Triptych
Woman and Crowd
Size: 30.5 cm x 70 cm (3 panels) Medium: Acrylic on canvas Completion: April 2018 Exhibition Text: Woman and Crowd is a triptych that depicts the individual and the impact of one’s community, the creation of all aspects of the self. The first and last panels were inspired by Helena Wierzbicki’s fauvist portraits, while the middle scene was inspired by Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life. |
Inspiration
Helena Wierzbicki is a modern day artist who's dominant style of art is painting with the fauvist approach. Her art has a heavy focus on the center the human condition. She describes her portrayals as reaching to achieve a sense of balance between what perhaps is experienced within and with what is experienced externally. She relies heavily on the direction of her emotions to guide the progression of the painting itself. Her work is very elemental, and focuses on a raw core in which there is no deviation from what is felt or attempted in portrayal.
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Wierzbicki utilizes her perspective of beauty, and often depicts portraits of people who are entranced by love, seduction, isolation, and other intense states of emotion. The bodies are naked and always protracted to be vulnerable to an extent, which can be further expressed through the facial expressions and body language. "Fervidly" and "State of being" are two examples of her paintings. I was inspired by her overall body of work, all which are pieces that delicately express the experience of people though a fauvism technique approach. The fauvist approach to painting allows the separation of color while still creating a wholesome, complete image. The color speaks louder in terms of symbolizing and portraying mood or emotion because it has a stronger presence in the piece. Saturated colors intensified the subject matter and deviate from natural color schemes, which further produces an intensity of emotion. I was inspired by Wierzbicki's ability of utilize the emotions of colors and the portrayal of bodies to communicate elemental emotions are state of being, as I developed the concept of community and the evolution of the individual.
Gustav Klimt's "Death and Life" is a painting filled with symbolism and juxtaposition. He bluntly portrays the raw emotions associated with both ends of the spectrum. There is an elemental presence in the entwined, naked bodies that draw out the intimacy and intimacy of human existance. The bodies being clothe less also portrays sexuality and passion that people experience. In many of his pieces along with "Death and Life," Klimt created a variety of romantic, mystical, erotic and/or emotional figures throughout his body of work. This inspired me and I approached the concept of human community and connection, and exploring the portrayal of intimacy and influence on all individuals. I represented the community as a cluster of bodies, inspired by the 'life' in this work of art.
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Planning
Process, Technique & Experimentation
Creating my planning sketches required me in some cases to create a reference point, in which I photographed myself in the desired position to be portrayed in my painting. This guided me in my process of sketching, with eyeball reference. I did not want to directly use this image on my canvas and purposely avoided using grid method or projection when creating a drawing based off of the photograph. Once this free-hand image was created, I then used the grid method to section off the upper half of the woman's body. Three canvases were required to create this triptych. Each one was constructed by arranging a frame, stapling the sides together, sizing and cutting canvas, stretching the canvas over the frame and stapling it into the frame. Each canvas was 1 ft x 2 ft. On the first canvas, I began by approaching the woman laying along the bottom of the scene. Using the ruler I measured out the same sized grid and re-sketched the women's head and chest. I then free-sketched the rest of the body with visual reference to the photograph. This was intentional, as my goal was not to have the effect of exact proportions of the human body.
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In addition, out bodies are naturally distorted while laying down due to the force of gravity pulling us from a different angle. This can be noted in my photograph, which my ribs protrude abnormally as my stomach sinks to the floor. After sketching out all the figures that would be present in all three components of the triptych, I began to paint. I began with the color red, and in varying thickness of lines I highlighted, outlined and defined certain areas of the sketch. As a personal stylistic approach I decided to use red line for each individual's hair with no other coloristic addition. I then began to block colors.
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Each face was a result of layers of development. After making a color, I would apply the hue in various places that deemed useful to the construction of a face form. Then I would mix a new color, and apply that in patches. As colors filled the areas and began to touch, I would in various places gently blend the border between them so as to blur it and not have defined organic and geometric shapes as color patches. The individual girl requires more color blending because she is clothes, symbolic of her individuality. The members of the community are all bound up in single colors, indicating their influence and impact from others that now "clothe" them.
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Lastly, another stylistic choice I made was to remove the presence of hands throughout the entire body of work. In the first panel, they are folded into the woman's stomach and morph into the rest of her bare body. In the middle panel, bodies are loosely connecting and wrap around one another through the use of limbs, and in the instance that two arms are linked the connection is replaced by a flow and transition of color, symbolic for the bleeding of one person into another as we inherit many different characteristics from exposure and observation of others. In the last panel, the girl is not becoming bound from the bottom up by an individual color like everyone in the community is, but her hands are faded flickering balls of energy as she still remains detached to some degree from the community.
Reflection
This project was challenging in the approach to portraying a concept, while also being an enjoyable process. One of the difficulties I faced while planning was how to fit such a collage of content into canvases wit the dimension 1 ft x 2ft. It was quite limited as I was restricted to certain parameters. The first (left) canvas has content that is intensely focused on the borders, leaving the center relatively empty, which I tried to but could not avoid. Regarding the center panel, the community represented by various figures was crammed into certain dimensions which limited my ability to scatter figures within. However, my approach to the fauvism technique was a success. I was able to apply various hues and blend them softly to creating visually structured faces and bodies that followed value and highlight points. I also stumbled across a few personal stylistic choices that I as not expecting. While beginning to paint, I created the structure of the girl's hair using red line. I thoroughly enjoyed this approach, and decided to generalize it to the entire triptych so that all beings would have hair composed of red line. I also purposely left out the presence of hands within all three panels as a impulsive form of symbolism. I was pleased with the final product and my ability to construct the painting with the fauvist style.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I am able to identify the cause-effect relationship between my inspiration and its effect upon my artwork by analyzing the use of unnatural, bright colors blocked and patched that produce human forms.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Wierzbicki’s approach to her paintings is through the lens of fauvism, portraying raw human experience and emotion to reflect the elemental existence of people. Klimt approaches the concept of life and community through the soft entanglement of bodies.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Colors on their own play an important role in symbolism and emotion. Through fauvism, in which color is used in larger patches, this clearer distinction of hues allows for a deeper impact of the emotions of the colors within the piece and its contribution to the mood of the subject matter.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was ways in which I could present meaning through a fauvist lense, while portraying the impact of interaction between the individual and the community, and how it impacts their own identities.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Wierzbicki strives to bring emotion in as the dominant portrayal of her artwork. Her collective approaches, through color, technique, subject matter and positioning create impactful visuals that reflect the intention of her paintings.
I am able to identify the cause-effect relationship between my inspiration and its effect upon my artwork by analyzing the use of unnatural, bright colors blocked and patched that produce human forms.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Wierzbicki’s approach to her paintings is through the lens of fauvism, portraying raw human experience and emotion to reflect the elemental existence of people. Klimt approaches the concept of life and community through the soft entanglement of bodies.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Colors on their own play an important role in symbolism and emotion. Through fauvism, in which color is used in larger patches, this clearer distinction of hues allows for a deeper impact of the emotions of the colors within the piece and its contribution to the mood of the subject matter.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was ways in which I could present meaning through a fauvist lense, while portraying the impact of interaction between the individual and the community, and how it impacts their own identities.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Wierzbicki strives to bring emotion in as the dominant portrayal of her artwork. Her collective approaches, through color, technique, subject matter and positioning create impactful visuals that reflect the intention of her paintings.
Bibliography
Wierzbicki, Helena. “The World's Leading Online Art Gallery - Helena Wierzbicki.” Saatchi Art, www.saatchiart.com/Helenka.
“Helenka's Artwork.” Helena Wierzbicki - Website, Fine Art America, helena-wierzbicki.pixels.com/index.html?tab=images&page=4.
“Fauvism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-fauvism.htm.
“Gustav Klimt, Death and Life.” The Leopold Museum, The Leopold Museum, www.leopoldmuseum.org/en/leopoldcollection/masterpieces/41.
“Helenka's Artwork.” Helena Wierzbicki - Website, Fine Art America, helena-wierzbicki.pixels.com/index.html?tab=images&page=4.
“Fauvism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-fauvism.htm.
“Gustav Klimt, Death and Life.” The Leopold Museum, The Leopold Museum, www.leopoldmuseum.org/en/leopoldcollection/masterpieces/41.