Exhibition Text
Percieved is a mixed media collage, block print, and overstitching that features the icon of Venus from The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. It's about the Euro-centric perception of beauty that is forced onto people across the world. The collage elements and overstitchings were inspired by Annegret Soltau's series self and bodyopenings.
Percieved is a mixed media collage, block print, and overstitching that features the icon of Venus from The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. It's about the Euro-centric perception of beauty that is forced onto people across the world. The collage elements and overstitchings were inspired by Annegret Soltau's series self and bodyopenings.
Planning
Inspiration
The Birth of Venus
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli represents Venus, the god of love and beauty, as the epitome of human perfection. In this depiction, she's pictured as a slim white woman with fairly blonde hair-- an obviously Euro-centric perception of beauty. However, because this is such a pervasive depiction of beauty throughout Western culture (and has even bled into the rest of the world), it's an image that's been pushed onto others without regard for their own cultures and societies. There is no ideal beauty standard, as beauty is a fluid concept. It's an abstract construct that, despite its nonexistence, is something we all strive for. Annegret Soltau I was inspired by two bodies of work by Soltau: self (1975-76) and bodyopenings 2011-17. Soltau is most well known for her collages which are often a disturbing amalgamation of body parts from various people and animals at ridiculous proportions, as well as her unique method of overstitching on photographs and collages. Soltau's works are often self-reflective and contemplative of identity. The thread in self stretches over her face almost as a contour with a deliberate fan placement. In bodyopenings, however, the stitching isn't the main focus, it's an added binding to the collage pieces. The focus is on the body parts overlaid on the two figures in the background. Soltau describes this series as an examination between her and her friend as they aged. Again this brings up themes of self-reflection and identity. The collage pieces are overlaid and stitched between the two figures as a way to physically connect them, creating symmetrical balance and a representation of togetherness. This is cohesive with their contemplation of self through the examination of their bodies and features. |
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1486. Tempera on canvas.
Annegret Soltau, self 1975-76 series. Photo overstitchings.
Annegret Soltau, bodyopenings 2011-17 series. Collage with stitching
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Planning Sketches
For my planning stages I examined how to combine both Soltau's collage and stitchwork with The Birth of Venus, as well as the conceptual elements each section conveyed. The original sketches used 3 separate sections, but because of proportion this cut off her feet when I wanted to portray her whole body. The second and third sketches used the vertical stitching across 2 pieces of paper and then the radial stitches from her head, which were combined in the final product.
Experimentation
The experimentation process for this piece began with trying out different types of printing. I wanted to breach my comfort zone by attempting a monoprint; however, the entire point of a monoprint is to only have one print, and after my experimentation I wasn't confident enough to use it for this particular piece. It's an interesting print method that I will attempt again in the future for future endeavors.
There are multiple methods of monoprinting, such as laying a paper on top of a sheet of plexiglass with ink rolled onto it and tracing on top, or subtracting from the ink by scraping or rubbing the ink off with a paper towel or other utensil. I also experimented with using different ink, such as the water soluble block printing ink and the oil based dry point ink. The oil based ink had to be run through the flat press; however, due to the sheer amount of ink present on the plate, the plate smeared ink all over the paper without any clear design. The block printing ink had a shorter drying time and it forced me to work faster. Although the results were still not what I wanted, it was a useful experiment for any future projects. |
After settling on a block print method, and printing multiples of each as shown in the second picture, I experimented with collage as inspired by Soltau. The first picture shows how I started with both body parts and pictures of nature on her left arm and leg. Her right hand is comprised of all different fingers and a section of skin for the back of the hand. They all came from different sources and the amalgamation created a slightly unsettling appearance. I wanted to mimic this with other parts of the body, but disliked how it covered the block print. The third picture shows the use of text, and if I had stuck with adding all of my original collage elements, I would've used it; however, this piece's idea and the final piece's idea were completely different, and I had to pick one.
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Process
The first step was to create the block prints, which would become the base for the entire piece. First, I sketched an outline based on the pose in The Birth Of Venus. Then, I carved out the largest areas with a small round tool, and the smallest areas with a pointed v-shaped tool. The goal was not to create a stark outline of the piece, but to incorporate the shadows as well. The shadows were left solid black to create a sharper contrast.
Next came printing. In order to give it the cleanest look, it had to be printed to the darkest value possible with little to none of the white paper behind it showing through. This was achieved through carefully lifting sections of the paper and reapplying ink to any areas that looked too sparse, before
The third step was to stitch the two pieces together. They were dried and trimmed all the way to the black edge before beginnings. I marked an XX number of X's on the back of each paper and spaced them roughly XXcm apart. In order to keep a slightly messy, collage look, the distances were estimated by eye.
Lastly came the collage elements. I only used (1-4) different images to glue and stitch on top, as inspired by Soltau's bodyopenings series. It was also to make sure both the top and bottom had collage elements. After glueing the pieces down, I used (either a large needle or a sharp skewer) to poke holes in the paper and thread string through, stitching the images to the paper.
Next came printing. In order to give it the cleanest look, it had to be printed to the darkest value possible with little to none of the white paper behind it showing through. This was achieved through carefully lifting sections of the paper and reapplying ink to any areas that looked too sparse, before
The third step was to stitch the two pieces together. They were dried and trimmed all the way to the black edge before beginnings. I marked an XX number of X's on the back of each paper and spaced them roughly XXcm apart. In order to keep a slightly messy, collage look, the distances were estimated by eye.
Lastly came the collage elements. I only used (1-4) different images to glue and stitch on top, as inspired by Soltau's bodyopenings series. It was also to make sure both the top and bottom had collage elements. After glueing the pieces down, I used (either a large needle or a sharp skewer) to poke holes in the paper and thread string through, stitching the images to the paper.
Reflection
Soltau's purpose for the ___ series was for her and her friend to examine their ageing bodies. I took inspiration from this and used the icon of Venus from The Birth of Venus in order to
- radial lines of stitches emanating from the eyes represent how this figure (eyes from a picture of a white woman) see beauty as themselves
- physical compare and contrast as creative page
- radial lines of stitches emanating from the eyes represent how this figure (eyes from a picture of a white woman) see beauty as themselves
- physical compare and contrast as creative page
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
I used Venus from The Birth of Venus as an icon to represent Euro-centric beauty standards and Soltau's method of overstitching on collage.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author regarding The Birth of Venus is very praising, even describing it as "sublime".
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
One generalization that can be drawn from The Birth of Venus is that it's hard to pull society out of the rut of believing white features are the epitome of sublime beauty when one of the most famous icons for beauty is portrayed as a white woman.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was the perception of beauty, hence the icon of Venus.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that the majority of Soltau's work is reflection of herself and uses bodily features as a representation of self.
I used Venus from The Birth of Venus as an icon to represent Euro-centric beauty standards and Soltau's method of overstitching on collage.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author regarding The Birth of Venus is very praising, even describing it as "sublime".
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
One generalization that can be drawn from The Birth of Venus is that it's hard to pull society out of the rut of believing white features are the epitome of sublime beauty when one of the most famous icons for beauty is portrayed as a white woman.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was the perception of beauty, hence the icon of Venus.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that the majority of Soltau's work is reflection of herself and uses bodily features as a representation of self.
Bibliography
“Annegret Soltau.” Annegret Soltau, www.annegret-soltau.de/.
“The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.” Uffizi Gallery Museum in Florence, www.uffizi.org/artworks/the-birth-of-venus-by-sandro-botticelli/.
“Annegret Soltau.” Annegret Soltau, www.annegret-soltau.de/.
“The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.” Uffizi Gallery Museum in Florence, www.uffizi.org/artworks/the-birth-of-venus-by-sandro-botticelli/.