Project Deconstruction

During the first semester for Studio I was assigned by Frank Holliday to create a self portrait. The focus of the project was to create a work of art the reflected me as person and accurately portrayed how I see myself. The intention of the project was to make us think of how we wanted ourselves to be viewed. The guidelines were broad therefore I wanted to create a portrait as unconventional as possible.
I began thinking about the possible ways I could create this self portrait as I wanted to create a three dimensional piece. My goal was to create a work that portrays me not only in the physical sense, but also who I am on the inside. After sketching out my ideas I decided I was going to create something similar to a time capsule, containing objects personal to me. I have always collected small objects that I thought were sentimental and reminded me of small events in my life that have in some way influenced who I am today. These objects are typically receipts, tickets, photographs, notes and letters.
For this piece I used objects that I felt helped describe me and show what is important to me as a person. For the piece I used a hospital band as it contained information about my identity, for example my name, age and gender. I used a caviar tin to show my cultural background. I used family photo of me, my grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins as my family has played an integral role in my life and having a large family has strongly influenced my personality. I used a small drawing I did of myself to show how I see myself and contrast it with the way others see me by looking at the piece. I also used cutouts from postcards I’ve received as I have a personal attachment to each sender.
Once I collected the objects I constructed a box using plexiglass and a mirror as the bottom. The mirror is meant to further the idea of “self reflection”. I used thread to hang the objects inside the box to create an illusion that they are floating. The natural movement that occurs from this has made this piece more of an installation, than simply a 3D self portrait.
This project was meaningful to me as I was able to explore the idea of identity and self. It helped me figure out what is actually important to me and how I would describe myself. This project also thought me more about working in 3D as my previous work is mostly two dimensional.

Visual Culture Bridge 1

Sigmar Polke “Bikini Frauen

I got this image from the internet and chose it because it features women in lingerie printed on to a piece of fabric. I found this to be a good discussion image for gender roles.

Takashi Murakami Toys

This is  a photograph I took of a Murakami exhibition in Moscow. The reason I chose this is because I wanted to further my investigation of gender, its perception and gender roles. This image I felt worked as children toys are typically heavily gendered and this is a good example of that as there is such a large selection and variety. This piece was about 2m long.

Rene Magritte “Menaced Assasin”

This was a painting I saw at the MoMa. I chose it in relation to gender because of the high contrast between the depiction of the men and the woman in the piece.

Fernand Leger “Three Women”

This painting from the MoMa I thought was an excellent work to use in my discussion and investigation of gender. The reason I chose it was because I wanted to further my research on how women are portrayed in art and contrast it to my previous images.

 

David Salle “Sextant in Dogtown”

This painting I found on the internet I thought provided an interesting angle to my research. The women in the piece are placed below the presumably “male” figures. The women also do not have an identity, are in black and white and their figures are sexualized. I thought this was a good example of misogyny in art that is still present.

Chris Levine photograph of Queen Elizabeth II

This is a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II that I found on the internet. I chose this piece because while it is still very gendered it is empowering for women which creates a contrast with my previously selected images by Magritte and Salle.

Picture from the Blond

This was a photograph I took at the Blond in the 11 Howard hotel. I chose this because of the woman depicted on the coaster. I found this interesting from a gender perspective as it is to a certain degree sexist as it is using an image of a woman as an everyday object.