Drawings for University

I still haven't been able to find the time to professionally photograph my drawings from school. I suppose it's because I feel that anything I have done specifically for school is more of a learning experience than final pieces for a portfolio. I plan on making drawings this summer which would be just that. I'm excited about working on my own, and about graduating with my BFA this winter.

6x6" (each) Watercolor & colored pencil on paper 

8x10" Watercolor & colored pencil on paper

24x36" Colored pencil on glassine (so difficult to photograph!  Better keep trying-also, sorry for the shadows streaking across there.)

Detail

24x36" Colored pencil on paper

Detail

Detail

Our City Dreams

     Last night I took the time watch the 2008 documentary film, Our City Dreams.  It's directed by Chiara Clemente, daughter of renouned artist Francesco Clemente.  Clemente's experience growing up in the art world inspired her to become a filmmaker.  She creates documentaries which allow the public a semi-private view into the lives of artists. 

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     This film follows the working lives of five female artists within a two-year time span. (Official Website)  The artists included are Swoon, Ghada Amer, Marina Abramovic, Kiki Smith, and Nancy Spero.  

     Although each of these women approach their work differently, they are all concerned with issues that are relevant in the lives of women with diverse backgrounds around the world today.  In an article by Giovanna Masselli, she describes Clemente's vision, and how her personal experience influenced her view on art. 

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     What interests me most about the film is that it takes an intimate look into each artist’s process and their feelings behind what inspires and motivates them in the studio and in their lives.  Clemente was able to piece interviews together in a way that allows viewers to feel a personal level of engagement with the artists.  I was happy to find that this film is currently streaming on Netflix.

     Here is a little background information on the five artists included in this film, in the order of their appearance.  

1. Swoon, (birth name Caledonia Dance Curry) born 1977, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

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     Swoon works mostly with large paper prints and cut-outs in public urban spaces.  She also makes good use of installation in a gallery space, and has also worked on community projects.  Her art is characterized by a sensitivity to the personalities of the people in her representations.  She is mostly concerned with the dynamics of human connection. 

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2.  Ghada Amer, born 1963, Cairo, Egypt.

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     Gender and sexuality are central thematic elements in Amer's work.  She first received international recognition for her embroidered pieces.  She is currently working as a multimedia artist and includes drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, and installation in her repertoire.  She addresses contemporary issues of women living in a modern society.

And the Beast, 2004. Acrylic, embroidery, and gel medium on canvas.
Collection of the artist, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery 
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3.  Marina Abramovic, born 1946, FPR Yugoslavia.

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     Amer is a performance-based artist dealing with gender, ego, identity, and the dynamics of relationships and behavior between people.  She tests the boundaries of human nature and the body itself in her performances.  She works both on location and within the walls of a gallery space.  

Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Imponderabilia, 1977 
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4.  Kiki Smith, born 1954, Nuremberg, Germany. 

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     Smith works within the broad parameters of gender, identity, and social issues.  She uses a wide variety of media and techniques in her art, which includes print, sculpture, and installation.  She is featured on the PBS Art21 series, which highlights the work of contemporary American artists.

Hanging Woman
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5.  Nancy Spero, born 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, died in 2009 in New York City.

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     Spero had a prolific career, and was one of the first notable female artists involved in the women's movement of the 20th century.  Her work deals with cultural issues, politics, and gender, with a focus on the female experience in society.  She is also featured on the PBS Art21 Series.

Israeli Women Soldiers, 1966-70 
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     I know you'll enjoy Our City Dreams as much as I did, whether you're an artist, or someone who enjoys art.  It's an inspiring, interesting look into the lives of five artists who are successfully communicating their ideas.  I enjoyed the rare opportunity of being able to share the experience of these women from their inner world.

Featured Artist: Liliana Porter

     I recently compiled a set of 50 links to artists who influence me personally in this blog's sidebar.  While it would be fun to let you go through them all by yourself, it's much better to talk about them a little, to share with you what it is about these particular artist's work that appeals to me.

     Liliana Porter is an artist who works in a multitude of mediums including printmaking, painting, photography, installations, film and video.  She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1941, and has lived and worked in New York since 1964.  Porter was a 
professor at Queens College, City University of New York, from 1991 to 2007.

Levitating Rabbit (2003)
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Nail (1972)
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Dialogue with It (1997)
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Candle (2005)
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Situations with Them (2007)
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Triptych (1986)
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     I enjoy Porter's work for its charm and appeal to my sense of nostalgia. I also respond to the emotional quality and irony that seem to permeate the bulk of her work. Her quirky drawings of small objects are carefully juxtaposed within the starkness of a smooth sheet of paper, suspended in a singular moment, giving the viewer time to consider and question its relevance.  Human nature persuades an attachment to objects beginning from childhood, and Porter takes what is deemed sentimental to create a message, even if it may be one that gravitates towards the absurd.


Liliana Porter's Current Artist 
Statement:
     In the last years, parallel to photography and video, I have been making works on canvas, prints, drawings, collages, and small installations. Many of these pieces depict a cast of characters that are inanimate objects, toys and figurines that I find in flea markets, antique stores, and other odd places. The objects have a double existence. On the one hand they are mere appearance, insubstantial ornaments, but, at the same time, have a gaze that can be animated by the viewer, who, through it, can project the inclination to endow things with an interiority and identity. These theatrical vignettes are constructed as visual comments that speak of the human condition. I am interested in the simultaneity of humor and distress, banality and the possibility of meaning.
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Drawing inspiration for this semester.

I feel like I've been pursuing my BFA forever, but in truth, I've been back at UTEP for about 8 years.  Okay, I know that is double the time it should take to complete a bachelor's degree, but I did take a year off in there somewhere, changed majors a few times, and switched between full-time and part-time schedules often.  This will be my second-to-the-last semester of Drawing class.  I've been working in several different mediums, trying to figure out what I like to do best...for a grade.  I definitely work differently when I know the outcome will be critiqued and graded.

A new series or two is in my brain somewhere, I feel it.  (I am trying harder to have more faith in myself.)  I could also continue my wood panel series.  I'm going to start photographing my work professionally, now that I know how to do it correctly.  I was required to take a $675 class on it, after all.  It's time to use those skills.

I'll be documenting progress on my drawings here.  I am lucky to have a professor who has a contemporary and progressive idea of what defines a drawing.  We are allowed to do pretty much anything we want to do.  Drawing has come a long way since the days of graphite, conte, charcoal, or pastel on paper.  Artists are currently working with a wide array of non-traditional materials, including fabric, thread, paper mache, collage, and other ephemera.  A drawing can also lean towards 3-D, with sculptural elements being used in ways which can be compared to the work of the legendary Robert Raschenburg.

My favorite book on contemporary drawing is Vitamin D: New Perspectives on Drawing, by Emma Dexter.  It's an absolutely gorgeous hardcover book, a book any artist or art appreciator would love to own.

With a new semester at hand, and a few other personal projects in-progress (like quilting and dressmaking), I know I will have to keep up an anti-stress regimen consisting of yoga, eating right, and getting enough sleep.  I have a trove of ways to beat creative burn-out, too.  Taking a drive with my cameras is one of my favorite ways to clear my mind while keeping creative vibes in my soul.  If I am stuck at home, (it happens often, being a single mother) I tend to either browse around the net, or have a look through my growing collection of art books.

I believe most artists shop around for inspiration, especially when deadlines are approaching and we're feeling burnt-out or need extra motivation.  I am still feeling the aftershock of last semester's workload.  I was actually able to complete 31.5 (should've been 32, I'm not perfect) drawings.  I thought I might go out-of-my-mind for awhile there, to be honest.  Nevertheless, here I am, still alive, and ready-ish to begin all over again with a clean slate.

My aesthetic has developed into something best described as feminine, melancholic, and ethereal, with a psychological derivative.  A few artists I've been interested in include Marlene Dumas, Chloe Piene, Peregrine Honig, Seonna Hong, and Holly Farrell.  What a dream-to be as successful as these amazingly talented women someday.  If I tell myself it could happen, it just might.  You never know...

The Cover Up, Marlene Dumas

Cleo, Chloe Piene

Induced Birth, Peregrine Honig

Unlisteners, Seonna Hong

Tammy 2010, Holly Ferrell