Triptych
Exhibition Text
Adapt - Revise - Refine is a triptych series representing who I am, how my environment affects me, and how I intend to affect the environment. It represents my current state of unknowing and anxiety and my efforts to transform into someone who can deal with issues as they come and spread light to others who need it.
Adapt - Revise - Refine is a triptych series representing who I am, how my environment affects me, and how I intend to affect the environment. It represents my current state of unknowing and anxiety and my efforts to transform into someone who can deal with issues as they come and spread light to others who need it.
Planning
Inspiration
I was inspired by the work of George Barbier, a French Illustrator from the 1920s, and elements of paintings by Piotr Stachiewicz, a Polish painter from the late 19th century. George Barbier featured many sapphic couples in his artwork, and used flat colors and stylized figures to create strongly flowing works that guide the viewer's eye through the piece. His work was groundbreaking, and my personal favorite is "Les Nymphes", shown here. Stachiewicz inspired me through the use of golden concentric circles behind the subjects, reminiscent of the halos of renaissance art used to mark innocence or divinity. Many of his works such as "September", shown here, are desaturated yet still contain warm hues. I was also inspired by the places around me, specifically the wings of the Milwaukee Art Museum and how they resemble the wings of a butterfly. I chose to research butterflies native to Wisconsin and found the European Cabbage Butterfly, and will use this butterfly to represent the Milwaukee Art Museum. |
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Planning Sketches
These were the first sketches for this assignment and helped narrow down which ideas I wanted to focus on. From the beginning the white butterfly in the center is supposed to represent the Milwaukee art museum as well as being an actual Midwestern butterfly. |
These sketches focused more on the arrangement of the panels and introduced the more chaotic flutter of butterflies surrounding the figure sitting in the water.
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These sketches show the layout closest to the final product. Some of the notes around them are things such as a note about constellations, as I was going to paint groups of constellations that related to the subject matter in the background. In the end I went with a more general galaxy rather than specific constellations, but I might use that idea for a future project.
Featured in the bottom left are examples of different color schemes I was considering. In the end I decided to use the pink and purple hues for the hair color as they're closest to my real-life hair color and the contrast of warmer hues of purple and pink to the cool greens and blues is visually appealing. The butterflies were also made to be orange as orange and blue are complementary colors and the butterflies in question are meant to be monarch butterflies, butterflies famous for their migration patterns. |
Experimentation
Process
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First, I stretched 3 canvases, 2ftx1ft, gessoed them, and waited until they were dry and taught to apply the first colors. Then I applied a base coat of dark blue and a coat lighter blue-green, with the dark blue taking up 2/3 of a panel and the lighter blue being 1/3. I began to create the galaxy effect using the tutorial displayed above, working to connect the panels by overlapping the clouds throughout the piece I painted the base shapes and colors for the other figures and slowly began to add details such as flowers, butterflies, and facial features
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Reflection
If I were to repaint this project I would try to incorporate more elements that overlapped between panels. The galaxy background flows nicely and creates a sense of movement that guides the viewer's eye. The first sketches have the figures breaking out of the canvas area like in a Degas painting, and I feel it would've created more visual interested to portray it in that way; however, the illustration that inspired this piece is contained in its frame and that looks good too. As a whole the piece is asymmetrically balanced, but looking at each panel individually reveals symmetry. I'm still working on breaking away from symmetry and exploring asymmetrical compositions such as the composition featured in my first sketches. I would also make the galaxy background muted and the environmental connections bolder, as the background is very saturated and the connections are more subtle.
Some issues during the process included the accidental use of block printing ink instead of acrylic paint, as the tubes look the same and I grabbed whatever I thought I could use. It took me a week to realize. It was a startling discovery and had me reevaluate both my eyesight and my intelligence.
In connection to the inspiration I feel like I captured the illustration by George Barbier pretty well; however the connects to the butterflies and the art museums were vague. Vague isn't always a bad thing, but I would like to be more upfront with my connections in the future. The golden concentric circles are inspired by Piotr Stachiewicz's work and were meant to represent holiness; while I am not religious nor do I think I'm someone holy, I would like to be someone who at least spreads happiness in the future and this was my way of representing that.
Some issues during the process included the accidental use of block printing ink instead of acrylic paint, as the tubes look the same and I grabbed whatever I thought I could use. It took me a week to realize. It was a startling discovery and had me reevaluate both my eyesight and my intelligence.
In connection to the inspiration I feel like I captured the illustration by George Barbier pretty well; however the connects to the butterflies and the art museums were vague. Vague isn't always a bad thing, but I would like to be more upfront with my connections in the future. The golden concentric circles are inspired by Piotr Stachiewicz's work and were meant to represent holiness; while I am not religious nor do I think I'm someone holy, I would like to be someone who at least spreads happiness in the future and this was my way of representing that.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
The golden concentric circles were directly inspired by Stachiewicz and the posing, setting, and colors of the piece were inspired by George Barbier's "Les Nymphes".
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article on George Barbier is a staunch admirer that appreciates all the effort Barbier put into not just his illustrations, but his writings, reviews, and commentaries on issues at the time.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
George Barbier's illustrations featured many sapphic women and is an example of
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was change, as the prompt related to how your environment affects you and how you affect your environment.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that Barbier's work was groundbreaking, as it featured many sapphic women, an unprecedented act at the time.
The golden concentric circles were directly inspired by Stachiewicz and the posing, setting, and colors of the piece were inspired by George Barbier's "Les Nymphes".
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article on George Barbier is a staunch admirer that appreciates all the effort Barbier put into not just his illustrations, but his writings, reviews, and commentaries on issues at the time.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
George Barbier's illustrations featured many sapphic women and is an example of
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea around my research was change, as the prompt related to how your environment affects you and how you affect your environment.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that Barbier's work was groundbreaking, as it featured many sapphic women, an unprecedented act at the time.
Bibliography
Derozier, Patricia. Wabi Sabi. N.p., 12 Dec. 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. https://wabisabiphoto.blog/category/milwaukee-art-museum/
"European cabbage butterfly." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
https://www.britannica.com/animal/European-cabbage-butterfly
Sherman, Ketzia. "George Barbier: Fashioning the Queer Identity." George Barbier: Fashioning the Queer Identity. N.p., 24 Apr. 2016.
Web. 03 Feb. 2017. http://fs8003w16amd01.blog.ryerson.ca/2016/04/24/george-barbier-fashioning-the-queer-identity/.
Derozier, Patricia. Wabi Sabi. N.p., 12 Dec. 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. https://wabisabiphoto.blog/category/milwaukee-art-museum/
"European cabbage butterfly." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
https://www.britannica.com/animal/European-cabbage-butterfly
Sherman, Ketzia. "George Barbier: Fashioning the Queer Identity." George Barbier: Fashioning the Queer Identity. N.p., 24 Apr. 2016.
Web. 03 Feb. 2017. http://fs8003w16amd01.blog.ryerson.ca/2016/04/24/george-barbier-fashioning-the-queer-identity/.