Mixed Media Sculpture
Artwork: Mixed Media Sculpture
Title: Skinnier Doesn't Mean Prettier Size: 12inx10inx8in Medium: Drift wood, 1 inch nails, 3 inch screws, 2 inch screws, Terracotta Air dry clay, Acrylic paint, and Super glue. Completion: 11/23/18 Exhibition TextThis piece represents how bigger women are beautiful too. How even though they have more meat on their bones It doesn't mean that they are any less perfect than someone who starves themselves. I chose to use driftwood because it is washed away overtime and eroded from the movement of water, like how bigger women are constantly judged by society and their confidence breaks down. I also chose wood because it is strong and can withstand a lot of damage and still stand tall, like a strong woman who knows who she is, and knows how beautiful she is no matter her weight or age. I chose to make the face out of clay because its moldable, and without a set mold is hard to get the same shape/result twice, like a person. there are no two people alike, even identical twins have slight differences. Just like a big beautiful woman, there is no one like her. I chose to paint the face of a geisha because of the timeless beauty it represents.
|
Inspiration
Background Information:
Venus of Willendorf is a female figurine found in 1908 at Willendorf, Austria, that is perhaps the most familiar of some 40 small portable human figures (mostly female) that had been found intact or nearly so by the early 21st century. (Roughly 80 more exist as fragments or partial figures.) The statuette—made of oolitic limestone tinted with red ochre pigment—is dated to circa 28,000–25,000 BCE. At 4 3/8 inches (11.1 cm) high. It has been suggested that she is a fertilityfigure, a good-luck totem, a mother goddess symbol, or an aphrodisiac made by men for the appreciation of men. Further, one researcher hypothesized that it was made by a woman and that “[w]hat has been seen as evidence of obesity or adiposity is actually the foreshortening effect of self-inspection.”
Venus of Willendorf is a female figurine found in 1908 at Willendorf, Austria, that is perhaps the most familiar of some 40 small portable human figures (mostly female) that had been found intact or nearly so by the early 21st century. (Roughly 80 more exist as fragments or partial figures.) The statuette—made of oolitic limestone tinted with red ochre pigment—is dated to circa 28,000–25,000 BCE. At 4 3/8 inches (11.1 cm) high. It has been suggested that she is a fertilityfigure, a good-luck totem, a mother goddess symbol, or an aphrodisiac made by men for the appreciation of men. Further, one researcher hypothesized that it was made by a woman and that “[w]hat has been seen as evidence of obesity or adiposity is actually the foreshortening effect of self-inspection.”
Planning
I planned out the structure of the face before the geisha paint would be added. However I did not take into account the difficulty of making a smooth texture with air dry terracotta.
|
I had to sketch out the forms of a bigger woman to understand where to lay the wood, and I used a sketch of a skinny woman in contrast to the bigger woman.
|
I sketched out some possible poses, I wanted to emphasis a sensual pose to show bigger women are sexy too.
|
I drew a side view of a woman with more meat on her bones to see how a side pose would look on the sculpture, In the end I thought the front view was more striking to the viewer. I also wrote out that I wanted a classically beautiful face like a Geisha.
|
Handwritten pages:
Process/Technique/Experimentation
I went to south shore park and I collected driftwood for my piece, I filled a whole shopping bag full of it, so I would be sure to get enough pieces with enough variety to be able to create my piece. When I went these Asian beetles that looked like lady bugs were all over everything which originally gave me the inspiration of the face of a beautiful Geisha.
|
I laid out all of my pieces of wood and started to assemble my piece with 3inch screws for the main areas of support. I then added layers on top of that with 2 inch screws and 1 inch nails.
|
I then began to construct the arms and head. The arms I constructed separately and then secured them to the body with 3 inch screws. I then placed a half circle shaped piece of wood on the chest and with the smoothing tool faintly drew breasts with the smoothing tool on the screw driver.
|
I found a foot shaped piece of wood and with a small saw I cut out toes, and with the smoothing tool, I drew wrinkles into the foot to create a more realistic look. I then attached it to the leg that was showing. I did the same for the hands.
|
This is the smoothing tool that I put on the screw driver approximately 1cm long and made of a hard sand paper material.
|
I painted the air dry terracotta clay with acrylic paint. after the paint was dry I really liked the old texture the cracks gave the piece. Like an old weathered look. I used Harvest Moon, after the poem by Minamoto no Saneakira by Suzuki Harunobu as reference for recreating a Geisha face. The piece shows a classical Japanese look, and I exaggerated it with red lipstick to add a more regal look.
|
Compare and Contrast
My Piece shows elements that are similar to my inspiration pieces, Like the classical Japanese face shown in Harvest Moon, after the poem by Minamoto no Saneakira by Suzuki Harunobu and the emphasis of a plumper woman being beautiful along with the heavier woman figure shown in Venus of Willendorf by unknown. However my piece is mixed media where none of my Inspiration pieces are.
|
Venus of Willendorf
by unknown |
Harvest Moon, after the poem by Minamoto no Saneakira
by Suzuki Harunobu |
Reflection
This piece is made of drift wood, Terracotta air dry clay, screws, nails, acrylic paint, and super glue. It is all coming together to address the Idea of Just because someone is skinnier than you it doesn't mean they are prettier than you, and nothing anyone says to you about you appearance matters more than your own perception of yourself. I feel Like this project went relatively well, and I learned a lot about myself and about what kind of artist I want to be. I learned a lot of valuable lessons on how to approach nailing in a nail with a hammer, as I hit my fingers more times than I would like to admit. Some things that could improve if I were to ever create another mixed media piece, it would be planning out the size of the piece better. I initially intended this piece to be bigger than it ended up, but once I started laying down the base pieces it became apparent that I needed to plan it out better next time. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of my piece and I am proud of the message that I am conveying. When my project was last critiqued I was told to tone down the brass colors in the piece, because they disliked the brass to wood contrast between the screws and wood, however I quite liked it, so I decided to keep it.
Act Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I knew That I wanted to convey the message that just because you're skinnier it doesn't mean you're prettier, and I found pieces that I thought conveyed that same message and also focused on the beauty of women.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I looked for pieces that spoke to me and showed the same message that I wanted to show in my mixed media piece.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I learned about the beauty ideals of classical Japanese culture, and the beauty ideals/ goddess like persona of 28,000–25,000 BCE.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
My central idea or theme was to find other pieces that showed natural beauty of a woman no matter the shape or size.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
while looking through my research I learned different Beauty ideals for two different cultures. I learned beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and an artist creates/portrays beauty with his or her own culture, traditions, and ideals in mind.
I knew That I wanted to convey the message that just because you're skinnier it doesn't mean you're prettier, and I found pieces that I thought conveyed that same message and also focused on the beauty of women.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I looked for pieces that spoke to me and showed the same message that I wanted to show in my mixed media piece.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I learned about the beauty ideals of classical Japanese culture, and the beauty ideals/ goddess like persona of 28,000–25,000 BCE.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
My central idea or theme was to find other pieces that showed natural beauty of a woman no matter the shape or size.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
while looking through my research I learned different Beauty ideals for two different cultures. I learned beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and an artist creates/portrays beauty with his or her own culture, traditions, and ideals in mind.
Bibliography
"Harvest Moon, After the Poem by Minamoto No Saneakira, Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770)." Allure, allure.honolulumuseum.org/?p=193.
Kuiper, Kathleen. “Venus of Willendorf.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 July 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Venus-of-Willendorf.