The first critique with Josie Mai went really well. I got a lot of positive feedback on my concept. She made a suggestion that I should hang the series on a calm horizontal line, any other way would distract from the pieces. She asked about when I envision completing this series. Originally my response was to complete it by the end of the semester; as this series has become quite complex, it is very important that I don't rush through it. I also feel that through working on this project, I will be coming up with a lot of other projects as I am incorporating a large variety of techniques.
As my group did not meet with Jamie Oliver during the critique, I met with him one-on-one for his input. He responded well and with a lot of great things to consider. He recommended researching other shadow box artists such as Joseph Cornell. With Cornell in mind, he brought up how I could go about adding the items within the shadow boxes. Cornell compartmentalized them and had things in boxes and other enclosures, as I have used containers in previous work, this could be incorporated nicely into my series.
As for what I have accomplished since the last critique, I recently met with Portico and explained my project to her. A huge take away from that conversation was how to approach words within the piece as traditional letterpress printing is completed with type. Her take on words in art is that they need a very specific purpose and should not tell the story; they need to be visually appealing as well as create questions from the viewer as any other element in a work of art. I have chosen to use one word only in each of the seven pieces in the series, that word will be descriptive in regards to that work within the entire story of the series. The words I have chosen are from words my siblings used to describe the different parts of the series. Those words are: bittersweet, camaraderie, yearning, savior, enclosure, transition, and assimilation.
I have also decided on the exact dimensions of the 5 shadow boxes and the two mounted pieces. They will all be different except the two mounted ones. I have created my screens for the screen printing element of the series and have begun developing the textile elements. As I am very new to using color in prints, I warmed up with with black as I am comfortable with it and then transitioned into using white on black fabric. This was really exciting and created very dramatic imagery. The plan is to continue to work with one primary color at a time to get an idea of what color works best for what before combining layers of different colors.
ARTIST POST -
I would like to introduce a fellow artist Mattie Parrigon! She is currently visiting nursing homes to listen to the stories of the residents. Through those stories she has been creating a series of drawings with a quote from the person she has interviewed. The simplistic pencil images are quite touching and work very well as a cohesive story. I am extremely excited to learn about the other residents that she has been conversing with. I feel that this project is so meaningful and so kind to give elders a chance to share stories of their lives with someone. Check out her blog to learn more about what she is up to... http://mattieparrigon.blogspot.com/Â
