Works in Progress 3

I did a little more work in my sketchbook with silhouettes. 

Also decided to tone things back a bit and return to basic gesture drawings for a few pages.  

Meanwhile, I did my first actual screen print today.  Not sure how I feel about it.  I can't say I'm a huge fan, but maybe it's just one step on the way to better things.

 

"Currency"- Thesis Prep Post

"No man is an island" is a fairly well-known cliche, but it is the first thing that came to my mind in considering the matter of the artist as a part of his or her modern day world.  In my opinion, the question is not whether or not any given artist gives off an impression of their "now," but rather, how the "now" manifests in their work.  We are surrounded by our time period and culture, and no matter how boldly a person might proclaim that their work is their own, free and untouched by influences outside of their own brave and brilliant individuality, they will nevertheless be influenced by their context.  
That probably sounds like a given to some people, so then the next matter is what our current times request and inspire in artists today.  On the whole, I would say that our modern day zeitgeist encourages a sort of playful experimentation and openness to possibilities.  Particularly in North America, it could be argued that we are a people unaccustomed and violently opposed to being told something can't be done-- particularly in this age of incredible and rapid technological advancement, which permits so much more to be done.
Regarding my own work, I have to admit, while I'm sure it does reflect the times in some ways, I can't quite pinpoint how.  Perhaps the fact that I feel comfortable maintaining my cartoonish influences while also pursuing some more classical methods of study and artistic development is reflective of the aforementioned atmosphere of experimentation and freedom.  To a large extent, I feel that I won't be able to determine exactly in what ways my work is "current" until time as gone by and I can look at it retrospectively.  In addition, I always feel that in many ways, it is difficult for me to assess my own work, for fear of misinterpreting out of bias, and so it would be difficult to accurately form an answer to the question.  
I suppose the best conclusion I can draw right now is that working in today's environment allows me to feel free to "play" and experiment, however, I won't really have significant perspective on the current world's influence on my artwork until it is no longer current.

"Last Fall"

A friend recently sent me a series of animations made by students in the Animation Workshop school in Denmark.  Some are disturbing, some are clever, and this one in particular is incredibly touching.  Honestly, I don't mind saying that this work had me teary-eyed:

Works in progress 2

I'm still working at the idea of telling a story in an image.  Some playing around brought me to some fun images with silhouettes in ink.

This was the first one-- I tend to return to brush and ink work when I'm frustrated and exhausted.  As a result, this image kind of accidentally happened.

The next couple were just experiments with what I could do with the ink + silhouette idea.  Perhaps it doesn't quite fit the narrative idea I've been going for, but I think these would be a nice concept to work on in my free time.  

"The Idea of the Artist" - Thesis Prep post

"Artist" tends to relate to everything, in my mind.  I can't speak for anyone else, but in my life, I notice that it affects who I am, what I do and how I think.  More than anything else, I've always felt that being an artist means having a certain way of looking at the world.  It's unique and conspicuous, but beyond that, I have to admit it's difficult to put into words.  Moreover, it's something I'm still learning about.

I believe that pursuing a life as an artist means a particular appreciation for the visual aspects of everything around me.  It means attention to little things, and an understanding of what these visual cues (large and small) mean.  It means seeing something meaningful and worthwhile, not just in things that are visually beautiful, but in the aesthetics of anything and everything, if I care to take the time to really look at them. 


So far as I'm able to gather after some time reflecting, the ten most important values I defend as an artist are roughly as follows:

1.  things hold meaning-- I'm not the nihilistic type
2.  Honesty and openness, not putting up pretenses
3.  communication between people
4.  our stories and experiences are what make us
5.  emotional connections are significant
6.  apathy means you're dead
7.  censorship is art's natural enemy
8.  never stop striving to improve, ever
9.  art should illicit an active response
10.  never take yourself too seriously-- you should always be able to laugh at yourself, no matter how world-changing you may think your work is.  Stay humble.

I do believe that these values guide my work to a great extent; they are likely the reason why art with a narrative captures my attention more than any other.  Because of these priorities, I strive to create work that engages and connects to people.
So why should anyone care?  Frankly, I'm not sure, and if they don't care, I can understand that.  I can't expect my priorities to be in line with anyone else's.  Aside from which, I'm young and still in school-- I'm not nearly arrogant enough to think that my values are what everyone else should care about as well.  However, if anyone else does see the value in the same things that I do, or catches a glimpse of it and finds it worthwhile or interesting, that would be extremely gratifying as a way of connecting to someone.

"Thought of You"

This is one of my favorite animated pieces of all time.  There's so much you can choose to read into this, or you can just enjoy a beautiful, simple and touching video about a relationship between two people.

Works in progress 1

Lately I've been working on the idea of telling a story in one image.  

So far I feel like I've only half answered the question here.  I've been drawing from some personal memories and experiences for my subject matter thus far while I get used to the idea of what I'm going at.  We'll see where it goes from here.  Some times my work does it's own thing and I just follow along.

In a screen printing class that I'm taking this semester, I may have accidentally ended up telling a story in a kind of unexpected way.  

The assignment began with creating a kind of imaginary perspective, and then adding some forms that would look like anthropomorphized, gestural figures.  I got a little bit ahead, and given the extra time I found myself with, started messing around and ended up adding actual, literal figures as well.  I really enjoy imagining the relationship between those two people; it looks like I've caught them in the awkward, tense silence right after finishing a serious conversation.