Lightening Flower Girl

The below piece is one that I have been working on for the last couple weeks. My idea for composition changed many times during the creation. I first started with just the top two panels of canvas doing the lightening. I then decided to add more panels on the bottom because it felt unfinished and I wanted to include a figure. When painting Sonya I ignored depth but kept the shadows to have a surreal tone. She is meant to be one with the lightening, but also a completely different mood as she looks incredibly solemn compared to the action overhead. The flower with the fallen petals sort of hints to the "he loves me, he love me not" girlish game, but the viewer does not know which option the last petal falls under. The piece communicates an eerie ambivalence and will probably be the focal point of my senior show with some of the work that I consider more portrait-like than political or psychologically twisted. 

Body of Work???

For the remainder of the year I have to focus on organizing my plethora of pieces into a cohesive body for the Senior Showcase. I have been trying to find solid concepts that ground a few of my works together. The below is a threesome that all make commentaries on society, and I feel aesthetically show well together. 

I have a few other paintings that I want to finish before the show. The other sets I have thought about are portraits of people and also more introverted subject matter.

Manic Depression

I am keeping the face basically realistic, as has been a familiar theme in my previous work, but am making the lenses of the sunglasses and the background a sort of psychedelic mix of colors with a teal base. The painting will be less of an overt message as some of my other pieces have been and create more of a mood to envelop the viewer. The calm face and the calm colors with a hint of red/yellow feels sort of symbiotic. It could be as if the lenses a metaphor, projecting feelings inward or outward. 

I also get the vibe of someone who suffers from bipolar disorder is phasing from the depression to the manic stage during the time captured in the painting. 

Politics?

Two projects:

1) I have done a black and white acrylic painting of Mariel Hemingway as Tracy from Woody Allen's Manhattan. On the top of the painting I plan to do a transfer in red of the letter Dylan Farrow wrote to the press. This painting is my exploration of the controversy surrounding Woody Allen's personal life (in particular, the unresolved accusation of child molestation of his then-partner Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, Dylan). I am torn while I watch his films as to if I can still appreciate the artistic output regardless of his questionable character. I hope this piece will illustrate the ambivalent feelings of the informed viewer. I find Tracy's character to be a bit of a projection of Dylan, as she was young (though 17 and not 7) and often manipulated by Woody Allen's character. 

2) I am printing out images of famous politicians, mainly presidents, and going to doodle on the surface of the images. Ex: Giving Joe Biden a "Mom" tattoo, or making Hilary and Bill Clinton look like hippies (again). It's just a small little side product reminiscent of graffiti and (youth's) apathy and disgust derived from the hypocritical and often obscene nature of the government elite.

This one is also inspired by my interest in playing with mixed media and other art I have seen altering photographs. Such as adding tattoos onto iconic people.

From: http://designtaxi.com/news/364044/Photoshopped-Images-Of-Famous-People-Covered-In-Beautiful-Faux-Tattoos/

Revision

In the previous post, I talked of my lack of resolve for a particular piece. Below is an updated version of the painting. 

When I first imagined the piece, I wanted some sort of gold symbolism in the background, but the only icon I could think of was the female sign for gender, which I found redundant (as the painting was already of a naked female). So I was at a standstill. But while looking at my entire body of work, I, for some reason, liked the way the above piece looked with a self portrait I picture below. 

In the work immediately above, I started with the version on the left, but was unhappy, so I let it sit, similarly to the painting of the naked girl. It did not convey the sort of flighty depression I wanted, it just looked like some superficial, try-hard fantasy. Some aspects of the painting I still really liked, such as the clouds and the color palette as well as form of the face. So, I first painted over the body then hair more realistically, eliminating the failed lotus and pitiful semi-2D-style hair. I wanted to add another sort of graphic at this point, maybe in ink. I settled on Sharpie (because that was the only medium that would write over the oil paints) and used my old journals to come up with the broken text. This alteration did not bring the piece to perfection, I am still unsettled by the composition, but, overall, I am much happier and less embarrassed because it feels like a more genuine work. 

But back to the original painting discussion of this post, looking at these two paintings together, I decided to add a textual background. When Ms. Slaughter gave me the metallic markers, I planned to use a literary text that was somewhat sexual. As a joke, I told my friend Sonya that I would write a chapter from "50 Shades of Grey." Then I actually did it. I crossed out sort of sexual or emotional words as a hypothetical censorship. And am satisfied with the outcome. 

Hairy

A painting front the first semester that I am not entirely satisfied with is related to the magazine collage I posted about previously.

This image was meant to represent enigmatic sexuality of women. Her eyes are blacked out to void her of her actual personality and being, it even appears to be subtle, as if she is okay to have her identity reside in her outer appearance. Her hair is long, meant to be seemingly infinite as it cascades across her body and off whatever ledge she is sitting on.

I once read a demeaning advice column that recommended wearing your hair down on the first date, because a man is (unconsciously) attracted to healthy hair because it implies fertility. In addition, I was reflecting on the trend of girls posting pictures of themselves on the internet with their hair being the focal point, going down to their hips or laid across their chests suggestively covering their breasts. Although, my model is a bit more elegant than those girls.

I love the color variance in her body. Alas, this is really the only thing I love about my actual execution of the idea.

I feel the background is bland, not simple in an elegant way. The hair lacks that luster I wanted to accomplish and the extension of her hair across her legs (as my friend lovingly pointed out) looks a bit like incredibly long public hair, excuse my bluntness.

Editing

My concentration isn't exactly obvious. I don't like to limit myself to a particular topic, because this seems unnatural, being a teenager, which means "growing up" or at least changing your perception around perpetually.

So, I've just been painting whatever I have felt like. A common strain throughout my work has been having people be the subjects. In some, I experiment with "pop-art" concepts and designs, and in others they seem a bit more philosophical. I'm not really sure if this is the pure true, but it is what I currently perceive. I also find a lot of my art to be a bit satirical, that is they deal with existing, weighty issues, while jointly mocking them.

A piece I finished after break is a self-portrait, in which I am "smoking" a lollypop. I played with the graphics a bit, having my body and hair be generally realistic, with a flat, solid shirt as well as shadow. The smoke that comes from the lollypop is realistic. My pose is reminiscent of the typical "punk pose", leaning against a wall with a cigarette. The lollypop replacement is meant to be somewhat humorous and mocking of this suave look.