Greene-ware 2020 Year 12 Alexia S Inquiry Investigation

INQUIRY PHASE 1 How does an audience interpret personal and cultural contexts through diverse application of colour and techniques?

UNIT 3 – ART AS KNOWLEDGE Alexia Stavrou

Art can be expressed through knowledge in a variety of forms. It can visualise experiences and interpretations of an one’s personal interactions and experiences. My investigation is a response to objects and subjective reaction which I observed at the location of Hemmant Quarry Reserve and Cemetery. Initially, my focus was to visualise through the use of photography , my journey. However, while at the quarry, the impact of colour, pattern and surroundings became an inspiration for me to experiment with a variety of pallets both within the studio and out. The surrounding environment greatly inspired me to work with materials that I would not usually use to vary my artistic skills. For my primary and secondary responses, I have explored raw natural materials such as leaves and aspects of photographs taken myself to create multiple interpretations of how these contribute towards a personal and cultural context. I explored how colour and mediums interact with different surfaces in controlled and uncontrolled ways. Two key artists who have inspired me to further investigate the prospects of the interpretation of colour are Brisbane based Samuel Tupou and American artist Shepard Fairey. They each present resolving the interaction of colour into their media to communicate visual aesthetics and meaning.

Samuel Tupou, a Brisbane based artist especially known for his screen-printing, investigates the meaning of culture, and in this particular instance, Polynesian heritage through colour. He incorporates patterns derived from and inspired by , traditional Pacific Island Tapa cloth design. Topou’s work demonstrates the interaction of the human condition associated with the meaning of colour. His work is inspired from mathematical geometry and 80’s video game imagery. He believes that, “looking at how imagery and patterns from our past can morph and adapt, taking on new meaning”, thus expressing the personal context, (Onespace Gallery Brisbane, 2019). This personal context comes into place by consistently using colour photographs from family photo albums to evoke a strong sense of time and place. This further highlights his cultural and personal context. His connection with high-key colour and industrial materials such as silkscreen, assist in bringing together retro and furturistic imagery, patterns and colours , taking into consideration past imaginings of the future from a contemporary perspective (Art Guide Australia, 2019).

Tupou has successfully used the past, cultural and personal perspectives to invite the viewer into conversation with the unusually juxtaposed cultural motifs in each work. Colour segments act as oversized pixels which combine to form a recurring pattern and an overall imagery which is shrouded by pixilation. Samuel Tupou successfully rearranges the photographs of original details and subtleties are removed, leaving the viewer with a series of colour structures. With these series of structures pieced together, designation to the original image creates an optical illusion. His decorative graphic works are portrayed in the artwork Pineapple Princess, (2009) (figure 4). The artwork features a figure in a bright and surreal landscape, presenting the idea that the experience of migrant families, whose new lives are filled with unfamiliarity and sense of foreboding, are disclosed. His objects within the artwork specifically connect to the personal and cultural contexts of migrants entering a country. Composition imagines the way that the pineapple princess perceives her surrounding landscape and cultural system. It is as it seems in that the motorbike helmet presents the world she could belong to an astronaut on another planet, resonating ideas of alienation, (Cybertribe.culture2.org, 2019).

Pineapple Princess, 2009

Tupou’s working processes are experimental and align with my intention to investigate the relationship between colour and culture and how they interact to make an artwork meaningful. Although Tupou has developed numerous artworks containing distinctive aesthetics of colour, elements such as illusion may be difficult to discover. As a result of this, taking the non-literal meaning can be incorporated throughout my experimental works. The exploration of Samuel Tupou’s work has inspired me also to explore the use of colour, techniques and how materials interact with each other in my.

Shepard Fairey is a social activist and one of the major influential figures of graphic art and the street art movement. His interpretation of blurring the boundary between tradition and commercial art throughout the image , enables him to communicate his brand of social critique via prints, stickers, posters and murals in public places. Fairey communicates the personal and cultural contexts of art as, “ not always meant to be decorative or soothing, in fact, it can create uncomfortable conversations and stimulate uncomfortable emotions”. His cultural and personal context are discovered around him, especially in his artwork (Revolution Woman, 2005) where he explores Japanese culture. What is interesting about Fariey’s work is the fact that he carefully employs the connection between activism and humanitarism by using colour as its own context (artnet News, 2019).

Revolution Woman, 2005

One of Fairey’s artworks supporting American identity and values, We the People, 2017, has inspired my own experimental series of works (Figure 5: Fairey S., We the People). His work is often political and provides comment on world leaders, world events, and our meaning in society. He says ,“we the people” posters, are driven by the impulse to provide encouragement to those who feel powerless and defeated. Fairey wanted to communicate that the campaign was about his personal context; seeing ourselves in each other and feeling a connection to one another. His work focuses on incorporating viewers, encouraging them to take a moment and appreciate his message. (Amplifier, 2019). A Muslim woman in the series wearing a US flag hijab , piercingly locks eyes with the viewer. By staring directly in this way, the poster becomes a personal and formidable confrontation (Artsy.net, 2019).

We the People was utilised for Fairey’s humanitarian audience, but the colour in pallets, symbolise influential religious prospects resulting in a monochromatic poster which is equally captivating for subsequent general audiences. Fairey makes use of only two or three colours in much of his work. This gives a connotation to the temple-style images which are brought to the fore by having a simple background colour which usually contrasts. His use of colour inspires me to similarly use colours with a palette related to his, usually closely linked to the colour wheel. His symbols of communicating conceptual messages are frequently used throughout his work whether political or more general, to add associations to the message. His most commonly incorporated symbols are the dove of peace, flags of countries, religious symbols, and simple shapes such as arrows, all employed to reinforce or point out the message in the design. The figures in Fairey’s work are ‘idolised’, or given an air of importance through his use of tone by simply using the posterisation technique.

They take on a statuesque appearance therefore looking more sculptural. This technique therefore, is We the People, 2017

highly effective in drawing attention immediately to the focus of his work. Seeing this series of work, and others by this artist, has challenged me to consider creating a work which could immerse an audience by confining them in an interactive world which combines both colour and assemblage, (Los Angeles Times, 2019).

My experimental research investigates the relationship of techniques, materials and the relationship between colour and symbol. Like Fairey, I have varied my colour pallets to create materials around the studio such as mixed media and mono printing to create personal perceptions of the inner identity within this society.

The experiments have been conducted through a personal and cultural context, guided by my physical reaction and sensation of colour and the relationship of the artist with cultural forces on media. While at Hemmant Quarry, I was able to use the technique of photography to take photos of flowers with diverse colour pallets as well at the cemetery which inspired me to utilise it in my own experimental research. I used monoprinting to firstly incorporate my personal meaning of myself in this environment. I traced thick ink of primary colours, yellow, red and black ink to investigate different tones against different surfaces. I referred back to my personal and cultural context by firstly adapting myself in the environment of where I’m from (figure 1) and the second being my personal context of identity within a complex world, (figure 2). The end result of using this mixed media was a series of different coloured mono-prints, similarly connecting to Fairey’s series of works. I discovered that I was manipulating the mono-printing technique as it was how the colour chose to revert onto the pieces of paper, depicting the way I chose how much pressure to apply. The different types of pressure created many different interpretations of these colours such as fading and gradient shades.

Figure 1 Mixed media with mono-printing

Figure 2 - Mixed media with mono-printing

In my next experiential work, I decided to explore mixed media to communicate the feeling of harmony thus translating the meaning of my culture through diverse applications. To try and visually communicate this notion, I used photos from my mother’s past from when she was a child living in Greece. Other aspects were added such as meaningful photos of Greece’s depression from the past, a difficult time in the country’s history.

I took these photos and connected them to myself through the cultural context similar to Tupou’s and expressed this context using imagery mixed with spray paint. I developed numerous templates which recognised Greece’s struggle from the past such as the sword, the leaf and a lightning bolt mixed with other images which recognised this past regression through other influenced Greek graffiti work on the streets.

These symbols not only indicate the emotional turmoil that they endured but also the wisdom, perspicacity

and erudition throughout the depression that they faced. Both Hemmant Quarry Reserve and Cemetery, when used as stimulus in relation to Topou and Fairey’s artwork, have inspired me to look back on my past, especially memories of my grandmother who introduced me to locals on the island of Kythera and the beautiful colours of the environment such as the olive trees. I put these connecting memories into collage interpretations. The colour was important in similarly using Toupu and Fairey’s tones.

I decided to put these photos into different assortments then spray paint symbols which identified Greece’s struggles. The result of this experiment was a variation of tones signifying a propaganda style, similar to Topou’s and Fariey’s (figure 3).

The context that I am proposing for my resolved artwork, is a highly personal one which I know will reveal some connections from my cultural home in Greece and my personal interpretations of identity. I want my work to be able to be read as both a cultural organisation of colour mixed with a multitude of other materials Figure 3 Mixed media - Propaganda style whilst also telling a deeper story through of illustrative drawings which connect to my homeland. The installation of colour with mixed media will enable audiences to connect to a space of my personal and cultural context. The artists chosen have influenced my subject matter and working methods by demonstrating how their artworks which communicate their experiences through the use of various artistic techniques. I have found that Tupou and Fairey consistently communicate the importance of colour and technique into their works which is something that I will try to emulate.

The focus of the body of work that I produce will consider the relationship between colour and materials between external artistic control, materials and the connection to personal and cultural context. The exploration of Hemmant Quarry Reserve and Quarry Cemetery initiated a strong personal connection for me.

It began as an investigation into how I could communicate to my audiences through the psychological connections and associations that I made with the environment. I intend to create work where resolution is found within the associates of colour. A suggestion of control may be implemented through organised arrangements of patterns within the works. Aligning with the implementation of Tupou’s patterns, which are derived from his cultural experiences, employing minimal materials within a complex conceptual meaning will be used. It is my intention that the instinctive superiority of techniques will become the fundamental subject matter of my work.

Appendices

Figure 1 Experimental work Various media on paper (mono-printing)

Figure 2 Experimental work Various media on paper (mono-printing using materials and sketching)

Figure 3 Experimental Works Various media on paper

Figure 4: Key artist Samual Topou, Pinapple Princess, 2009 Silkscreen on high intesnsity PVC 120cm X 160cm

Figure 5: Key artist Shepard Fairey, We the people, 2017

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Art Guide Australia. (2019). Samuel Tupou — Art Guide Australia. [online] Available at: https://artguide.com.au/samuel-tupou [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019]. artnet News. (2019). Shepard Fairey Releases 'We The People' Series | artnet News. [online] Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/shepard-fairey-releases-wethe-people-series-824468 [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

Artsy.net. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/collection/shepard-faireywe-the-people [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

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Cybertribe.culture2.org. (2019). the other APT. [online] Available at: http://www.cybertribe.culture2.org/theotherapt/samuel.html [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

Los Angeles Times. (2019). Shepard Fairey explains his 'We the People' inauguration protest posters. [online] Available at: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/laet-cm-shepard-fairey-inauguration-20170119-story.html [Accessed 6 Nov. 2019].

Onespace Gallery Brisbane. (2019). Samuel Tupou | Onespace Gallery Brisbane. [online] Available at: http://onespacegallery.com.au/artist/samuel-tupou/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2019].