Magic Realism

I had an excellent meeting with my mentor on Monday. I felt a little on the light side as far as artwork goes, but mostly because I spent a more time on these newer pieces. We ended up talking longer than usual though, and she brought up some pertinent questions on the direction of the work. In particular, she discussed my work in terms of magical realism, a phrase I wasn't very familiar with. Looking at examples of work from this style however, it's easy to see the relation. I plan to do more research on this. Part of me is slightly hesitant about this direction. Perhaps it's my background at an extremely traditional program where I did my BFA, but it starts wandering close to Sci-fi/fantasy genre work. There's a stigma in my mind saying that is not "serious art." There's a part of me that thinks art should be serious. I'm over-thinking it though. These somewhat "supernatural" events in a clear reality is something I am looking to achieve. So for now, perhaps it is best to embrace it.

Questions to consider:
Do I want the viewer to feel like they can enter?
Is this a threatening or safe environment?
What is the edge?
Consider sense of place, sense of space, and memory.

As I talked about my work, I realized many of the buildings I have used to far deal with enlightenment (such as libraries) and spirituality (churches). I think about these buildings also falling in to disuse, or, more accurately, separating from their original intent. In one library, the books had been removed and the rooms were empty to allow tour groups come to see the architecture. A similar story held true for the church. I want to recapture the wonder that caused these buildings to built, the confident authority of the grandiose details, and the utopian ideals of these structures. The viewer should feel like they could enter, but perhaps with apprehension.

Julie encouraged me to not only use "pretty" images, but to find the edge. She suggested blending many time periods together as well, and incorporating modern elements--this was mentioned at our last meeting and I think it is a great idea. Julie warned not to become to formulaic, which was already starting to happen ( though I think that tendency came, in part, from my efforts to understand how things were working together.) She also encouraged me to go really bizarre, to see how far this could be pushed yet still make sense. There is a lot of possibilities here. I feel excited about this emerging series. Now all I need is more hours in the day.

Print Success and Digital Cuts

It took about a week to get my new-to-me printer running. It must've sat for a couple months, and on my first few attempts, I was only able to one of the eight colors to show up. After reading a couple of online articles, and using a little bit of patience (and a fair amount of expensive pinter ink), I got it to work beautifully! Below is the first nozzle check vs. the last. I jumped for joy when that magenta finally showed up!

 I did a print on canvas afterwards, something I've been looking forward to doing. I used my own raw canvas, and coated it with a Golden inkjet ground product I used in the past successfully. The results were descent, though not as exciting as I expected. The fabric is too delicate for this project I think. It was distracting from the realism I'm attempting to create. The contrast was also a little lacking, but that's something I could probably improved with a heavier application of the digital ground product. The picture below lacks the clarity needed to see this, but the grain of the canvas I used was also a little heavy. Something that is thicker with a smoother surface would be a better medium probably. Initially, I was thinking having a texture would be more...clever, having a greater emphasis on the artifice, but now it seems redundant and slightly excessive.

I also recently completed another cut picture piece. I like thinking of them as "digital maps," because the grid I've used reminds me of strands of information I imagine exist in a computer. The idea of jumbling up a digital picture is funny to me, and severs to remind the viewer to the fragility of information. I introduced circle cut outs in this piece as well, which might work. The square shapes enforce the grid pattern more, but the variety is interesting too.

Panarams

As suggested by my mentor, I started taking some photographs specifically for some more surreal panoramas.

These are some panoramas from recent shoots I did in Copley Square, the Concord Conservation Center near my house, and the Maine coast. I plan on putting a few together soon, and cleaning up some of the ones I've already started to make them more convincing.

 

This week, I really want to print one a little larger. My models were about 5" by 17" or something. Varying sizes. I am extremely excited to printed because I was just given a 24" Epsom printer!!!

This is the same type of printer I've used previously, but this one is mine! So beautiful! Anyways, Julie, my mentor, suggested trying different materials, such as fabric, and seeing what works best. I love experimenting with printing, so I am excited to try this.

One of my friends showed me this image today:

It's by Ben Heine. He does the pencil vs. camera drawings which are interesting enough. Clever, but ultimately I feel are a little shallow.

It is interesting to see someone else's take on the cyclorama idea though. I like seeing his shadow when he's drawing, and the scale of his body as he works closer and farther away from the camera. Definitely takes a level of skill to get that perspective right.