Ross Bleckner

Flowers, 1994

48 X 60 Oil on Canvas

COPY: 

Artistic Statement: Final Project

Although it isn’t my concentration in school, I’ve always appreciated the practice of oil painting, and the life it conveys when applied to the canvas. It’s easily manipulated, and allows for improvement and alteration for a long period of time. Channeling the style and technique of Ross Bleckner required research, observation and understanding for his technical and mental processes. Aside from working in a larger scale and with oil, I approached my work by developing the concept I wanted to address, much like Bleckner’s work speaks to AIDS (and how it has affected his perception of life, death, loss and memory), and proceeded to paint what he calls a ‘meditation painting’. I focused on inequality, and attempted to convey it by portraying a sort of eclipse. Aside from medium and similarity in technique, I adopted Ross’s use of color and heavy contrast. By painting abstractly, I felt a sense of motion necessary in my strokes, and used a combination of linseed oil, damask varnish and turpentine to thin the paint and create fast clean strokes and blends. As I painted, I thought about all the ways in which I, as a woman, have allowed others to shift my perception of myself, so much so that I morphed my behavior and attitude according to their interpretations of me. So much has changed the older I’ve gotten and the further I’ve stepped into an independent life of my own, and the world only keeps becoming more real and more devastating as your childish naiveté slips through your fingers.  To me, it represents the realization of creating your own life, and stepping out of any image that people and society attempt to force on you. The work was inevitably incredibly satisfying, and I walked away feeling a sense of closure, and deep respect for Bleckner’s more spiritual approach to art.

The Syrian Refugee crisis has been a cause for debate across the world. With asylum seekers trekking through Europe in the last few months, the reaction has varied significantly, but no country has shocked us more than Denmark.

Denmark is a progressive country and is known for it’s impressive welfare safety net, their 35-hour work week, paid maternity and paternity leave and high quality of life. In fact, Denmark is often a country mentioned during the Democratic primaries when discussing ways to reform the American government, with Bernie Sanders specifically using Denmark as a model government (although we are not quite as socialist as he makes us sound). When Sweden then opened its doors to asylum seekers it meant that they would have to travel through Denmark via Germany in order to get to their final destination. In turn, the new conservative regime in Denmark that was recently put in to place responded by discouraging refugees from coming to Denmark by changing their immigration policies (i.e. asylum seekers must wait three years before their families can join them), as a way to encourage people to move on with their journeys and not settle. Sweden quickly noticed that the rate of which they were taking in refugees would inevitably strain their resources and decided to close their borders temporarily, leaving a large group of refugees stranded in Denmark. The Danish People’s Party caused further uproar from humanitarian associations when they then announced that asylum seekers would be required to declare their items, and would possibly have to surrender personal items in order to pay for their accommodation, and later voicing suggestions as to implement a meal plan in primary schools that require pork to be included in daily meals. Overall, the response to these suggestions have been negative, but as more time has passed, other European countries are taking precautions to keep refugees out.

I remember when I first heard about the negative advertising Denmark had put out, and felt deeply ashamed, much like when we were in the spotlight for the Mohammed Cartoons. I’m normally incredibly proud of my nationality and happily defend our socioeconomic structure as a well-functioning and generous system that all other countries should follow. However, our last election left me incredibly disappointed and surprised, the same goes for virtually every Danish person that I know. In Copenhagen, everyone is incredibly progressive and forward thinking, even very culturally literate, yet somehow we ended up voting in one of the most conservative political parties. This was also the first time I had ever been publicly shamed for my nationality when a woman at work asked where I was from, and proceeded to tell me how awful me and ‘my people’ were. I apologized and told her I completely agreed with her opinion. The tactics that were used can only be described as heartless and offensive.

In contrast, we are also a very small country, with about 5.7 million inhabitants. We’re homogenous, and we’re raised with a collective mentality of considering the ‘we’ rather than the ‘I’ in most situations. From purely a logical perspective, there is no way that a country as small as Denmark would have the capacity to take in a majority share of refugees without causing serious outrage and completely draining their resources.  People like my parents get taxed up to 60% on their income, happily accepting a life that likely wont lead them out of the middle class (as opposed to the mentality that exists here of ‘the American dream’) but knowing that no matter what happens, they will never be neglected by the government. As someone who benefits a lot from the Danish system both in terms of educational funding and free healthcare, the idea of that being disturbed or corrupted due to overpopulation is a frightening thought. I think Denmark has a humanitarian responsibility to take in a percentage of refugees determined by our current population, but I’m simultaneously protective of the well-oiled machine that our society functions as, and allowing it to crumble would be a step in the wrong direction as we serve as a shining example of a welfare state.

Space Divider

Space Divider Display

Vanitas

I enjoyed the sort of empty feeling the original piece conveyed, so in turn I tried to incorporate objects that were seemingly empty or blank. The bottles, were placed in the back as part of camouflaging the editing I did in the background, also due to their height I didn’t want them blocking too much of the rest of the table. The mirror, is centered and turned upward, showing only a reflection from another side of the wall, further emphasizing the empty theme that I’ve tried to convey. The bottle caps, are placed on the plates in spaces where oyster shells once were, as another addition to the waste on the table (oyster shells, lemon peel, mustard). The Coca-Cola glass makes me think about our connection between the beverage and childhood, and its placement in this scenery is a representation of innocence or childhood corrupted or lost. I used a variety of dodging, burning, and smudging filters on the background in order to erase original objects (two glasses).  Overall, I’m pleased with this piece, particularly the work I did on the bottles.

Our group wished to respond to unsung narratives from 9/11. When we think of that day, we all feel sadness and remorse, and reflect on how the world seems to slowly be losing its humanity. But what we actually remember is not very much, however the aftermath on the other hand, is easy to relive.

One of our big focuses was privacy/security, and my part of the plaster cameras added an effect to the installation of the viewers being watched over, to make them uncomfortable.

The presentation went very well, and the shock value of the investigation board was successful. I believe we chose a surprising narrative and executed it in a very theatrical way.

This assignment involved designing our own symbol from figure drawings. We used this as an introduction to Adobe Illustrator and incorporated the use of the pen tool, as well as creating and transforming symbols. I intended to play with the idea of community and connection (and their counterparts) which produced recurring theme of repetition and pattern abnormality.

20 x 24, Watercolor & Acrylic on Canvas

My metaphorical self portrait features the side view of a woman. Her lack of detail implies that she is any woman and every woman, including me. It reflects my current feeling of walking out of the dark, the dark being leaving Geneva to move back to New York. Ironically, one of the worst yet most defining moments of my life featured a night in Manhattan, and taking the subway from Union Square to Brooklyn. I needed eighteen months to get out of the deep state of fear I was in; the fear to socialize, the fear to be away from those close to me, the fear to be alone at night. Today, I go to Parsons, I live in Flatbush, and every single day, twice a day if not more, I slither through the Union Square Subway and feeling relieved to be back in a city I feel at home in. The subway in that way, becomes metaphorical of the phases of life I’ve traveled through. The phrase, “the next stop is…” is in reference to me starting my new life and education at Parsons, and moving on.

I chose the fragrance ad for Oh Lola!, partially due to my background knowledge of the campaign. It was banned due to the model’s pose being too suggestive for her age despite her styling. I immediately was reminded of Vladimir Nabokov’s story of Lolita. I decided to strip the image of any suggestion and amplified it’s message by replacing the perfume bottle with a champagne bottle, and coloring her lips. I faded the image slightly as a way of representing childhood slipping away. I feel like both images speak to the strain young girls face today in regards to sexualizing themselves, as encouraged by the media. The text has been rearranged, with Marc Jacobs’ name moved to the top and made smaller to suggest that it’s understood that the image pushes boundaries, causing him to hide his name rather than show it off. “The New Teenager” caption has replaced “The New Fragrance for Women” since the subject was not yet considered a woman at the time, and it appealed to a much younger demographic.