Project thesis statement
I hoped to let the viewers realize the effect of improper usage and misuse of medicine through using the shape and image of a fetus with gelatine capsule.
Inspiration
Before I get this idea, I researched about the 4 different sculptures made out of beads from Whitney Museum first since I wanted the viewers to see a connection between the piece I’m researching in Seminar class and this piece. Since we were mainly studying about materials in Studio class, and the most interesting point of the piece in Seminar class was that the artist used tiny and colorful beads to give shape to an abstract figure, I decided to use gelatine capsule which has a similar size to the beads used in the sculptures. Then, tried to think about what I draw out from this material I chose. I tried to think about how to explain gelatine capsules into words without saying what it is. For instance, it can contain something inside, is see-through, and can be poked or glued. Then, I came to the idea that the shape of gelatine capsules looks like an egg which is also like a womb. This is how I came to this idea which is also related to the main theme of the piece in Seminar class: life and death are omnipresent
Initial Project Proposal
I researched about different images of a fetus and tried to think about how to transfer the image using gelatine capsules.
I decided to fill the capsules up dyed sand or salt and collage on canvas.Since this method is somehow hard to show details, I chose to focus on the color values so the viewer can see the shape of a fetus. I started to work using photoshop and illustrator to simplify the color value. Mainly using illustrator, I redraw the drawing using only 16 different colors.
Examples of Visual Investigation and Brainstorming
Instead of writing and drawing, I researched about lots of artists and studied about the materials because I believed that experiencing materials and studying about techniques is the best way to represent my thoughts more completely. I mainly look for Michael Mapes’s work and tried to dye lots of materials. I brainstormed and imagined through experiences and researching techniques.
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Working Process & Failure
JUNE 26
DYEING SALT USING PASTELS
* I chose pastels to dye salt because there is no need to use water, so the salt won’t melt. Moreover, it is much easier to mix colors.
* However, this didn’t work as much as I thought because even though it is easy to get light colors, it was much harder to get darker and deep colors using pastels.
DYEING RICE USING WATERCOLORS
* I thought paints will work much better than pastel because the paint is liquid so would work better than powder.
*The result was almost the same as salt dyed using pastels.
*Moreover, even though the rice is fully dried, watercolor still stained on paper when it is glued.
JUNE 27
DYEING RICE USING ACRYLIC COLORS AND FILLING THE CAPSULES
*Acrylic color worked much better than watercolor. Dried fast and I was able to get a vivid color as what I wanted.
*I learned that to get bright colors, it is much better to add enough water and dry enough. When I didn’t add water, it was hard to dye it evenly and the color was little bit milky.
JUNE 28
COLOR VALUE & DYING RICE
*I kept on working with dying process and printed out the color value of the image which I draw through using a computer to dye rice exactly the same color as the drawing.
JUNE 29 (IN CLASS)
CONTINUING WITH PROCESS & FIGURE OUT SOME PROBLEMS
*I continued dying rice into 16 different colors and filling the capsules up.
*When I glued the capsules on canvas, it gets melt and didn’t stick on it. So, I decided to use styrofoam instead of a canvas so I can pin the capsules on canvas.
*Since the size of the capsule was a little bit large, I worried that the figure won’t be shown clear as much as I want. So, I decided to paint the image using acrylic first then pin the capsules on top of the styrofoam.
JUNE30, JULY1, JULY2
CONTINUING WITH PROCESS & PAINTING & PIN THE CAPSULES
* Becuase the texture of styrofoam was too visible, I painted gesso 3times on top of the board then painted the image using acrylic.
*Laid out the capsules and pin them.
*The problem was that a capsule filled up with rice is heavy so won’t stainable. They easily fell off.
*I mixed acrylic paint with glue and painted again really thick. Then put the capsules on top of it.
