Students finished their first major theme last week, which involved how artists portray identity in their work. Students were given wide perimeters to create and they took advantage of that using all kinds of materials, even ice! After much planning, playing, and creating, here are some examples of their first finished works:
Ana H.: I took a photograph of myself on the standing by the window, through a reflection of a glassed framed door next to the front door of my house. Giving my photograph the illusion of a fading girl looking out towards the light behind the locked door, as if she has a dream to be in that place behind the door, yet she fading and see-through as if she were to be a locked up ghost. That's why I named it "A Fading Dream". I used photography instead of a drawn picture, because I wanted the illusion of a fading girl to look as realistic as possible, so a photograph would be best to do that. In addition in my photograph, it only presents half of the girl's face, not fully seeing who she is, what she looks like, but showing that she is a girl with a passionate dream.
Virginia D.: I used crayon and pencil to create the hands. At first I used had the skin peach and then I decided to add more depth and dimension to my work by using red, blue, and purple because your skin isn’t just one color. I thought it would be cool to make my face appear on my hands because all of our features are different and that is part of our identity. Then I thought it would make the picture look different and unique if I make hair come out of the fingernails and have a few strands wrap around it. You can use other artist’s work to inspire you or help you when dealing with identity. I think this piece turned out really cool and abstract. And when I first started I never thought it would turn out looking like this.
Clay L.: In my art piece I did print making and it is me doing the three pointer sign. Why I chose to do that for my art is because I like to play basketball so that is kind of symbolizing that I like basketball. I did this with the color green because I am a big Michigan State fan. I had the tint of the green go from darkest to lightest to give my art some detail. I had fun making this art and I think I did petty well on it too.
Alexis W.: by caution tape. I made this because I want to share who I am to the world, but there are things in life that act as caution tape that hold you back. I was very inspired by the artist do ho son, because he uses the theme identity by making many things put together to make a bigger picture, and I feel like I feel like I incorporated this theme in my art. To make this piece I mainly used watercolor. For the background, I painted the background with watercolor and put strips of duct tape over it and painted it black. I then peeled off the duct tape it revealed beautiful lines of color. For the thoughts around the head, I painted my hands, and put them on the paper, which made a beautiful background for the thought, and I then took sharpie and drew things that I had a connection to, and then cut them out and glued them on the paper. I then made the caution tape and painted it yellow. For the head, I purposely drew a straight face with no color to represent how I may look on the outside, but then, the background is beautiful and this represents what is inside of my mind. In my drawing of the face, I used a pen and I made single dots, which made a face when put together. My finished artwork is how I feel about who I am. This is my identity.
Zach F: The art work of my Ice Face shows my identity because Ice sometimes is transparent and thats how I want people to look at me not because of freckles but transparent so people don't not like me or like me because of my looks. I got inspired by Phil Hansen and how he did the frozen wine out of Amy Winehouse because I thought it would be a good idea to create a frozen portrait of me.
Sarah K,: My artwork applies to the theme of identity because I did three images; this one is of a girl shattering like glass, she represents the emotion of sadness. I used watercolor and salt on the background to make a crystalized look, and the glass on the left side of her face shows that she is a fragile person and she is falling apart because of her sadness. My artwork applies to the theme of identity because this is the second image I did, which is of peace and tranquility. She does not have negative emotions and thoughts, so she is growing and thriving, unlike sadness and anger. I chose the earth look because I find earth and nature to be calming and peaceful and I felt that the idea of thriving and growing as a person fit with nature. My artwork fits in with the theme of identity because this image is the emotion of anger. Her anger is burning her alive and causing ash to lift off from her skin. I chose the fire look because i felt that it fit best for the idea of anger and the negative emotion burning her apart.
Nick F.: My materials (pictures) represent my identity and the pictures mean something to me. I made my piece a collage with different parts of the human body and two pictures of me playing sports. The pictures represent my identity because it shows that my brain, heart, and stuff like that is filled with sports. All of my main internal body parts are and are filled with sports. That represents me because I love sports. Sports are my passion and my life. I probably couldn't live without sports. Sports are a main part of my identity. My piece is kind of like that of Frida Kahlo. It's like her work because in her work, she focuses on the concept of personal identity. In this piece, I am focusing on my personal identity. This represents my identity because I'm trying to show that my brain, heart, lungs, etc. are all about sports. Frida Kahlo makes different pieces centered around herself. Usually she's in all of the pieces. The pictures don't show me, but rather my insides.
Kasey L.: Identity is who you are or what make you you. With the different materials I used to create this art piece effected and change the piece dramatically. I used print making to give it a textured look so then it will standout. I used pastels to give the outline of the key hole so then it wouldn't blend in with the back. This art piece represents identity because there are many different keys that are different colors. Then in the key hole the girls represent us and how some all of us are created differently. then you have the lab where she was created. Also there is an eye with clocks hanging down to represent time. Do Ho Suh represents identity by making large sculptures that have people holding up his art pieces. He likes to say we are all in this together and this represents identity because there are many different people but we can all come together. Julian Opie shows identity by making people's faces as simple as he can but they still have their identity.
I am so proud of how hard students worked to push past their potential and really stretch their creative minds to make art worth making. I am equally excited to see what happens as we tackle our next theme: Environment, Space, and Place.
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