2015 IB Visual Arts Exhibition Booklet

THINK Global School Proudly Presents Visual Arts Exhibition 2015

IB DIPLOMA

V ARTS ISUAL

GRADUATE EXHIBITION COSTA RICA

25th - 26th February 2015 Mot Mot, University of Georgia, La trocha a San Luis, 108-5655, Costa Rica Opening 7pm, 25th February 2015

OUR STUDENTS

Liisa Toomus

Isaac Forsland

[ Higher Level ]

[ Higher Level ]

Melissa Medrano-Carrillo

Alejandro Ribadenira

[ Standard Level ]

[ Standard Level ]

Julia Schiller [ Standard Level ]

INTRODUCTION The IB Diploma Visual Arts Exhibition was created as a means to showcase artwork created by THINK Global School’s graduating class of 2015. The exhibition contains a playful and emotional array of works inspired by the students experiences traveling across the world as artists and members of the THINK Global School family.

The forty works on display are successful representations of my five IB Visual Art students' —Isaac, Liisa, Melissa, Alejandro, and Julia— artistic and academic journey as travelers over the last two years. The works they have created reflect a broad spectrum of interests and global issues that ask the audience to think about what it means to be a global citizen in this day and age. Through this experience, the students have matured and discovered themselves and their relationship with their surrounding environments.

I am very proud to present to you the works created by these very special students, and I want to congratulate them on their success. This is our first group at THINK Global School to complete the Visual Arts course. It has not been an easy journey for our students, as there was a change of staffing halfway through. Although I have only taught this group for one year, they have adapted effortlessly to the change. Here, I would also like to share credit with their former teacher, Lee Ann Thomas.

Chung Man Chan IB Visual Arts Teacher

Enjoy, Chung Man Chan

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THE EXHIBITION

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LIISA My Swedish Estonian childhood was largely encapsulated by stories of censorship and what life was like for Estonians in the Soviet Union. This, along with my wide interest for foreign affairs, censorship, news and travels is widely explored and reflected in my work. Similarly, during the past few years, I have received the chance to travel full time while doing the IB, something that has lead me to visit a wide variety of cities ranging from Boston to Dar Es Salam and Srinigar. My travels have made my work more adaptable for transportation through different continents, and also made me more aware of foreign audiences and several of different international artists. During the same course of time, my journey as an IB art student, I have learnt how to display my thoughts and ideas, which often are alluded to rather than directly “phrased”, in my work. A red thread in my work is the appropriation and mixture of modern digital works mixed with past ideas. As an artist largely drawn to digital works, especially the work of photography, it has been rewarding to develop my skill set and to broaden my horizon within digital editing.

Kids With Guns (15 cm x 25 cm, 15 cm x 25 cm, 15 cm x 25 cm,) Found Object_Collage Craft February 2014

Kids With Guns (detail)

Kids With Guns (detail)

Las Guerras, 21 cm x 30cm, found objects, craft paper, markers, paint, December 2014

Greek Infusion, 81 cm x 100 cm, digitial print, January 2014

Ai Weiwei , 81 cm x 100 cm, digitial print, January 2014

GASP! 120 cm x 150 cm, digitial print, August 2014

INVESTIGATION WORKBOOK

WRITTEN COMMENTARY The influence of parents and grandparents, who fled the iron curtain during World War II respectively the eighties, is an important aspect of my own cultural background that I aim to convey through artistic expression. Following, learning about censorship within closed communist states, such as Nazi Germany, I became inspired to investigate how to emulate the techniques employed to censor civilians [p.85, p. 87], which I later displayed in my own work, Las Guerras, that depicts life under the Gulf War and the Iranian revolution [p. 85, p. 90] as well as in the Public Safety and Royal pieces by me. The works are meant to bring awareness towards the commonness of censorship within society [p. 201, p. 202]. The investigation of collage making [p.

175] has most generously aided to further my understanding of how to convey the ideas of censorship in an implicit manner.

To develop the technique of subtly stressing cultural heritage, along with the indeed message of an artwork, I have studied the works of contemporary artists such as Jose Rommusi [p. 144] and Elmgreen and Dragset [ p. 110]. The analysis of different cultures and times is evident in how my own stay in Hyderabad, India, depicts significances in the contemporary rural society by the usage of water buffaloes [p. 58, p. 64] in the work Buffalo Soldier. I later extend my work breadth by depicting the 60’s pop art view of females, as depicted by Andy Warhol, and especially in Hopeless by Roy Lichtenstein [ p. 177], in the work

GASP! To some extent, both artworks serve to comment upon the social status of women in contemporary western and Asian societies, which is of personal relevance to me, as a traveler, a female and an active voice in society.

Throughout my works I have aspired to emulate a variety of techniques and skillset to convey my ideas of oppression and censorship by considering a multitude of artists such as Robert Rauschenberg’ s collage crafting [ p . 8 1 ] , Helmo’s creative advertisement and appropriation of visual 3D effects [ p . 9 5 ], along with the work of Elmgreen and Dragset [p. 110] Many times, the medium is shaped according adapt according to the idea and development of a work. Though, the influences of my works are evident in how I have aspired to how to appropriate 3D visual affects [p. 100], censoring of books and letters [p. 84, p. 85, p. 87], as trying a range of methods on how to mix collage making with appropriation of Ben Day Dots [p. 186]. Examples include aspiring to achieve a suitable appropriation of 3D lights include the usage of dots drawn in red and blue pencil, watercolors, and similarly different types of acrylics. In order to create Ben Day Dots [p. 186], I aimed to follow my original idea [p. 128] of utilizing recreations of dots by found objects such as colorful segments of papers. Though, following experimenting with various ways of tearing the paper into circles, cutting it, and trying to achieve the intended effect, I started experimenting with waxii

ter and water colors [p. 186]. The paleness of water alone would not work as a part of my creation, and thereafter I resorted to experimenting different tactics of creating dots with the water, such as splashing it and placing it on different types of plastics.

Similarly, I considered the concept of collage making as a method to convey the oppressive state of censoring [p. 176]. Likewise, I have aimed to expand the idea of censorship and pixel art [p. 195] in order to steer away from the type of digital censoring, that I commonly have used within my objects [p. 201], in order to move on to found objects [p. 202], which in this case is a knitted painting.

When analyzing works, I have considered the contextual backgrounds behind artists, such as Jimmy Nelson’s British background [p. 50], the Chilean influence of José Romussi [p. 144], and similarly contrasted the reasoning behind the creation of works by artists such as Richard Hamilton and Joseph Cornell [p. 123]. During investigations such as these, I have found it helpful to research the works through the subjective’, ‘structural’, ‘cultural’, and ‘postmodern’ frame. The breakdown of the work into different aspects has enabled me to pinpoint a lot of the symbolism and cultural values of the work, or how technology drove a cultural phenomenon such as Pixel Art [p. 195] forward. Therefore, my different approaches of studying art has aided me in creating works that similarly revolve around the expression of real life issues such as gender equality, censorship, and oppression.

The vivid variety of artists from throughout the world, each with a unique style, has enabled my own work to become mixed with the idea of censorship the red thread.

Many of my works are inspired by historical events or cultural occurrences, along with sources found online or museums. Example being the ‘Transformed Visions’ exhibition at Tate Modern [p.

127], I was exposed to the concept of the Expressive Abstraction that followed after World War II. The artists contributing to the installation, especially Mark Rothko, Gerard Richardson, and Omar Fast [p. 127] inspired me to display the sentiments following recent wars [p. 87], which is evident in the collage series Los Guerras. Similarly, the majority of my works are developed upon events such as the financial crisis in Greece [p. 98] and the crumbling political symbol Samaras was depicted by media as (in 2013), the prevalence of child soldiers worldwide [p. 133], the suppression of freedom of speech in china, symbolized by Ai Weiwei as a symbol for this [p. 105], governmental censorship in the west along with the, partially, and the maintained western beauty ideals of the 60s [p. 128, p. 180] along with how modern beauty ideals are evident in media [p. 147]. Many of the ideas for my works derive from reading the news and history books, along with investigating different cultures worldwide outside of class time.

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ISAAC Art has played a significant role in my life ever since I was able to appreciate it. The last two years in the International Baccalaureate program has enhanced this recognition for techniques, principles and perspectives in art. Like all aspiring artists, I create works to evoke emotion from the audience - whether it be positive or negative. Often times, the oeuvre of my work tends to reflect a dark, satirist message regarding the flaws of humanity. The work I produce commonly critiques varied cultural and social issues. Engaging myself in topics as diverse as South Asian religion, capitalist brainwashing, and cloning. When looking at contemporary art, I strongly believe in the interactive relationship between an artist’s work and the audience. The idea shouldn’t be given away to the viewer; however, I feel that many people can become frustrated leaving a work without having a clue. Taking this into consideration, I apply my perspective to underlying themes of physical interactivity, the grotesque, and comedy.

What influences me most is burlesque contemporary art. With the temporal not constraining artists to a specific genre, I feel that modern-day works are a blend of culture, ideas and techniques. Stylistically, my work has taken reference from works in music production, Surrealism, geometry, and animation. In retrospect, my notably inspirational artists include Bill Domonkos, Salvador Dalí, and Ai Weiwei. I am extremely influenced by the ladder for his comical and reckless attitude towards social norms. Although my paramount choice for medium is digital art including portraits, animation, music, and film. Through the process of my film project, McKiller, I engaged in sculpting (a medium foreign to me). This has given me a holistic engagement with various creative outlets. Regardless, as an aspiring minimalist, a strong barrier I am currently in the process of overcoming is diligent and colourful work within the Investigation Workbook.

Untitled (K), mixed media, April 2014

CONJOiiNED, photography, May 2014

Repent, gif, April 2014

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McKiller, film, 5’32�, May 2014

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Flourish/Perish ,photography, September 2013

Float, gif, February 2014

DiiSPOSE, 23"x33", pen and acrylic on paper, February 2015

INVESTIGATION WORKBOOK

WRITTEN COMMENTARY The topics in which my artworks are made are inspired by each country I have visited in the last four years. For my McKiller work, I investigated cultural structures and theology after visiting India’s Ajanta and Ellora caves[p.40]. Alongside this ancient religious site is an artwork comparison[p.48,p.49]. The effective contextualizing and analysis of Ai Weiwei’s Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo and Li Xiaofeng’s The Armored Alligator, through ‘subjective’, ‘structural’, ‘cultural’, and ‘postmodern’ lenses, leads me to fruitful analysis on ancient symbology in a globalized world. These lenses are found throughout my artwork analyses, as it gives a wide range of focus on the artworks. From the concept of deconstructing a religion, my artwork resulted as a dark social commentary on forced cultural diffusion. I discovered in this work that cringeworthy visuals can receive a bittersweet reception, since the audience described it as impressive yet terrifying. A pattern I noticed in my analyses of international artworks was the relationship between an artist to his or her own culture. My analysis and comparison of Stephen Sheffield’s Smoke. Shake. Shame. [p.62] emphasizes the way social commentary can relate directly to the culture they are involved with.

For the purpose of exploring the contemporary arts, my analyses also dip into documentaries[p.43], exhibitions[p.88,p.176], artist visits[p.62,p.72], music[p.37,p.77], and social trends[p.77,p.98]. All of which adhere to influence my creative outlet in practicing con-

temporary art. A notable investigation was through a TEDtalk on impossible photography[p.163], which claims to capture images that one “cannot take with a camera.” This modern approach to creative expression involves an appreciation for planning. I include this technique to my own works such as “CONJOiiNED”[p.171] and Flourish[p.34]; both of which relied predominantly on pre-production planning and less on the photoshoot itself. Along with this, the investigation process for Flourish was influenced by to a range of album art sources[p.37].

I made a clear effort to outline the historical role of this art form, critically deconstruct it and apply it to my own work. Additionally, I demonstrated discrimination through analyzing the aesthetic power[p.34].

An effort to create with reference to a previous artwork is undoubtedly found in the artwork extension, “DiiSPOSE”. The concept is identical to that of “CONJOiiNED”, but is a depiction of the scientific experiment later in time. Furthering my exploration in the concept progressed my practices with other mediums. It had also furthered my efforts in appropriate composition choices [p.215]. With reference to Jason Wright’s postmodern minimalist work, The Stranger [p.204], I comment on the prejudice outsider’s take. The monochromatic background emphasizes empty space. There is an underlying commentary on controversial ‘classified’ operations.

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My investigative strategies also extend to an appropriate exploration of various art movements. For instance, in “Float”, I have looked at the principles of composition [p.87] and its influential role in the entire work. This led me to experimenting with different skills and techniques [p.83,p.84] for this unit of work. I tested animation by making GIFs, and discovered that borrowed elements are less practical for creating rather than making your own. The setting in which the character was placed was less believable for the audience, but nevertheless portrays the idea of religious confinement. To broaden my practice with different mediums, I also applied skills and techniques to Float, where my surreal geometry artist influences including Amy Alice Thompson’s See Arizona [p.72] and René Magritte’s The Castle of the Pyrenees [p.84] affected my choices in texture and style. Here, I tested out a variety of three dimensional shapes and mediums until I got my desired hypnotic animation.

Similarly, in They Draw Lines To Contain Me, I experimented with mixed media to: a) find an appropriate representation of the chosen concept; and b) make the artwork as aesthetically detailed and engaging as possible. Testing with painted, drawn and coloured backgrounds [p.181] led me to understand the limits of layering (with transparencies). For this piece, the viewer is encouraged to draw on the art itself. The purpose for this is embedded in the title: classification and containment for the mentally ill (with focus on the insane). This concept then places the audience into an ethical dilemma of whether or not to draw. This experience is intrinsically inspired by my time at Auckland Museum of Art’s exhibition, Light Show [p.176].

A clear development of ideas is also apparent through the process of Untitled (K) [p.102], where, in retrospect, I decided to submit my practice drawing rather than use my anticipated final product. With Japan as my host location in mind, I felt that the practice emphasized the target culture more appropriately; hence my discrimination towards my expected submission. My effort in producing place-based artworks was influenced by French artist Nicolas Buffe’s exhibition at the Hara Gallery of Contemporary Art in Tokyo [p.88]. I found it incredibly clever of him to combine techniques from his own country with others from Japan (where he has been living for seven years). By and large, I was able to gain not only concepts of audience interactivity with an artwork, but also the holistic notion of blending cultural techniques for a postmodernist approach to art.

As a Canadian student traveling around the world, I aim to continue to investigate and reflect upon new cultures and identities.

Whilst developing ideas for McKiller, a social commentary on corporate globalization in India, I was inspired by the Ajanta and Ellora symbols [p.40]. This brought me to appropriate these symbols into my contemporary piece.The symbols I reference (the mind’s eye, pure white, Buddha) [p.46,p.47,p.44] relate directly back to the cultural core values in ancient India. Although my final submission was in video format, I was able to investigate with mediums that range from 3-Dimensional sculpting, pen and painting, and filmmaking [p.44]. I also practiced with pencil and pencil crayons to investigate composition and colour; however, I found pen and paint to be the best option for vibrance.

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MELISSA For me, art is a way to express social commentaries that could ignite a change in society. Being Mexican, my works has developed from my passion for Mexico, and ideas on identity. While most of my conceptual influences are heavily based on culture and political concerns, I am also influenced by artists that work with the same themes. The purpose of the artworks I have created over my IB Visual Arts journey is rooted on my desire to express what I believe should be seen by a greater audience. Due to the nature of the school I attend to and our traveling lifestyle, I had to adapt and manipulate my artworks in order to make them easy to travel with. As I began my artistic journey I wished to express my ideas in a way that I could showcase my artwork to the broadest audience possible. * Since I am traveling around the globe throughout my IB Visual Arts course, some of my works are influenced by the culture I was living in. I began my artistic journey trying photography as a way to tell stories due to it’s easy manipulability and transportability. As I continue to create more art, I was inspired by artistic projects like The Burning House project by Foster Huntington and Toy Stories from Gabriele Galimberti. I started to produce body of work and videos instead of a single frame image because over the development of my ideas, I realized that it requires more than one image to tell a story. For other works, I was inspired by artists like Banksy, Shepard Fairey and JR who also make commentaries on society and culture. Influenced by these artists’ style I also experimented with graffiti style of painting.

Ain, digital photography, September 2013

INVESTIGATION WORKBOOK

WRITTEN COMMENTARY My artwork has developed from my desire to express my ideas revolving on identity and concerns on the society that I grew up in. My interest on politics and the current situation in my country, Mexico, as well as the attachment to my culture has deeply influenced the general contextual themes in my works. In terms of styles I was influenced by graffiti artists like Banksy, Blek le Rat, JR among others. The main purpose of using graffiti as a technique was to illustrate the idea of availability and exposure to a wider audience; many artists have used this medium because it would be more accessible to showcase to a larger audience that is not interested enough to attend to an art gallery or museum.

Moreover, this technique allows artists to place their works where they would have a greater contextual relevance or impact.

The idea to expose art pieces where they would have a greater impact fascinates me because the reason I am interested in art is that it can serve as a tool to make political or social commentaries in an anonymous and creative way. However, since my works are mostly based on issues in Mexico and it is not my residence I am not capable of displaying my artworks where I would want to.

As I mentioned in my comparison between Nicolás Guanini and Blek Le Rat ( page 142) and the analysis of the Obey piece by Shepard Fairey ( page 13) the structural decision and elements chosen in an artwork are crucial to the way that an audience per-

ceives and understands a message. In my art piece, La Culpa; México I chose to have explicit strong images to set the mood of the piece that would follow up with a bold statement similar in style to Fairey’s works. With this work I aim to make the audience question and challenge the perception of blame and fault as well as to realize what the current situation in Mexico is like.

Additionally, some of my other works like Rostros, más que numeros and 22,000+ are also influenced the current situation in Mexico but more specifically on an event that caused great controversy after the world noticed the human right violations that happen in the country. The recent disappearance of 43 students ignited social movements in México and gave me a new purpose to make artwork. As I mention in the process of ideas and development ( page 131) and I further elaborate in my reflection on my work ( page 158) my intention is not only to representative the event but the people directly affected and show my support for the cause. When I begin my investigation process for a work of art I usually think of “What to I want the world to think about?”. As one of my favorite artists and speakers JR said once “Art is not supposed to change the world, to change practical things, but to change perceptions. Art can change the way we see the world. Art can create an analogy.” I want my pieces of art to 72

provoke challenging emotions in the viewer not only satisfaction.

This can be seen in my piece La culpa; México when I chose to include explicit images similar to those that can be found in grotesque art pieces. Additionally, other important other elements I explore with before deciding the final structure of my works are colors and the symbolic connotations they have. For instance, in my work La Frida I chose to use bright colors that Frida Kahlo used in her paintings and other colors that are conventionally used in altars. For the development of this piece, I explored different ways to demonstrate admiration for Frida that would also represent Mexican culture. In order to find an accurate way of display I took for account symbols and symbolic event that are attributed to Mexican culture, this can be seen in the evaluation of the first demonstration of La Frida( page 100).

I find symbols to be an allegory for stereotyping and attributing a set meaning to an object or a person. I find that although the use of symbols is important, many only attribute one meaning to something and then make assumptions later on where the same object is seen. For example, many make assumptions on personality and identity based on items that we use or the vocabulary that we use. For my piece Who are they? , inspired by The burning House Project by Foster Huntington and the project titled T oy Stories by Gabriele Galimberti, my process involved exploring different symbols and ideas that are attributed to our identity. As it is shown in page 115, I chose the elements to represent a person to be their passport, an object and a phrase they often say because different identity factors and characteristics are attributed

to them. The idea of symbolic elements representing someone and their story was explored earlier when I created a photographic portrait to represent the life of a fictional character named Ain as I titled the piece. For this piece I was influenced by photographers like Steve McCurry with his famous photograph Afghan Girl. This piece aimed to represent a strong muslim woman; this piece was inspired by my anthropology class because we were studying about oppressed groups and conflict in India. I chose the medium of representation to be a photograph because it would give more credibility to a fictional story because although is not a real character, it is representing a real situation in India (page 7).

Subjectively, Ain could be interpreted by the viewer with a complete different meaning from the one I intended, however what is important for me is that the piece has a meaning and an impact on the way the audience perceives the world rather than just being an aesthetically pleasing image. Similarly, all my works are intended to awaken an interest for the topic being represented in my pieces.

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ALEJANDRO Movement has become second nature to me in a traveling school. I have lived in nine countries while throughout the IB Visual Arts course; and my fast-paced train of thought has been juxtaposed by my inability to express my thoughts at an equal pace. All of my pieces attempt to respond to current global phenomena.

From the lack of an atheist ‘meditative’ space in the 21st Century, to the perplexities of living in a country where your mother tongue is not spoken –in my case for one of my works made in Japan.

From my first IB Visual Arts class in Hyderabad, India, to my fourth trimester in Auckland, New Zealand, my explorations with media have been extensive, yet purposefully limited for mobility. My dynamic, itinerant reality led me to appropriate and utilize the bases of Japanese purist aesthetics to the majority of my work.

Therefore, I decided to find relevant topics, and strip them to their essential essence in order to present the honest work. No matter if the message of the work is introspective or didactic, honesty is the only input that I attempt to maintain consistent in my body of work.

Deliberate appropriation and sensorial inspiration are external factors that have influenced my work during these two past years. Writings by Alain de Botton, minimalistic design by Donald Judd and John Pawson, as well as music by Nicolas Jaar and Brian Eno have aided in my engagement with unique modes of thought for the process and production of my six works. However, physical environments and seemingly trivial influences such as Indian desserts, Aikido commands in Japanese, and Tanzanian smiles have been essential stimuli for my creative outlets.

Sin Verde, Watercolor, pencil, and acrylics, February, 2015

On Misunders Tanding, Found object, watercolor, 2013

Enuf, Ball point pen on Cartridge paper, 2013

Que Usted Mande Patron, Watercolor and Pen, 2013

Queen Nancy & Edwin Montgomery (detail2), Digital Photography, 2013

INVESTIGATION WORKBOOK

WRITTEN COMMENTARY I have compared and analyzed (p.67) art from different cultures and time periods by observing A-Chair 510 (2006) by Tada Ando and Chair with Shelf (1989) by Donald Judd for On Space, a study on minimalism and architecture. For this work I also analyzed (p. 64) Moritzkirche (2008-2013), the recent restoration of St. Moritz Church in Augsburg, Germany by the British architect John Pawson. This analysis provided further knowledge on the current minimalist movement, a style that appears repeatedly in my work. Consequently, I visited the Gow Langsford Gallery (p. 68) in Auckland, New Zealand and found inspiration from canonical works such as Yves Klein’s Table Bleu (1961).

Likewise, I analyzed Kara Walker’s silhouette portrait “Untitled” (1998) (p. 80) to broaden my understanding of the cutout silhouette for Lo que usted mande patron, a portrait series depicting students and staff from my high school.

Involvement with techniques and skills to create Nokonomiyaki –a series of watercolor portraits– is shown in my Skills & Techniques page (p. 86) displaying experimentation with a variety of media such as black pen, watercolors, and charcoal. Whereas, processes for work completion are shown on the Composition page (p.72) for my No Hay Verde work. On these pages I deliberately display the steps I took to finalize my concepts by presenting alternatives and altering past drafts. In addition, the Skills

page (p. 71) for No Hay Verde provides five distinct trials with different techniques to illustrate the subject on the work and the reasoning behind the selection of black acrylic for the final piece.

For Queen Nancy and Edwin Montgomery I had to investigate portraiture (p. 77, p.78) as a genre for photography and painting.

These readings and historical studies gave me the ability to work comfortably as a studio photographer with a clear visual objective. Likewise, I thoroughly investigated the concept of a fanzine (p. 82) for Enuf by reading punk fanzines in Auckland, New Zealand and a variety of Internet sources such as the British Library’s website on ‘Do It Yourself.’ On p. 82 I also investigated protest art and personal influences like New Light, a humanitarian movement in Kolkata, India working to protect children of prostitutes. On that note, I analyzed La Suerte’s La Llucha (2013) (p. 83) work on nudity and femininity to discover takes on nudity other than realism.

In order to process the metaphysical concept of environmental degradation in my home-country Ecuador and convert it into a visual piece I had to write down my ideas and translate them into illustrations. Ideas Development (p. 70) for No Hay Verde depicts the reasoning behind the implementation of a patterned

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background with Amazonian flora and a Caucasian man being the protagonist, drawn in organic lines and contrasting colors.

On Space gave me the opportunity to draft a variety of blueprint trials for my Ideas Development (p.49, p.50), mimicking an architect’s studio-work. By copying church blueprints and industrial designers’ sketches I was able to give a sense of professionalism to my architecture-based work.

79). Freud’s work served as a basis for Lo que usted mande patron conceptually and for Nokonomiyaki in terms of composition and style.

The variety of materials used in my work is influenced by the accuracy they provided to communicate the visual concept I intended to represent. For instance, for On Misunders Tanding the use of black ink on found paper (p. 86) provided both cultural context and detail. The found paper on which the portraits were painted was taken from an old Japanese book in order to symbolize the origins of the people on the paintings and my lack of understanding of the Japanese language while living in that country.

While traveling often, I also drew inspiration for On Misunders Tanding from visits to Luis Niveiro’s studio (p. 81) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In this house-studio I had the opportunity to presence the use of foreign newspapers as backgrounds for ink illustrations and decided to incorporate written backdrops into my own work.

My everlasting fascination with contrasts in all senses of the word is shown in Lo que usted mande patron, where I exposed how portraiture used to be an art form solely for members of the European upper class in western societies and I decided to transform it into an affordable art work. To further my understanding on portraiture, I analyzed Lucian Freud’s Reflections (1985) (p.

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JULIA “The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere”, explains Paul Strand*. I’ve never lived in the same place for more than a year. Exposed to many cultures, I’ve come to recognize that art is limitless and serves more as a reflection of humanity from centuries long past to days which have yet to come. Inspired by this, my themes focus from how cultural identities constrain us and I express how we may “free” ourselves to environmental issues to concepts of the absolute. Exploring different peoples and circumstances in both my home countries (United States and Brazil) and in foreign ones, my learning has been an ongoing process of blossoming ideas. Consequently, my work is versatile. From acrylics, and pastels to digital sketching software, I made sure to never set limits to my work despite the need to keep it portable through my travels. First, I began using digital software, which I enjoyed and felt that I had more control over the colors produced.

However, this was a hurdle that needed to be overcome. Experimenting with different mediums like acrylics, pastels, penmanship and rollers introduced me to countless techniques like chiaroscuro and scribbling. My portrait paintings were inspired by Caravaggio (Italy 1573-1610), where darkness of tone and light intensified the image’s mood. Considering these different perspectives, the evolution of my pen drawings explored patterns and abstract strokes which compositely formed the faces.

Approaching the end of this course I feel that I have recognized the enormous diversity of artistic intentions, techniques, and cultures and I’ve learnt how to express that in my work. However, for as long as I have been creating art, I am still struggling to connect it all. Then again, I’m coming to realize that this unknowingness is key to my exploration and artistic endeavors. * "Paul Strand Quotes." Thinkexist.com. ThinkExist, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

Release, Digital Painting 2468 pixels January 2014

Dante in Black, Acrylic on paper, April 2014

Moana, digital painting, 1280 pixels, Dec 2014

Coding Women (detail 01), pen on paper, 18 cm x 18 cm, 30 cm x 35 cm, January 2015

Coding Women (detail 02), pen on paper, 18 cm x 18 cm, 30 cm x 35 cm, January 2015

INVESTIGATION WORKBOOK

WRITTEN COMMENTARY For Release, I explored artistic criticisms of stereotypes with Georgia O’Keeffe’s Cow’s Skull: Red, White and Blue (1931).

While analyzing O’Keeffe’s visual representation of the American stereotype, I searched to expand this symbolism. Not wanting to limit my theme to mainstream nationalities, I have organized a generic stereotype through the cow skull [p22, p23]. Provoking the concept of social restraints, I have discovered that natural phenomenon like nebulas portray depth and attracts the audience to understand the greater meaning of rebirth. * Upon analyzing and comparing different artists, I deconstruct thoroughly and analyze each artist and their ‘themes’, ‘techniques’, ‘subjective’, ‘structural’, and significance while selecting its relevance for my work. This allowed me to organize my analysis into different focuses. In the Hayao Miyazaki analysis [p39], I have used this framework in understanding the artist’s inspiration and its relationship to the audience. Then analyzing the elements of his work and the context and underlying cultural connection between the artist, his Japanese culture, and the world. * To broaden sources of inspiration for my art, I have watched films [p42, p132, p135], visited exhibitions [p129, p148], viewed online sources [p22, p56, p57, p35, p70, p69, p125, p132, p141], and taken first-hand artifacts from my travels [p57, p62,

p125, p140, p143, p145, p149]. These influence me to create meaningful pieces. For example, through the analysis of DreamWorks Animation Studios and Pixar, I discovered the significance and complexity of animation film’s advertisement of posters and stills and the marketing strategies which often are ignored but are essential in our interest towards the film [p135]. I then applied this technique into Making of Moana, where I utilized Sketchbook Pro software that is similar to what animation artists use. I tested out layering, different utensils, and emulated the “Disneyesque” character style until I acquired my desired result that encompasses the idea of a New Zealand’s Maori princess [p138].

I also emulated skills and techniques with charcoal and pencils for character sketching to experience the animator’s process. * A clear development and synthesis of ideas can be seen in A Baleia de Tabatinga, the translation from Portuguese would mean the whale of Tabatinga; which is a beach I lived in Brazil [p39. p40, p41, p42, p45, p47]. My installation is inspired by a migrating whale that found itself in the bay; however, I recognized that this “wild” animal wasn’t really free because of the surrounding fishing boats wanting to see it. This inspiration was developed by my analysis Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001) and Ponyo (2009) and his environmental commentary stimulated my own and directed my focus on the whale. The function and signifi125

cance of my installation is to comment on how animals in the wild are also subjected to the current issue of animal captivity. * Developing ideas and composition can be seen through the pages for Scribbled Man [p35]. First, ideas are roughly developed with the images that I have gathered, creating metaphors by studying and merging modern-hip New Zealand culture to develop an underlying message. Then I analyzed the finished piece and drew conclusions for the final concept. This is evident again through my development of Men Through Darkness, where I attempted to further develop my light and darkness technique into different mediums exploring the essence of chiaroscuro where I attempted to further develop this into a two supplementary drawings [p69, p70]. * My skills, techniques and processes often begin via investigating cultures of where I happen to live. I explore local artists and their techniques and then modify them by applying my own culturally blended perspective. In Coding Women, I visited an art gallery while in San Francisco and analyzed Leg by a local, Adam Plitz [p148]. Then in New Zealand, I have looked at a local fashion magazine, Black [p140, p143, p149]. Being drawn towards the global objectivity of women, I explored different artists who portray this in their work. Brazilian artist, Romero Britto’s use of patterns, lines, shapes, and colors helped me develop my own “artist’s eye”, so I have applied the important elements of pen drawing and composite contouring patterns in my sketches [p141].

* In the Dante in Black series, I’ve looked at a less familiar art form to me: abstract. While in Japan, I was introduced to traditional woodblock painting and artists: Yves Klein and Gerhard Richter. Being drawn towards Klein’s ideas of the absolute through ultramarine [p56], I wanted to find a way to somehow combine woodblock painting and abstracts. After experimentations [p62], I applied Klein’s religious themes with my own knowledge of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy: Inferno [p57] and Richter’s movement into my work where I used a woodblock roller, water and black acrylic paint. Through Yves’s ideas of the absolute, I gave my audience the task of coming up with their own interpretations rather than me providing them. * My two IWBs produced are centered on my investigations where I tried to improve the attention to detail in my artwork.

This is evident in the process and development for Making of Moana [p130, p134, p137], where details of the eyes, facial features, perspectives, tones, and marketing were critically observed upon and improved in the later process. I establish elements of 3D animation that will make the character, Moana, look more “Disneyesque” [p138]. * As an American-Brazilian student studying in different countries each semester, I don’t feel the need to explore the origin of my identity because where I am is sometimes more important than where I’ve been. Throughout the making process for all my investigations, I was exposed to a wide range of sources which were critically analyzed and applied to my work [p42]. I also demonstrated discrimination through evaluating my own ideas [p45, p137,p134, 149]. Furthermore, I reflection upon my 126

process, progress, and where I needed improvement [p35]. The significance of my artwork lies in its shared diversity and development of expressing my life.

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