Artwork: Block Print
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Watchful Eyes Block Print 30cm x 23 cm September 2019 Exhibition Text Watchful Eyes was inspired by my personal experiences with religion, specifically Catholicism, as well as German Expressionism and the fictional podcast "Welcome to Night Vale," written by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink. The piece represents the feeling of being watched and judged by a divine entity, something greater than a human being. The title also comes from that feeling, something I used to experience often. |
PlanningInspiration
My inspiration for this project came from two pieces by Hermann Max Pechstein, "Our father / which art / in heaven from The Lord's Prayer" (1921) and "But deliver us from evil from The Lord's Prayer" (1921). I was also deeply inspired by the angels in the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, which are described in episode 99, Michigan, as having "many eyes" and "many arms." This deviation from the traditional angelic creature fascinates me - they are described as ethereal, genderless beings with strange features. I combined this idea with the religious imagery in Pechstein's work. The last source of inspiration for me was my personal experience with religion as an LGBT person. This often manifested as a feeling being observed and judged by a being greater than myself. |
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Planning Sketches
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The first sketch I created was something like a self-portrait, though with a cartoon style. It's rather messy, but it was meant to represent how I felt personally, which is why it depicts my current self. Above me is an eye with a cross in the iris, which is meant to show the general theme I had the idea for: the feeling of being watched and judged because of religion. I also included crosses around the sketch, just to push the idea that this was about Catholicism. I ended up scrapping this idea simply because it did not feel right for a block print - I believe it would be better suited for a personal digital artwork, rather than my portfolio.
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This was the second sketch I created. I carried over the idea of eyes, though I added many more in an attempt to depict the feeling I used to get often. It was not just being watched, it was every move I made being observed, every part of me felt as though it was being judged by something I did not understand. This feeling, as some point, greatly lowered my self-esteem, which is why I included horns. The figure in this piece is also supposed to be me, but when I was much younger, about 11 or 12. The horns were included because, as a young LGBT child just figuring myself out, I felt as though I was something hated by the religion that was practiced by members of my family. I connected that with the idea of the Devil, and gave myself horns. Instead of a full face, I only drew eyes, which was meant to represent the fact that I barely knew who I was at this point in my life - all I knew was that I was "bad." I didn't use this design because it felt too simple, and almost too "edgy," like I was trying to dramatize the feelings I had during the time.
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This is the last sketch I created. The idea came to me while listening to Welcome to Night Vale again, for the first time in a while. I realized that an angel fit the theme I wanted, and I started drawing this out, though it is rather messy. The angel in the peace is an ethereal being, looking down towards the viewer. It is different from the stereotypical angel, often depicted as a fair-skinned woman. I decided to deviate from that idea and create something that is not exactly human, but still has human-like features. There is a halo behind its head that looks like a sun, and two medium-sized wings. The angel is meant to represent the being that I felt was watching me - I wanted viewers to understand exactly what I felt that creature to be. Unlike the other sketches I made, I took myself completely out of the piece - this is because I felt it better communicated the feeling of judgement to viewers, and because I did not want it to be a portrait-type piece.
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Process
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Experimentation
To the right, I pictured two of the print I made during the inking process. These were experimental, just to see if it would turn out how I wanted it to. After the first one, I went through and cleaned up the block print by carving away the parts I did not want inked, mainly around the face and robes. After that, I tested the print again. It was a lot cleaner, though there were a lot of white spot. This was fixed by washing the block print with soap and water. After I printed it again, I got the result I wanted, cleaned it up a bit, and called it the final piece. |
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While experimenting, I found that certain tools were a lot more useful than others. A curved tool was better at carving out pieces of the print, while flat tools were better for creating fine lines and details. I mostly used the curved tool, however, since I did not have many small details in my piece.
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Process
The first thing I did was cut out my final sketch. Then, I covered the back in graphite, and placed it over the linoleum slab. I traced over the lines I drew so that it would transfer onto the linoleum. After that, I darkened the lines on the linoleum, then began carving. I started with the hands, as I wanted to get some of the smaller details done first - just so I wouldn't mess them up later. Then, I moved on to the robes, the wings, and finally the hands. However, when I was finished, it seemed like there was a lot of empty space. I decided to add some more lines around the figure, so I could give the piece a little more action, even though the figure is static.
After I was satisfied with the carving I did, I started to do some prints. I took photos of the printing process, which will be posted below this section of text. I did a few quick prints, just to make sure I was satisfied with the way they turned out. Unfortunately, I had to do some more carving to make sure some of the smaller details actually showed up on the piece. This did not take long, and the next time I printed, it turned out how I wanted it to. I left the piece to dry, grabbed it the next day, and began to work on my portfolio.
The first thing I did was cut out my final sketch. Then, I covered the back in graphite, and placed it over the linoleum slab. I traced over the lines I drew so that it would transfer onto the linoleum. After that, I darkened the lines on the linoleum, then began carving. I started with the hands, as I wanted to get some of the smaller details done first - just so I wouldn't mess them up later. Then, I moved on to the robes, the wings, and finally the hands. However, when I was finished, it seemed like there was a lot of empty space. I decided to add some more lines around the figure, so I could give the piece a little more action, even though the figure is static.
After I was satisfied with the carving I did, I started to do some prints. I took photos of the printing process, which will be posted below this section of text. I did a few quick prints, just to make sure I was satisfied with the way they turned out. Unfortunately, I had to do some more carving to make sure some of the smaller details actually showed up on the piece. This did not take long, and the next time I printed, it turned out how I wanted it to. I left the piece to dry, grabbed it the next day, and began to work on my portfolio.
Reflection
I'm pretty much satisfied with how this turned out, though I do think it could have been better. If I had taken more time to focus on details like the eyes, it would have turned out a lot better. I'm going to keep in mind for future projects that I have to take my time on detailing. Overall, however, nothing major went wrong during the project. A few mistakes were made, but those could not have been prevented. I am a pretty shaky person, so my hands slipped a few times and I scraped away parts that I did not want carved out. I think the biggest thing I could have done was added more details to the figure - I went for a pretty simple approach, but I realized after finishing that it would have looked better with more detail.
My inspiration came mostly from the German Expressionism studies I did last year in my art history class, but I did not remember much about Max Pechstein, so I had to do a lot of research on him. I found that he was also a painter, and did not exclusively do woodcuts. After learning this, and looking at some of his paintings, I've decided to keep him in the back of my mind for future works - I may use him as an inspiration again.
My inspiration came mostly from the German Expressionism studies I did last year in my art history class, but I did not remember much about Max Pechstein, so I had to do a lot of research on him. I found that he was also a painter, and did not exclusively do woodcuts. After learning this, and looking at some of his paintings, I've decided to keep him in the back of my mind for future works - I may use him as an inspiration again.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
Both of my inspirations include religious imagery, and Pechstein's work includes sharp, disproportionate lines, which are both included in my piece.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of the research on Pechstein were objective and gave no opinions, simply stating information, and most of the information on the angels from Welcome to Night Vale came from the podcast, which is completely fictional.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come to the conclusion that religious guilt and other negative feelings towards religion are a common and widespread experience among the LGBT community - I came to this conclusion by talking to many members of the community.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research was religion and the experiences of the LGBT community in regards to religion.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference I made while going through my research was that most LGBT people have had a negative experience with religion in regards to their identity and, though this is not a universal experience, many members of the community try to uplift each other when it comes to religious topics.
Both of my inspirations include religious imagery, and Pechstein's work includes sharp, disproportionate lines, which are both included in my piece.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of the research on Pechstein were objective and gave no opinions, simply stating information, and most of the information on the angels from Welcome to Night Vale came from the podcast, which is completely fictional.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have come to the conclusion that religious guilt and other negative feelings towards religion are a common and widespread experience among the LGBT community - I came to this conclusion by talking to many members of the community.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research was religion and the experiences of the LGBT community in regards to religion.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
An inference I made while going through my research was that most LGBT people have had a negative experience with religion in regards to their identity and, though this is not a universal experience, many members of the community try to uplift each other when it comes to religious topics.
Bibliography
Cranor, Jeffrey, and Joseph Fink. “99 - Michigan.” 99 - Michigan, RadioPublic, 30 Nov. 2016, https://radiopublic.com/welcome-to-night-vale-3GZp96/ep/s1!09fdc.
“German Expressionism.” MoMA.org, MoMA, https://www.moma.org/s/ge/collection_ge/artist/artist_id-4533.html.
Human Rights Campaign. “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?” Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality?utm_source=GS&utm_medium=AD&utm_campaign=BPI-HRC-Grant&utm_content=276042048683&utm_term=gay religion&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt5zsBRD8ARIsAJfI4Bh5WBaczUejeknYl-gir7z2V-u3na_aVlWzyDbS6qO2PVTqA9f5JFwaAphTEALw_wcB.
“German Expressionism.” MoMA.org, MoMA, https://www.moma.org/s/ge/collection_ge/artist/artist_id-4533.html.
Human Rights Campaign. “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?” Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality?utm_source=GS&utm_medium=AD&utm_campaign=BPI-HRC-Grant&utm_content=276042048683&utm_term=gay religion&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt5zsBRD8ARIsAJfI4Bh5WBaczUejeknYl-gir7z2V-u3na_aVlWzyDbS6qO2PVTqA9f5JFwaAphTEALw_wcB.