curiosity killed the cat, 2020

60cm x 80cm

paper,  cardboard, acrylic and gauche paint.

The Assignment:

For this assignment, we were given the task to find certain objects every day in which we would then upload to our ELP, followed with a sentence or two about the chose item. For our seminar part, we would have to write 250 worlds about literature topics. Once the seven days of collecting and writing were up, we were then given the challenge of somehow combining them into one piece which would then represent our curiosity collection.

My Group’s Collection:

To start our week of collecting and being curious, we were asked to bring in an item that we liked. We were then asked to go outside, take a photo of something, take an item, a drawing, and some notes of the surroundings of where we were. When we came back into class, we were put into groups and had to find a way to present out a collection on our table. My group and I managed to make a story about our lives here and what it was like moving here and being away from home. It was quite interesting, especially since we all had such different and quite random items, yet we somehow manage to link them all onto one storyboard.

 

The Process:

It was messy and fun. Something which I doubt that some people would believe is that I did plan this to a certain degree. Don’t get me wrong the final result was most definitely not what I had envisioned or expected, but I am thankful for it. I had started with a few drawn sketches and ideas as you will see below. These sketches were very straightforward, where I was simply taking inspiration from the different colours, shapes and movements that were seen in my collection. e.g. green for the mountains, yellow lines on the road, the red and blue line from the basketball court, black, grey and pink tones for the tar, hail and flowers. I can go on. However, once I started to paint these lines, I realised that I didn’t like it and that it wasn’t what I wanted. So I started to slowly mix and combine the colours to flow into each other then soon enough one thing lead to another, and this is what I made. And although it may look like one big mess that is intention, purpose and reasoning to each colour, each stroke, each movement seen.

My Sketches/Plans/Notes

Up Close and Personal:

To see some up-close details of my painting, I have selected these images which show certain parts of my overall piece.

Framing:

When it came to framing, I was able to edit a series of different frames and ideas for myself to choose and select which frame I believe would work best. My main focus and intention was something that would be clean and sharp and allow my painting to stand out. I started by editing my frame and text, then followed by a tradition golden frame. After this, I tried a different frame with a white border around the edge. Because of this, I was able to see that I preferred having a white border to break up the frame and the painting.

Photos of the first gold frame tester, second gold frame but with a white border. A tester of having the writing as a frame and a classic black frame with a thick white border. It was very, very helpful, having edited all these images of different outcomes/possibilities of presentation.

Deciding Between the Two:

Once I was able to decide on the frame and presentation, I had eventually decided between these two. I am still very torn between them both, and how they have presented hower after admiring both and asking around the conclusion was to go with the section option of painting, white border, text and then frame. By having the text on the outside, it enables to view to read more and see more of my main/keywords. It also helps break the piece up between my painting and the words allowing the eye to fall into the centre of the colour.

Framing:

When it came to framing, I did think about getting it professionally done. However, I thought that it might be easier for my self to try it out and learn how to properly and professionally frame a piece of art. I am glad that I did this because now the whole piece was made by my hands. To frame it, I had found a 60cmx 80cm black frame which would hold my painting. I then went to an art store and selected the highest quality cardboard, which I then took home, measured out and cut for the border. Once I did that I then proceeded to print out my written entries, measure them and place it around as a border to tie it all together. A slight inconvenience thing that I ran into was that our school printer was broken so I couldn’t print my 60×80 text frame. Because of this, I had to get it printed down the street at a printing place where it ended up costing an arm and a leg but was overall worth it.

Presentation:

For my presentation, since I wanted to have it hung up on a wall, I had to come in before our class to make sure I could make a hook because I can’t nail into the walls of the classroom. I asked the tech lab if I could use one of the portable walls which they said yes. I then proceed to go to the -2 floor to get a hammer and some nails and nailed the wall so I could hook up my project. Once I had it at my desired high and position, I then created an artist page with the title of my piece my name the materials and the year just like it was actually in a gallery being displayed.

Parts Which Relate to My Collection:

I believe that in one way or enough, all of my collected pieces fit into my final, and I can find a way in which they do. However, I believe that these selected images below are most obvious to the eye.

My Thoughts:

I love it. I’ve never felt so selfish over something which I’ve created. But I truly do adore it. Every time I look at it, it brings a smile to my face, and that makes me happy. I have it hung up in my apartment, and I feel that it brings a sense of life and positive energy into the room. I am proud of the work which I created for this assignment, and I believe that I was able to capture and incorporate my collection into one while also discovering some coincidences along the way.

Side Notes,

Inspired by our class reading, I too took part of sitting down, undisturbed and distracted with my absolute attention drawn to my painting. Unlike the students in the reading, I only gazed at it for around 50 minutes. I will say that by doing this, I was able to realise and recognised things that I don’t think I would have before. Simple little connections that I was able to observe as time went on.

Somethings which was kind of funny yet sweet which I realised was that I have a painting back home in Australia and a completely different one in Singapore and if those two paintings were to be combined between the colours and the techniques in which they were painted this would be the result.  After making this realisation, it made me even more happy for whether I intended on doing this and being unaware I now have a pice of both my homes in my home. I made by me making it all the more personal.

My Critique 

Overall I am proud of myself, and my assignment. Seeing it hung up nicely and presented to my classmates was a really rewarding feeling. I was feeling a bit worried, especially in the end for no one said anything which I’m taking as a good thing and hoping that they were all just focused on admiring the painting itself. After I had finished, I did then see all my classmates go up to the painting and start to tell me that they saw unicorns, dogs, pigs, letters, numbers all between the lines. Which I found to be fascinating for I most definitely did not intend on painting such things. After our class did receive a few follow up questions in regards to abstract art and if I would consider doing more or similar piece down the track since they enjoyed my painting.

My Research Direction

My three main directions are Food, Dreams and fire. As of right now, the main focus is the direction of fire and focusing on the fires back home in Australia. I have a few ideas of possible directions I may look into for this topic; however, they are still undecided for I am still trying to get my head around them and pick one that stands out. (If you click on the image below you can read further into my concepts)