Seminar:Signs & Systems (Studio Assignment #2)

Seminar :Signs & Systems
Studio Assignment #2

Research

Beginning the exploration of reduction printing. This is a process where the artist carves out of the block as they print, slowly creating the entire series at once.

Ex:

Doing research in my culture (2D Narrative Project) – illustrations of traditional costumes that have been a large interest and part of my experience growing up not only in NYC, an extremely diverse place, but also growing up with immigrant parents.

Illustrations from 2D studio Narrative Project: A response to my research and my own version of the documentation.

Written Intent:

I was born and raised in New York City. Growing up in such a huge city exposed me to so many cultures and so much diversity, yet because I was raised by immigrant parents that came here looking for the “American Dream” therefore I was raised in a completely different way from most people my age. It’s because I was raised in their Polish customs, their traditions and for as long as I can remember my parents surrounded me with their native language. A language that I consider to be my own now. In fact, today I am extremely connected to my Polish roots because of what my parents did for me and one of these things was encouraging me to take part in traditional polish dances. This lead to me spending a good chunk of my time dancing around in elegant and bright costumes and even though sometimes they felt a little too stuffy when I got older I took it upon myself to continue wearing them to present my culture to my friends. This one polish traditional outfit became a huge part of my life and now as a scout leader for a polish troop here in NYC, it’s my duty to educate young girls who want to continue to learn about their heritage just like I had. Because of them, I was inspired to start a painting. I decided that I wanted to showcase my polish tradition but as I began to paint I realized one painting just didn’t feel right. I wondered if oil paint was even the right medium and I’m thankful I followed my instinct to abandon the initial project to start from scratch. Go back to the research I had begun and dive back it and to come back out of it this new idea that illustration was the way I wanted to show these traditions. Through line and the use of watercolor I wanted to present something that could be educational but also could be part of a story, therefore this project has now lead me to question and think of my work as a book and as a series of small works that could expand beyond the traditional Polish costume.

Compare and Contrast Reseach and Influence:

Simone Leigh and Fran Siegel are both artists influenced by their culture. Culture is a word that is a vague description of who we all are. Culture influences us all and is what the signifier that explains to us why we have certain traits, personalities, activities, etc. Therefore, culture comes in different aspects. For Leigh her cultural inspiration comes from her personal roots; her black heritage and feminist history while for Siegel her inspiration comes from the cultural traditions she had seen in the Golf Coast’s, Manasota Key. Both artists related to my work for this assignment because I as well work within the foundations and explorations of my culture in my own artwork.

Reflection:

My work is a representation of my culture and it’s qualities. I don’t exactly strive to inform my audience with some fun facts about the country that I call home, instead, I strive to inform them of its beauty and significance as any culture in the world. I use icons that speak to me to show true representations of the people and the traditions that are practiced. My work, in general, includes a lot of landscapes, however, with this work that I am presenting I have moved away from landscapes to try to experiment with iconography. This works with printmaking for its bold imagery and experimentation of constant pattern.

Studio Assignment: