspended butterflies and some glued to the canvas with wings lifted to create dimension.

Supporting Evidence Favelas make a large portion of accommodation for Mexican residents. They have become easily recognisable symbol of poverty which is a great contrast to the hopeful symbol of the butterfly.

This experiment was done by painting squares of natural and primary colours to create the Tetris like pattern and then digitally drawn over to experiment with the light ‘scribbly’ technique discussed earlier. I drew small windows and doors on random squares to not overcrowd the piece but also to keep it abstract. I also experimented with some ‘day of the dead’ symbolism as that will be in my 2nd panel of my body of work.

In reflection of this piece, I would work down the page or out from a starting point because the way I did it, picking one colour and putting random squares on the page, it created awkward gaps to be filled in some areas that don’t match the pattern. This could also be done with a palette knife with would give the paint more texture and direction.

Possible using the palette knife in different directions could create a contrasting effect the horizontal stoke background. This would break up the large panel more efficiently.

The houses in my Body of Work are reflective of this experiment with the outlines which connect to Guadalupe Posada’s work with fine lines.

Contrast to the direction of the mountain, I used the palette knife horizontally to create texture and dimension.