A series of photos inspired by the Maldives photos i came across on flickr.
Photos were taken in Australia at one of the beaches ( cant remember which one/:)
Montien Boonma – Baffaloes from the Field to the Town October 5, 2009
Buffaloes from the Field to the Town Montien Boonma 1988
unhusked rice, sacks, straw, horn, stools
Describe the subject matter of the installation, with reference to the symbolism of the materials used
The installation depicts two rice sacks rested on separate stools. One of the rice sacks has a horn attached to one corner, presumably, the horn of a buffalo, while the other rice sack has long swirl structure made up of straw, attached to the top left hand corner of the rice sack. I believe that the artwork tries to convey the hard work and labour that goes into producing food for the people of the cities. The sacks of rice symbolize the farm produce, the fruits of labour of the people that have to toil day and night. The horns I believe represent the farm animals that are being put to work, particularly the buffaloes. This is because buffaloes are closely related to the harvesting of rice. The straw on the other hand, is another material commonly found in a farm, which I feel again highlights the essence of farm life. The stools however, juxtaposes with the other materials. It looks like a common stool, probably seen almost everywhere, yet it is almost luxury goods in the sense that it symbolizes rest, which contrasts with the other materials that are linked to hard work and labour.
I feel that the artwork is essentially a social comment on the vastly different lifestyles of the rural and the city people. The materials such as rice sacks, unhusk rice, straw and horn all embody the whole idea of hand work and labour. They are the bare essence of a farm, the most commonly found materials. By placing the rice sacks on the chair it is almost ironic, in the sense that a chair is of civilized nature, it allows one to rest and relax, which contrast with the hard work on a farm. This highlights the fact that the rural people, such as farmers are actually the backbone of our society. Their hard work ensures our source of nutrition and nourishment is indispensable. The fact that the straw is tied in a spiral shape shows that it’s a never ending cycle.
Dorothea Lange – Migrant Mother October 5, 2009
Migrant Mother, Nipomo Valley Dorothea Lange 1935
Gelatin Silver Paint
How effectively has the artist used proportion and emphasis in this photograph?
The photographer used proportion and emphasis rather effectively in this photograph. The photo is rather balanced in terms of composition, largely attributed to the presence of the two children by each side of the mother. Strong geometrical shapes and lines permeate the picture, adding a certain dimension and depth. The wooden stick on the right side of the picture helps to balance out the picture. The child on the woman’s lap evens out the distribution of “weight” in the picture, otherwise the right side may seem more cramped than the left. Also, as the women almost one third of the photograph, much emphasis and attention is on the woman. It invites the viewer to notice certain details, such as the wrinkles on her face, and the frayed edges of her clothes, highlight the vulnerability and the suffering of these people in a very subtle way. The woman leaning forward further highlights that she is the main subject matter, as implied in the title of the work “Migrant Mother”.
The photographer also uses parallel lines to emphasis on certain areas. The body posture of the mother, with her elbow propped up, forming a parallel line with the stick on the right, helps to bring out the foreground. Also, as the women’s face is the only that faces the audience it draw’s the viewer’s attention to her face. The dimmed and darker background only adds on to the effect of drawing the foreground forward.
By using a black border to frame the photograph, the stark contrast of the in intense black next to the soft brown grey colour of the photograph makes the work stand out even more.
Flickr October 5, 2009
All hail Flickr.
To be honest, a lot of my inspirations come from the wide variety of photographs on Flikr. It provides a platform for people to share their work that I think that’s a really good concept, learning from one another, exchanging creative views and insights. Whenever I feel like I am faced with a mental block, I would turn to Flikr to get my creative juices flowing. Just the overwhelming amount of professional work pushes me to critique, to think out of the box.
I have been a great great fan of this particular photographer for a long time. I feel that his photographs have a unique ability to incite a sense of tranquil, tempting one to abandon all our work and take some time to just enjoy the few frames of beauty. His pictures of the Maldives is exactly what I envision paradise to be like. It has a surreal, almost ethereal quality to it. I love how the water surface looks so calm, the texture reminds me of velvet, soft and smooth. Looking at his pictures, it is almost as though I can feel the breeze in my hair, taste the saltiness of the water at the tip of my tongue.
His photographs inspired me to explore the different ways of capturing the water surface using acrylic paint
Scott Gustafson October 5, 2009
Scott Gustafson is another artist whose works really caught my eye as I was researching for inspiration for my coursework.
Scott Gustafson’s earliest artistic ambition was to become an animator. But by the time he entered high school, he became acquainted with artists from the “Golden Age of Illustration,” and great illustrators like N.C. Wyeth, Normal Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and Arthur Rackham opened a door onto a world of beautiful images that continue to inspire him to this day.Lingering dreams of making animated films, however, led Scott to major in animation at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. It wasn’t until after leaving art school that the possibility of a career as a freelance illustrator began to truly appeal to him.
His illustrated books include The Night Before Christmas, Peter Pan, Nutcracker, as well as two original titles, Animal Orchestra and Alphabet Soup. His book of Classic Fairy Tales, released in the fall of 2003 by The Greenwich Workshop Press, was awarded a Chesley award for best interior book illustrations from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists.
His works are painfully detailed. The tilt of a head … the gleam of an eye … the subtlety of expression … Scott Gustafson breathes new life in all the famous fairy tale folk he creates or interprets with a vibrant sense of character and movement. He combines real emotions, real expressions, and real movement in fun, fantasy characters. I He plays around with texture, dark and soft edges, and his striking use of light adds drama and depth. His layouts are also rather effective, although complicated, they are not cluttered, thus backing up the gorgeous designs to produce striking, cohesive images with the ability to unite the different elements of the story.
I believe that I have a lot to learn from his paintings, be it watercolour technique, composition, expression of characters. I constantly referred back to his paintings while doing the finals for my coursework. I really like how his brushstrokes are really light, which I felt is rather appropriate, in fact, ideal, when illustrating for fairy-tales. One must be able to bring out the lightheartedness and whimsical quality of fairy-tales. I also tried to pay as much attention to details in my finals, and focused mostly on the expression of the characters and judging from his work, the expression of the character is crucial in bring ‘life’ to the painting/illustration.
Baby Blue October 5, 2009
I accidentally stumbled across this picture on flickr and I just thought it was beautiful. There is just something magical about a child’s eyes. The pure innocence and naivety of a child’s eyes just melts my heart. I really liked how the photographer desaturated the picture, and then reintroduced the blue colour only in the iris of the child’s eyes. I think it further highlights and brings out the emotion in the eyes. I was inspired by this picture to play with colour to accentuate certain features of a photograph. I digitally enhanced one of my photos (taken by me) and played around with different styles. I used both Photoshop and Pinik to increase the saturation of the picture, then selecting areas in which would be black and white to create a start contrast between a vibrant, intense colour and the grayscale background. I felt that the blue colour of the child’s eyes and the deep red of his croc shoes really stand out, thus I wanted to further enhance these colours while muting out the background.
(From left to right)The first one is the original picture. I took it on my birthday whilst at botanical gardens. It is one of my favourite photos that I have ever taken, the child’s expression is just CLASSIC(: [why are you taking my photo!] Plus his blue eyes are really gorgeous, although the photo kind of washed it out. For the first photo, I wanted to bring out his blue eyes so I layer s black and white copy of the picture on top of the original, using Photoshop. I then erased the iris area of black and white photo to allow his blue eyes to shine through. As for the second photo I did similar steps just that this time I also picked out the intense red colour of his croc shoes. However I feel that that might have overpowered the colour of the eyes, bringing the attention to the shoes instead of the eyes. The last photo I edited using Pinik, a free online software, and rendered it the cross-processing effect, which gives it is bluish green tint. In addition, I used the boost function to enhance the colour of his eyes and his shoes.
Woodwould October 4, 2009
This fully illustrated planner book consists of a total of 130 pages.
Of which, 58 pages are undated planning spaces…
(that makes it good for a year and 2 1/2 months)
There are your usual blank and lined pages for jotting, scribbling and doodling. Also, you will be able to find themed pages, like the expenses, places-to-go, addresses-on-the-web and the very useful telephone page.
This caught my eye one day when I was window shopping at one of my favourite shops, Woodwould, a shope which aims to rekindle the passion of penning down everyday thoughts and get people back to the good ol’ days of writing journals and dairies, handwritten letters and handmade cards. The illustrations are actually a compilation of daily scribbles and random doodles found in their old textbooks, lecture/tutorial notes (so much for listening in class hahah). But I really thought it was amazing how little doodles when put together, could create such an amazing piece of art. I was inspired to take on the same ‘street of shops’ style and render it with my own lil twist. I attempted to imitate the whimsical, spontaneous feel from the work but using a simple black pen and normal sketchbook paper. I felt that although I adopted similar subject matter, my style is still quite different from the Woodwould sketchbook. My lines are rather wobbly, exposing my lack of confidence when it comes to using pen. However, I did try to put in more detail, even attempting to draw in the texture of the brick buildings(:
Comparing Joseph Beuy and Montien Boonma October 4, 2009
Discuss the similarities and differences between the works of Joseph Beuy and Montien Boonma. Cite examples for your answer.
Both artists were strongly influenced by religion and faith. In the case of Montien Boonma, it was Buddhism. In Montien Boonma’s Lotus Seed (1992), the installation consists of terracotta bells installed in a curved wall-like formation, above it hangs glided petals of the lotus flower. The lotus flower is an important symbol in Buddhism, representing purity. The lotus flower is also commonly associated with the Buddha’s birthplace, as well as the concept of “enlightenment”. It is considered a holy flower in Buddhism, partially due to its medicinal properties.
Similarly, the works of Joseph Beuy highlights his interest in the spiritual and psychological. This can be seen in his choice of materials. He uses organic materials such as fat to signify chaos and the potential for spiritual transcendence. Fat is used in his works such as Fat Chair (1964), and Fat Corners (1960). Buey constantly emphasizes on the necessity of “inner listening”. He even invented a material “Braunkreuz” that he considers to be a generic medium for sculptural expression. As a term, it is loaded with references to Christianity, and he uses it in a shamanistic, magical way, as an insulator of spiritual forms. Beuy also played with the negative and psychological character of felt. For example, in his piece Inflitration-homogen for grand piano (1966), a piano was wrapped with a felt” skin”, which trapped the sound inside, alluding to powerlessness, the vulnerability of men and an inability to communicate. In contrast, Beuy evokes images of protection, insulation, and spiritual warmth with his Felt Suit (1970). Through the use of symbols and materials of their artworks, one is able to sense the strong influence of religion and spiritual consciousness.
Shia Yih-Yiing October 4, 2009
SHIA YIH-YIING was born in Kuching, Sarawak, and drawn to KL upon winning a scholarship from the Malaysian Institute of Arts. She subsequently gained a Diploma in Fine Arts. Her dedication to be an artist was strengthened through a series of sentimental and symbolic family portraits which won her a fellowship from the Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship in Art & Craft. Her art works is often have a playful quality and are largely metaphorical.
We had the honour of going to view one of her exhibitions, entitled ‘Motherhood Games’ held at the Art Gallery of the National Institute of Education. ‘There was a lot of play going on in the paintings, but little pretense in the life of the artist that had created them.’[1] She remains true to her Asian roots depicting the concept of ‘family’ almost religiously and traditionally, yet at the same time, showing influences from the medieval paintings from Europe, and Rene Magritte’s style and surrealistic themes. The centre of the paintings oscillates between subtle statements, suggestions, allegories of the family and the Malaysian state. Shia implies in many of her paintings that the two are congruous, the concept of state is closely related to the concept of the family. In some paintings, such as the Castle Cake (2007), Mad Tea Party (2007) the political references to the nation-state are stronger. As curator Cecily Cheo puts it, the artists ‘weaves oblique political messages into a visual tapestry rich in fantasy and whimsy’, forming a ‘poetic resistance’.
I especially liked her series of paintings in An Da in Wonderland, 2007 which features her daughter in fairytale like settings, such as having tea with the March Hare and the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. There is something about the simplicity in the language of western childhood story, paired with inventive layering and masking of the truth behind the surface, creating a romantic strategy to deconstruct and rewrite a common history that made it extremely appealing. The artist took these ideas and attempted to make them workable for the space and the time we lived in. Her works had quite a large influence on my coursework. As seen in the paintings such as Mad Tea Party (2007), she uses pattern backgrounds which, to me, appear rather wallpaper like, which adds on to the surreal atmosphere. At the same time, the muted colour palette of the background helps to further bring out the foreground. I attempted to imitate her style in my coursework finals by using symbolic patterns to fill the background. However I chose bolder colours with more contrast which turned out to be rather distracting. Also her works are extremely detailed and realistic, with very smooth brushwork. She also uses very intense but vibrant colours, such as a close to neon pink which I feel accentuates the surrealistic theme of Alice in Wonderland, at the same time bringing out the playfulness and joy essentially present in fairytales. Similarly, I used bright colours – fuchsias, bright oranges and greens – which would most likely attract a child’s attention, to highlight the lighthearted, cherry nature of my work as well as recreate the childlike innocence of Alice in Wonderland.
[1] http://boonscafe.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/motherhood-games-by-shia-yih-yiing/
Comments October 5, 2009
Comment to Jia Fang’s blog:
http://michelleljf.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/final-box/#comment-15
I really like the whole presentation of your polaroids. I think it is rather unique and you gave it a personal touch with the handmade box. It does look like something you cherish and treasure a lot. I also like your choice of colours I think it’s very feminine, very you heehee. Maybe you could have considered making the box look older and give the pictures an ‘aged’ antique feel to extend on the idea of a ‘treasure box’. I just think that by giving it a bit of ‘age’ it kind of shows how you have been keeping and treasuring these memories.
Nevertheless I think you did a really good job(:
Comments on Mabel’s blog:
http://mabelthebimbo.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/coursework-final/
I REALLY LOVE YOUR WHOLE CONCEPT OF A TIMECAPSULE
i think it’s very interesting and unique and the idea of searching for memories of our childhood is really quite intriguing. Plus it is something i believe all of us can relate to. So KUDOS to you for the great concept (: I was just thinking maybe you could have used black duct tape to past down your sketches instead? cause the masking tape makes it look a bit unfinished/:
But i really like the fact that you pasted sketches and personal diary entries it does incite fond memories of my childhood for me(:
GREAT JOB!(:
Comment on Jenny’s blog:
http://bouncingponytail.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/coursework-prep-studies-on-cartoon-characters/#comment-33
Heyhey!
I love the sketches! i think that drawing fabric is actually quite a challenge with all the folds and creases but i feel that you did a really good job. I also like how your inspiration is based on Disney characters i think that is really something that we can all relate to(: and i feel that it’s great that your revamping the classic Disney characters and giving it s modern twist(: although maybe you could have done more details in terms of the texture of the material? also you could have extended on the idea of roses as i think they are really very intrinsically designed it’s quite amazing, Maybe you could have explored the idea of strong geometrical shapes in your designs?
GOOD JOB though i really love the whole concept behind your coursework(:
Comment on Hui Ying’s blog:
http://smallandtiny.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/coursework-final/#comment-23
I think it’s really interesting that your coursework actually addresses a pressing issue present in society today – pollution. I feel that it is really meaningful. And i think the rubbish at the bottom of the pond (?) is very well painted, can tell that you put in alot of effort and paid attention to all the details up to the reflection of the bottle(: i think that the proportion of the child’s face could be worked on though, her nose seems a little weird, like a bit too long/:
BUT YOUR PAINTING SKILLS ARE SUPERB! GOOD JOB!
Comment on Wandong’s blog:
http://iheartapesforever.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/coursework-part-1/#comment-12
I think your photography is really quite amazing. I love the way your frame your photos and explore very unique angles. I especially like the first photo of this set it really looks professional. The composition is complicated, yet it’s not cluttered which makes it very appealing. I think it’s really quite cool how you manage to take everyday objects and make them look so good in photos(: i think the last photo with the hands on the piano looks a bit posed though. maybe you could have taken while someone is really playing the piano so the fingers will look a bit blurry? hahah i know blurred images are not exactly ideal but i thought it might be interesting(:
anyway good job! (: