Artwork: Mixed Media
Citrus Whitefly
Found Object/Mixed Media Sculpture February 2020 25.4 cm Exhibition Text An exploration of beauty, human and environmental, in terms of contrast, and the way those elements create harmony. Entirely found object, using paper scraps, broken items, and natural products such as orange slices, rosemary, cinnamon, juniper berries, and rose petals. |
Inspiration
My inspiration for this piece was not so much style as it was materials. I spent time looking into mixed media sculptures, and I found some that really caught my attention. These were the found object pieces done by Linda Apple, a currently active artist who sells her works online. Normally, she does still life paintings, but I was very interested in her found object pieces. Those pieces features a mixture of natural and unnatural materials, such as a mixture of both clay and tree bark. I found this intriguing, and decided to use a mixture of natural and unnatural materials.
|
Planning
I had several small planning sketches, and a list of materials, but I did this project in a looser manner than most of my other projects. I gave myself a rough outline, the porcelain body with a skirt, a wire pushed into the torso to hold the piece up. I also made a list of the materials I was going to use, including paper, juniper berries, oranges, embroidery floss, and some other materials. I did not plan out how I was going to use certain products to add details to the project - I did it more at random, but I did have some thought behind how I put them all down.
|
Experimentation
In the beginning of this project, I tried to use clay. However, my clay had dried up before I could use it, and was very hard to mold. I decided to use papier-mâche, because I felt it was an easier way to create a skirt that was lightweight, but was still solid enough to hold its shape and allow me to paint on it. I tried o use a variety of items to create the general shape, including a ball of newspaper, but eventually settled on a small LED moon light I had lying around my room. This was the perfect size and shape for what I wanted to create. After that, I experimented with the placement of items by simply laying them on the piece. I also had to experiment with the shape of the wire, before I settled on simply shoving the wire into the porcelain figure torso and gluing the skirt to it. The thing I experimented with the most, however, was my placement of found objects. I did not plan out the finer details such as berries, rose petals, and oranges, so I had to experiment with my placement. One of the things I did that was not a part of my planning was add cinnamon sticks, rosemary, and a piece of quartz, which I felt suited the project and got rid of some negative space. I also decided to put rose petals around the waistline of the torso, as a detail of the skirt itself.
Process
Ignoring all of the changes I had to make, I first created mod podge to use for the papier-mâche. This was just a mix of glue and water, with a bit of added glitter, that I dipped strips of the Shepherd Express newspaper in. I used an LED moon light I own to create the shape, and after I was done with the papier-mâche, I took the light out and began to paint it white. I did this to match the porcelain figure, which was also white. After this, I took a block of wood and put a hole in it, then used wire to create a stand for the project. After creating that stand, I placed the porcelain figure piece on it along with the skirt, and glued the two together. Then, I began to add details, such as embroidery floss, juniper berries, rose petals, rosemary, and cinnamon sticks. I also used dried oranges, which I baked for several hours to get rid of the juice inside of them and assure they would not rot. I used hot glue to hold everything together.
|
Reflection + Compare/Contrast
Overall, I am very happy with how the piece turned out. I feel like a learned quite a bit about mixed media and found object, and I am very glad I did, because it is a medium I enjoy working with. I definitely think that, in comparison to Linda Apple's works, my piece is a lot different in terms of style. I did, however, use a lot of natural products in a similar way, which was what I drew inspiration from in the first place. I think I successfully communicated the idea of beauty, though I am unsure if it comes across as the comparison of human and environmental beauty.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
I used the same kinds of products as Linda Apple, natural objects working alongside man-made objects.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The research is not biased in any way, as it talks only about the differences between natural products and man-made products, and also talks about the process of papier-mâche.
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, while human and natural beauties are different, they can work together in harmony to create something else beautiful,
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspiration research was simply natural beauty, which is very subjective in itself, but I also researched the ways in which Linda Apple combined products to create found object pieces through my own observations.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While I looked into a lot of things typically considered beautiful, my judgement was very much based on my personal idea of what is considered beauty.
I used the same kinds of products as Linda Apple, natural objects working alongside man-made objects.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The research is not biased in any way, as it talks only about the differences between natural products and man-made products, and also talks about the process of papier-mâche.
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, while human and natural beauties are different, they can work together in harmony to create something else beautiful,
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my inspiration research was simply natural beauty, which is very subjective in itself, but I also researched the ways in which Linda Apple combined products to create found object pieces through my own observations.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While I looked into a lot of things typically considered beautiful, my judgement was very much based on my personal idea of what is considered beauty.
Bibliography
- Apple, Linda. “Welcome to Apple Arts.” SEOposition.com, applearts.com/
- Newman, Cathy. “Enigma of Beauty Article, Definition of Beauty, Information, Facts -- National Geographic.” Enigma of Beauty Article, Definition of Beauty, Information, Facts -- National Geographic, 24 Jan. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/enigma-beauty/.
- Ritzer, George 2004 Classical Sociological Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill international Editions.