Artist Statement

Let them Eat Cake

            I have decided to discuss the topic of over indulgence in today’s society. Many people are aware of how poor and in need the rest of the world is; however, little is done to remedy this on a personal level or societal level.  People, including myself, may claim to be thoughtful about what is going on outside their realm of existence but when it comes down to it, we are unwilling to change our lavish lifestyle for the benefit of society. The way our culture is set up in America is extremely consumeristic. This comes at a price. Taking resources, which would otherwise benefit other countries, and the exploiting cheap labor overseas has created societies trapped in poverty. The French revolution is an event well known in history, and a leader who did not really understand what was truly going on outside her palace made one of the most iconic statements in the world. Marie Antoinette said the famous words, “Let them eat cake” in suggestion to the thousands of starving civilians outside her walls. If this analogy seems exaggerated, we have already reached the same point of ignorance. I hope to inspire people to make small changes, be more aware of their consumption, and start a revolution where the world is considerate of the tolls placed on the third world countries as well as the tension placed on nature.

chine collé inspiration

Purgatoria

hard ground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and chine colle on paper

Shrooming

Experimented with the process of chine collé last week. Several things that became apparent with this method of printing were the importance of good materials, such as glue; order of process, such as placing glue on the pieces before placing them on the plate; finally, the various ways the ink spreads across the different textures of paper. Here is my plate before I printed it:

Cake progress

Figuring out how to represent food has been difficult but I figured it out. 

trees around the world

Recently I began following a blog called trees in art. Trees are so unique and beautiful along with providing so much to the human existence including fresh air, water filtration, ground covering and shade. Even if these things were not vital for life, trees and other plant life are known to have medicinal purposes beneficial for curing health concerns arising in western society.

One reason I want to focus on the tree is to bring awareness to the consumption of our resources. And encourage mindfulness of the loss of beauty and diversity we loose with each species of tree lost. The work below is a screenprint capturing the beauty and the essence of what trees can inspire humanity to produce in art. 

Menashe Kadishman, [title not known] From The Forest, 1969, Screenprint on paper, London, Tate

Cake time

This afternoon I plan to complete my Marie Antoinette series. The finishing touches will include various dessert images designed to be viewed together along with the text.

Some inspiration for the little desserts:

Clear-cut takeover

British Columbia clear-cut

Sometimes called the Brazil of the North, Canada has not been kind to its native forests as seen by clear-cut logging on Vancouver Island

‘Human domination over nature is quite simply an illusion, a passing dream by a naive species. It is an illusion that has cost us much, ensnared us in our own designs, given us a few boasts to make about our courage and genius, but all the same it is an illusion.’ Donald Worster

Photograph: Garth Lentz

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/gallery/2015/apr/01/over-population-over-consumption-in-pictures#img-10

Check out these pictures, they opened my eyes to some of the consumption issues we face around the world.

Marie Antoinette

The new theme for my Monotype work is "Art for Social Change." I have decided to look in to aspects of global inequality of resources. This includes resources such as food, water, and natural materials. I will expand on these concepts as I produce the art. This week I am going to focus on the issue of world starvation and disproportionate consumption of food in first-world countries.

Many of us know the history of the French Revolution and the story of Marie Antoinette. This revolution stemmed from the discomfort of the masses from the exploitation of the wealthy. The wealth lived in such luxury and were so out of touch with what was going on outside their own palace walls that they were somewhat ignorant of the desperate state of the common people. Marie Antoinette is famous for her famous saying, "Let them eat cake!" This phrase can be used to sum up the attitude of first world countries to all the starving countries around the world. Living in a first world country myself I knowingly include myself into this statement.  I want to use the symbol of Marie Antoinette to raise awareness about how the distribution of wealth is more extreme than most people can even imagine. In America alone 60% of income is made by only the top 1% of the population. Now take this statistic and look at it on a global scale. I believe it is time to search for a new system of economics. One which will look out for the struggling nations, preserve our planet by being efficient and using the resources wisely and modestly to support the growing population.

Experiments

This week was a free week to experiment with various techniques. I used additive and subtractive to complete my artwork. The first piece I did used the roller to add different colors to the plate. I found for this that the color went on the best and most evenly if the roller was a little bit over the normal saturation of ink. By using the roller and mixing various oranges and yellows on another plate original colors emerged on the plate in ways I may not have mixed them. Next I used the subtractive method, using Q-tips and removed the parts of the plate I wished to be the flower. By adding the black contour lines it really defined the shape of the flowers. After this I still felt that the piece was missing a real focal point or highlight so I went back and added the red into one of the poppies. The piece printed much lighter than the colors I had placed on the plate. If I did this piece again I would make sure to put more ink on the background and make the colors more vivid.

I did several other smaller prints using the excess ink from my palette. Using a roller it can be interesting to roll out the ink where ever it is on the palette. I find that the more I experiment with the materials the easier they are to work with, and the more ideas for new projects I come up with.

One of the other projects I worked on was inspired by a textile. The colors appealed to me so I began to experiment mixing inks. I gently laid each stroke down on the plate. The finished Plate was vibrant and the first print came out much darker than the original design. I decided to run a ghost print of this and it came out much closer to the colors I desired. It was a good experiment of mixing inks.

Additive and subtractive

Experimentation week by using various methods. The first piece I did was a picture of the ocean. I experimented with additive and subtractive methods for this one by adding the colors then removing the part I wished to be sea foam. 

The second piece I stuck with the sea theme and did an abstract mermaid. I used a process and printed the paper twice. The first time with the blue background then I went back and added the mermaid. It was difficult to get an accurate alignment. Colors are very transparent also and some did not cover how I imagined. 

The third print consisted of purely subtractive methods. Rendering the image was difficult however the medium was flexible with this. The ghost print I felt was most successful. 

floral inspiration

Pink Roses by Margaret Berg

This might be fun to experiment for a monotype print with washes of translucent blends in pink for the first print with subtractive techniques for white spots within the foliage. Then go back with water-soluble crayon and make the leaves or other fine details. Some type of registration marks would be necessary for aligning the leaves with the flowers.

Lazy Daisies by Margaret Berg

Inspiration for a subtractive monotype print. Used a rolled surface then subtractive methods to achieve the white images. Next return to add the final color in the center.

For more information on this artist please visit:  http://margaretbergart.com/illustration/index.php

Blurred colors

Cecily Brown, Untitled

first attempt

Encouraged by my college professor to begin a blog for the monotype class I am taking, I decided to add this to my short list of other blogs. Maybe this will encourage me to write more about other aspects of my  life as well.

The first class period of monotype was used for experimentation. Our class is using Plexiglas sheets to paint on; we have three different sizes. If it were up to me I might chose to use a sheet already prepared for printing to avoid the beveling we had to do by hand. I am glad it was a one time process. We used the additive process and applied inks to the glass sheet. I was not sure how the print would turn out and expected much more absorption from the paper. it was fun mixing colors for this project and seeing what abstractions the process creates.

The second print was a landscape design. Living in Napa Valley, I chose a vineyard scene. I attempted to layer on colors in an impressionist manner, focusing on individual colors and lighting. I was extremely happy with how my glass looked after I finished painting it. Pressing larger plates presents a challenge in the fact that it is more difficult to lay out on the roller and align the paper evenly. The print once again picked up less ink than I imagined it would. This was disappointing, but also something to learn from.

 I made a little print with some of the leftover ink on my palette. This time I sprayed the paper before rolling the print. This ended in successful  results. My favorite print of the day was the ghost print I made of this second print. The pastel colors are characteristic of my favorite watercolors. Maybe I will experiment with translucent inks this coming week.