Year 12 Ruby T Art as Alternate Phase 3
IA3 Project — Inquiry phase 3 Art as alternate Inquiry question: How do artists manipulate media to communicate emotions and personal experiences? Context/s: Human emotions and how these change through life. My focus for my final work will be on what emotions I predict I will experience during my transition out of school. It will depict a variety of colours, repetition of shapes, and animal symbolism to further explore and communicate methods of portraying emotions. Media: Canvas, acrylic paints, paint pens, water colour, wire, fishing wire, and coloured perspex.
Contents • Focus — Inquiry phase 1 • Annotated illustration of IA2 resolved work • Resolved work • Artist statement • Resolved work — display • Resolved work — details • Annotated illustration of resolved work • Supporting evidence
Focus — Inquiry phase 1 The focus for my body of work is how identity is communicated through use of media in art. Internal and external aspects of a person’s life influence the development of their identity. Factors include: life experiences, relationships, interests and surrounding environment. Identity as a concept is defined as “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual” (Merriam-Webster 2021). Family and loved ones are often the most significant influencing factor in an individual’s life (Y Studios 2020). Growing up, people reflect back on their family for support and advise, aiding in the establishment of the foundation of identity. Serious romantic relationships can greatly underpin the changes in the concept of self. Relationships bring positive and negative influences having the potential for individuals to gain or lose traits dependent on the new influential person in one’s life (Y Studios 2020). Personal interests and hobbies often reflect how an individual see’s themselves, reflecting core components of their identity (Y Studios 2020). The last key element that influences the evolution of identity is life experiences. Trauma or distress evident at a young age can negatively shape identity, however overcoming the negativity aids in the development of resilience (Y Studios 2020).
Annotated illustration of IA2 resolved work
Copy and paste from IA2. Not for re-assessment.
Resolved work – Inquiry Phase 2
Driving to your identity 12.5 x 9 x 6cm Nuts, bold, washers, crap pieces of metal and copper wire
Resolved work – Inquiry Phase 2
Layers of identity 60 x 80 x 46 cm Card, projected image
Artist statement My work investigates how individual’s emotional journeys can alter one’s identity. Through the manipulation of media incorporating colour, shape and animal symbolism, my artwork communicates the predicted emotional journey I will undergo in my post-schooling transition. My personal love for animals formed the focus of my work centring on animal symbolism. The background colours contrast against the monochromatic shapes symbolising life transitions. A sense of unity is created by the repetition of the shapes and the connection between the partially transparent shapes and birds. The birds are painted in watercolour to appear more transparent and therefore susceptible to background influence on their appearance, similar to how my surroundings will influence the development of my identity. The warm tones and vibrancy of the painting invites the audience to relate with their own emotional journey and ponder how their life experiences have determined their values and outlook on life.
RESOLVED WORK - DISPLAY
Transitions 200cm x 120cm x 60 cm Canvas, acrylic paints, paint pens, water colour, wire, fishing wire, and coloured perspex
RESOLVED WORK - DETAILS Transitions 200cm x 120cm x 60 cm Canvas, acrylic paints, paint pens, water colour, wire, fishing wire, and coloured perspex
ANNOTATED ILLUSTRATION OF RESOLVED WORK Developing: Personal context – a prediction of my emotional post-schooling transition and journey in the following years. The main focus of the painting are the birds, chosen through my personal love for animals and the freedom they represent. Each block of underlying colour symbolises the development of myself from youth and building maturity, to becoming more calm and feeling a sense of stability with my surroundings to finally reaching a state of wholeness and finding a home. The shapes compliment the colour symbolism where spirals represent a change and the beginning of a journey, squares represent solidarity, circles symbolise wholeness and triangles represent home and acceptance. Additionally, the 2D painting in the background and the hanging wire shapes represent time. What is currently hanging in front of the audience and what what lays beyond; the future depicted in the painting.
Reflecting: The use of colour was effective at communicating the changes in emotions, however appeared very overwhelming. Therefore, to recreate the negative space and develop a sense of unity across the canvas, a creamy white was brushed over the background in places where the birds could be highlighted as the focus points. The use use of white paint to cloud the colours beneath communicates the indefinite certainty of these emotions as they are predictions for the future. To create unity across the canvas, additional shapes were painted in watercolour to develop a connection between the birds and shapes. The use of repetition with the shapes also helped to define each section of the painting.
Researching: Tahlia Stanton’s work incorporates bright colours, utilises the contrast between warm and cool tones to highlight shapes and elements in her paintings. Deb Mostert’s work inspired me to explore the creation of unity in paintings through watercolour to depict levels of transparency in paintings.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE – PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
Initial research and experimentation explored colour, animal and geometric shape symbolism which later influenced my artwork ‘Transitions’. The research into a variety of symbolism allowed me to develop an emotional focus for each section of my painting. Utilising a variety of symbols in my painting will challenge the audience to connect each meaning of the symbols and interpret the emotional journey presented before them. Where the warm and cool tones may make them consider the good and bad things in life, the shapes and birds may remind them of times when they felt free or confined. The painting in the background may make the audience consider their past or possible future, while the hanging shapes made of wire in front of the canvas will invite them to consider the present. The alternate approaches of communicating this emotional journey through the variety of materials and processes will make the audience consider all of these personal life events.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE – PRELIMINARY WORK
From the initial exploration in animal, shape and colour symbolism, three main ideas were developed. These experimental works allowed me to determine how I would portray each of these concepts in my final work ‘Transitions’.
It was determined I would complete the background for my final work with acrylic paint, utilising a brush, but allow the texture of the bristles to show. As demonstrated in the work on the left, the use of texture and space was effective at creating contrast between layers. While the birds in the first and third work were drawn over in pen, the use of space and a greater variety of materials in the second work enabled the the birds to contrast against the background more, becoming the focus points. The square markings with the pen were ridged, however the cool acrylic background was more unified, appearing as though each colour easily glided into the next, but the watercolour birds seemed gentle as depicted in warmer transparent tones.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE Deb Mostert’s work ‘Kenya Rufus Sparrow – Protea’ inspired the development of my artwork ‘Transitions’. Mostert’s work depicts a crisp aesthetic with a gentle undertone, and often tries to communicate ”offbeat narratives”. She communicates this through the unified effect watercolour portrays by allowing the colours to flow into each other. Her use of warm and cool tones helps to signify the focal point by contrasting the cool green background of the leaves in ‘Kenya Rufus Sparrow – Protea’ with the warm pink and orange colouring of the bird and flower.
Deb Mostert’s work inspired me to depict my own narrative – my predicted emotional journey in my post-schooling transition utilising birds for symbolism in my artwork.
Deb Mostert, ‘Kenya Rufus Sparrow – Protea’ (left), watercolour, 2016, SOURCE: <https://debmostertartist.com.au/gallery/water colour/>
I explored the use of watercolour to depict eagles and owls to represent wisdom and following the heart. One of my experiments explored the relationship between humans and birds in contrast to Mostert’s depiction of the relationship between plants and birds in ’Kenya Rufus Sparrow – Protea’. Utilising watercolours to depict the birds and create unity in the artwork through the transparent appearance of watercolour and the blending of colours and animal symbolism was continued in my artwork ‘Transitions’.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE Tahlia Stanton is a pop-expressionist painter whose work aims to allow the viewers to relate to her paintings and the people portrayed in them. Her bold utilisation of colours and materials brings liveliness to her work. Drawing inspiration from her surrounding environment, Stanton communicates the journey of each person she paints, highlighting emotions through colour and the flow and shapes made in the portraits.
Tahlia Stanton, ‘Nirvana’ (above), oil and mixed media painting on premium gallery wrapped canvas, 2021, SOURCE: <https://www.tahliastanton.com/gallerycollection/nirvana>
Stanton’s work inspired me to experiment with the use of vibrant warm and cool toned colours to depict an emotional meaning and allow the audience to connect to the work and draw upon their own emotional journeys and experiences.
Stanton’s work ‘Nirvana’ incorporated a variety of colours and materials, depicting different levels of opacity to highlight the figure. This inspired me to experiment with digital manipulation to first view see-through geometric shapes over the canvas. The transparent shapes created a sense of unity across the painting, so I decided to paint them onto my canvas in watercolour.
References Learn Religions: https://www.learnreligions.com/geometric-shapes-4086370 Incredible Art Department. (n.d.). Color Symbolism and Culture. Retrieved from Incredible Art Department: https://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm Mostert, D. (2021). Bio. Retrieved from Deb Mostert: https://debmostertartist.com.au/bio/ Skull Bliss. (2020, November 6). Animals and Their Meanings. Retrieved from Skull Bliss: https://skullbliss.com/blogs/news/animal-symbolism Stanton, T. (n.d.). About the Artist. Retrieved from Tahlia Stanton: https://www.tahliastanton.com/abouttheartist