MEDIUM: MIXED MEDIA
SIZE: 45CM X 60.96CM
COMPLETED: NOVEMBER 2016
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exhibition textNatural is a piece inspired by Neo-Expressionism and collage art movement. Using acrylic on masonite, as well as barrette clips and hair beads, I wanted the female figure portrayed to represent the natural hair movement seen in African American culture where rocking your natural texture should be prideful rather than make people of color feel ashamed.
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artistic inspiration
While I wasn't completely sure on how I wanted to go about this project when I first started it, I did know that I wanted to incorporate the collage style techniques of Della Wells and David Driskell. Wells, a local Milwaukee artist, uses cut outs, usually from magazines and other resources, to create her images. Her cultural pride and heritage is a common theme seen with her pieces, expressed through storytelling. In her piece "Peggy and Little T", Wells tells the story of a young girl in a colorful environment with details such as a flower, eye portraits, and a chicken. She states that her work often does not express specific motifs, but she does convey her personal folkore with subtle symbols representing the civil rights movement.
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David Driskell is an artist and scholar in the field of African American art. He also utilizes collage techniques in his works to express folkore of his heritage. In his piece "Dancing Angels", he resonates with traditional and ancient African art as well as his personal history. Details, such as the the striped Benin cloth, makes reference to the banded quilts his mother made when he was a child. The angel's face, in which half resembles modern features and half ancient African features, conveys the nature of Driskell's heritage represented in his works.
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process
I first started this piece with a masonite board and covered it with layers of yellow acrylic paint. When I first began this piece, I was not sure one what exactly I wanted to do. While I did have several ideas, I decided to go with adding barrette clips in primary colors as it not only would add to the mixed media component but it would also symbolism natural hair culture.
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Next, I began to add the basic details of the piece including the head shape, eyes, nose, lips. I also began gluing down barrette clips near the head so that it would start resembling her hair shape. With the basic shapes of the features in place, I began to add more dimension by using bold black and white lines.
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Then, I began to add more details to the facial features to make the figure's characteristics more distinguishable. This includes the eyes, nose, lips, and cheekbones. I also continued to add bold black and white lines to further define these shapes. I later added flowers and butterflies in the background of the figure to provide more symbolism and detail.
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reflection
This piece has probably been one of the most spontaneous I have done as well as one of my favorites. It was a spontaneous process because I went with the flow for the entire idea and did not have a set sketch for the entire canvas, including the details, as I went about it. I just started with the central idea of making a piece on natural hair culture, added shapes and details as I went along, and came up with the idea to add old hair barrettes and clips to the piece for more dimension and to add interest. This has been one of my favorite pieces I have done because I feel as if it reflects my personal upbringing spot on. While it was a challenge to complete this project without an exact plan, I am especially happy with the results and hope to create more mixed media and collage projects in the future.
act questions
- I was inspired by the works of Della Wells and David Driskell, in which the techniques and cultural background of her pieces have caused me to make choices in how I completed my piece. For the composition, I was inspired to incorporate their use of figures and mixed media collage techniques.
- The approach Wells and Driskell have regarding the topic of inspiration was to address their origins and the history of African Americans. They both often connect their own personal folkore and storytelling to portray African culture to black America.
- Generalizations and conclusions I have discovered while researching contemporary African American art are the symbols and motifs that can be interpreted through the works. Many contemporary pieces provide details that tell the story and history of African American culture.
- The central theme around my inspirational research was history and storytelling, and how I can include modern symbolism to tell a story.
- Inferences I have made while researching is that with conveying culture through works it is important to include symbolism that has both modern and historical origins, as well as modern and historical interpretations and perspectives.