Off Campus Event – The High Museum (11/26/14)

A few days ago, I visited the High Museum of Art in Midtown. It was my second time going and my friends and I had a blast. One thing that struck me upon entering was the architecture of the museum itself. The outside of the building has a very modern look and the inside is full of many compartments that serve as tiny galleries. I enjoyed walking around and exploring the different exhibits and showcases. One of my favorite exhibits is a temporary one and is called Segregation Story by Gordon Parks. The exhibit includes nearly forty color photos that offer a powerful look at the daily life and struggles of a multigenerational family living in segregated Alabama. Another one of my favorite works is also a temporary one and is called Bangles to Benches by various contemporary designers. The exhibit includes various jewelry and objects made from contemporary materials. During my visit to the High, I was able to spot in the art pieces some of the techniques discussed and used in class. Seeing how intricate and detailed each of the pieces were humbled me as a novice artist and made me appreciative of all the time and energy that went into creating them.

On Campus Event: Sheila Pree Bright (11/26/14)

    

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture by Sheila Pree Bright in the Dana gallery where her most recent project is being showcased. Sheila is a popular photographer and cultural anthropologist who is best known for her thought provoking depictions of culture. She mentioned in the lecture her deep fascination with culture and how she constantly finds herself analyzing, questioning, and seeking to capture it’s beauty. She also discussed several of previous projects and one of favorites was Plastic Bodies. This particular project focuses on our growing fascination as a society with becoming plastic. It’s really cool because she takes the plastic perfection of barbie dolls and place them against the sharp contrast of natural beauty. Her most recent project called Our America is showcased at Agnes and explores the idea of what it means to be American. The sitters expressed their perspectives in a statement and posed in their chosen stance with the American flag. I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture and learning about the brilliant artist that is Sheila Pree Bright. I could relate her artistic process of working with different mediums to the kinds of work we have been doing in class all semester.

Post #7 (11/19/14)

For my antonym project, I was assigned the words inadequate and fine. The overall assignment was very challenging for me as I found myself struggled to work through the many different steps. It was easy to get caught up in thinking about the final product instead of focusing on the process of creating my piece. I took the two words, made a word web for each, created as many thumbnail ideas as possible for each, selected the best thumbnail for each word, and finally took two photos that complimented the words I was given and the thumbnails I had chosen. I chose to work with ink and a paintbrush to capture the incomplete essence of inadequate. I settled on an image that closely resembled an almost perfect circle. The circle is open by two opposing brushstrokes that appear frayed yet reaching for each other. I chose to work with pencil to capture the care free  essence of fine. I settled on an image that closely resembles a rolling line. The line is thin and light and appears to run off the page. I then paired my final thumbnails with pictures that I believe blended both the abstract and literal meaning of the words. I chose a picture of a quiz grade one point from an A for inadequate and a picture of individual strands of hair shining in the light for fine. The mounting process was tedious but turned out to be my favorite part of the assignment because it gave me a greater appreciation for the time and effort that went into creating my piece. From this assignment, I learned the importance of not rushing the creative experience when making art.