Happy Birthday Baby Brother

"Baby: Study"

Today is my brother's first birthday! He is the baby of the family, so naturally, he is doted on. This post is a tribute to him. 

Last spring, I used him as a model for one of my projects (pictured below) for AP Art. This project was one of the most detailed ones I have ever done. There is much story that can be found in this piece, and I think it mostly speaks for itself. It brings up the issue of teenage pregnancy and communicates in relation to my portfolio concentration, which was Modern Inconvenience. I think the more teen pregnancy has become normative, the more normative it has become for society to have disjointed families. This may be an obvious consequence, but young people seem to think they are immune to consequences. They ought to think.

"Children Having Children"

-M

Analog from the Archives

Photograms

Digitally Inverted Pinhole

Pinhole

These photos are little treasures worth displaying from the archives. I think the photos have an industrial personality with a soft heart. They remind me of xrays. I made them about a year or so ago and developed them myself. I'm not particularly well versed in analog film and development, but I'm not a complete novice either. This year hasn't been a great one for photography since my AP drawing portfolio (and school, family, hygene, etc.) has eaten up my time. Photography is a medium that is more time consuming than one may think. 

I've got a roll of film in my Canon Olymic that I just finished shooting. And you may ask, why shoot analog at all? While digital may be easier, it's still a hassle. Analog feels like writing with an inky black pen. Certainty flows from fiddling with the irreversible. Also, its just more fun. Playing the waiting game just make the results all the more rewarding. 

-M

Let Justice Roll Down

"Let Justice Roll Down"

I realize it's been a month since this blog has been updated. Man, has it been a busy month. From AP Art to school to family and holidays to whatever else, I have been trying to juggle it all. My heart longs for time off and for a summer that might give me a break. Then again, there is something sweet about having much to do. I guess I'm just wanting a change in routine and new thoughts in my head. 

My school is currently abuzz due to the art show this tuesday. I'm in a class called Independent Art, so I get a whole table of my own. The night is dedicated to all of the arts so there will also be live music and drama performances. Afterwards, I will try to swing by another school's art show if I have time, since it happens to be on the same night. Tuesday will be great.

A month from now is the deadline to turn in my AP portfolio. I am pleased to say that I am finished with it. Finished! Well, I still have a few details to take care of, but I'm not counting that. The art making process is over. Relief, relief, oh such sweet relief.

The piece above is the last concentration piece (I think). Lot's of different mediums show up in this one; eggshell, foil, book pages, graphite, ink, charcoal.  At first glance, the meaning may not be clear, so I'll give a whack at explaining. I named it "Let Justice Roll Down" to call attention to the justice we need in a racially divided society. The world we are greedily tugging at and shaping is falling apart. We are all pointing fingers and balling our fists. And for what? Can't America get past that slavery is over? Can't we all just accept that humans have no say about what skin they are to inhabit when they are gifted to the earth? Yet we keep our deep seated hatred and bitterness. We are offered a solution. We can love each other. Though love may not have answers to all of our questions, it will help us heal and make us stronger. 

-M

The Order of Triangles

"Fractured Thought"

"Lovely Ladies"

Hurrah for spring and hurrah for spring break! I wake to a glorious morning (uh, afternoon) that makes me throw open my window and break open my portfolio. All year have I been adding work after work to this portfolio. Never have I taken the time to go through it all. Life has been so busy and I have been caught in the web of it. 

So as I was digging through my portfolio I found a few pieces I have nearly forgotten about. The pieces featured in this post are pieces that have been a bit underappreciated. They aren't prizewinners, but I love them. They were made about two years apart, but they belong to each other the way cousins do. Triangles are a quiet obsession of mine. They seem to evoke a feeling of order, importance and clarity. I love using them in my work, but it doesn't happen often. 

I plan to do lots of art during Spring break, including some commission work with an urban theme. I'll post something about its progress later next week. 

-M

Printmaking

"Boardwalk"

"Sans Vase"

"Textures"

Sometimes I forget how easy art should be. Fundamentally, it's color on paper - or canvas, etc. That's it. I say "should be" because I'm always one to overthink art. A planner at heart, I've had to work at being a better improviser. Printmaking is a medium that is pretty mindless and involves lots of improv. It's wonderful because you can use flat-ish objects from anywhere, apply ink, and transfer its impression to paper with the help of some pressure - and viola! It's art. 

"Boardwalk" is a lithograph made with storyboard, and it won silver in Scholastic this year. I'm quite fond of its absurdity. "Sans Vase" and "Textures" were born on the same day. They were made with plantlife snagged from the university gardens across the street from the school I take after school art lessons with. My art teacher assured me the plants would not be missed, and given that she is on good terms with the gardeners, I don't have qualms about it. 

This spring, I plan to utilize the flora and give printmaking another go. Although I am lacking a printing press, I'm going to test how a car would work. After all, its the amount of pressure that counts, right? Until then, I am quite busy with making portfolio pieces in order to make the AP Art deadline. Time is short, but I'm determined to make it.

-M

What is Beauty?

"Starving Beauty"

Not long ago, I clicked a link that led me to an article about the different concepts of female beauty, showing how they changed over time. The ancient Greek women desired the plumper, hourglass shape. The Egyptians valued the angular and slim. The Victorian women could not resist those unnaturally small, corset bound waists. It doesn't take a genius to notice that today's concept of beauty craves skin showing every curvature of bone. Only the hungry are beautiful, it seems like.

Like any teenage girl, I have compared myself and seen myself fall short of this modern standard. But then I think, who makes this stuff up? Who was it that first thought femininity could be best expressed by showing off protruding collar bones? My best guess is it wasn't just one person but many. It is sad to think of all the girls trying to mold themselves to meet this awful standard. Think of how much cases of depression and how many broken self-images could have been spared had the standard been only three dress sizes bigger. I guess what I'm trying to say is, "beauty" is a concept that was given to you. You did not make it. Making yourself fit the concept of beauty you have may be a painful progress. It is bogus that we cannot all be content with our bodies. 

-M

Prizes

"Childhood"

(Scholastic Regional Gold Key)

"Destination Sunset"

(Scholastic Regional Gold Key)

As a kid in elementary, I would only ever spend one sitting on a drawing. By that I mean I would churn out all my energy to work on one drawing while I sat hunched over my little desk in my room, furiously scrubbing the paper with markers, colored pencils or whatever medium at hand. It was exhilarating to make something; to bring to life something that had never existed before. But it was also a half-hopeless struggle. Running up to adults to seek approval, I knew that what I had made fell far from perfection, but I wanted recognition for the hard work. 

I suppose everyone still wants recognition for something, but everyone is quieter about it now. We all seem to wait for people to come up to us and congratulate us for being such wonderful humans. That never happens. 

To a certain extent, we still have to ask for it. This Saturday, I'm going to a Scholastic Arts and Writing regional awards ceremony because I won a few prizes for some of the pieces I entered. Since I don't plan to be an artist full time after high school, going to art award ceremonies is like playing make believe. I can dress up nice and pretend that I've got a name in art or something, all the while getting handed certificates and pins for making "pretty pictures". It's exhilarating. It's like being a kid all over again. 

-M