Bio:
My name is Angelina Fan majoring in Strategic Design & Management at Parsons. My art is my emotion-my every little thought and every little palpitation. In real life, I am a rigid person and it’s only in the art world that I am liberated. Every stroke on the paper comes from me-the internal me, the subconscious me. I like to call myself an abstract artist.
Planning:
This project is specifically designed to memorize Leonora Carrington, a surrealist. The final work accurately presented her artistic style and personality on a spiritual level. The documentary of Maya Lin prepared me for this project. I needed to understand that learning the life of an artist is the key to understand her artworks. In the seminar class, I wrote a journalistic profile for my partner and read an excerpt from the memoir of Grace Coddington. This bridge 2 projects taught me how to write for a person I was not familiar with through researching and interviews. Therefore, it was easier for me to start this research project.
I started bridge 5 by reading lots of research paper about Leonora. However, it was hard for me to truly understand her personality and how her memories influenced her. Watching documentaries and interviews of her helped me immensely. The visual aspect of the research made me stand in her perspective. I started to feel her emotions, despair and rebellion. Combining visual research with reading accelerated my understanding to another level. Without research in the seminar, I would not be able to transfer my thoughts into an art form. The research process is like a strong base that buried in my subconscious mind. The knowledge makes the art-making process spontaneous and thoughtful.
Outcomes:
This picture is a reproduction of Leonora Carrington’s painting. The sense is to bring her art alive and make people see and believe the mythical world she created. [Description]
Leonora Carrington Research Paper Final
The research paper discovered how her early childhood memory, her love affair with Max Ernst and her immigrant life in Mexico impact her artworks. [Description]
This ritual performance is to express Leonora’s loneliness and pain in her life. She has never felt that she has fitted in her family, British high society, in the surrealist group or the Mexican Society. She is only in her art world where magic is created. [Description]
Thinking:
I initially thought I was going to shoot a photo version of Leonora’s painting. However, this idea did not communicate her emotions enough. From my research, I learnt that Leonora had a tough life, especially the time when she was sent to a mental hospital by her father. Then, I decided to communicate this mistreatment and emotional chaos through visual language. And a ritual is a sacred way to present Leonora and her art. Also, from research, I learnt Leonora’s devotion to Mayan art so I painted a Mayan calendar as an important element for my studio project. Overall, the project is very successful. I presented Leonora accurately and I wanted people to remember the mysterious and magical kingdom she created. During researching and performing the ritual myself, I truly felt I understood her. When I was behind the mask and costume, became part of her identity.
Conclusion:
I enjoy researching and conducting big projects like Bridge 5. It gave me all the skills to work in a bigger project like this in the future. Research is truly a digging process. The more I learn, the better I created. If I have an opportunity to work on bigger projects in the future, I will do even more research. In integrative 2, I will go to museums or libraries to strengthen my research. I believe it will help me to create stronger and better artwork.
