Outline:
1- Tea Activity + Topic sentence
2- Photos of my final piece + Documentation
3- Artist Statement
4- Reflection
1- Tea Activity + Topic sentence
At that stage, I wasn’t able to accurately articulate my message because I was still unsure about some aspects of my project. Nevertheless, I knew I was going in that direction and I tried to incorporate my concept during this mini activity.
This activity was very challenging. I found myself restricted to use one specific medium that I would have never think of, but that was the whole point of the exploration. Pushing ourselves to work with mediums that we are not familiar with can lead to beautiful surprises and can inspire us to take new initiatives.
2- Photos of my final piece + Documentation
Colored spirits
Tulle, Printed Photographs, Cloth Rack, Hangers
99×46 cm
2019
The title of this piece is Colored spirits and I will be explaining why I chose this specific title throughout the clarification of the whole project.
My topic is about this relationship between colors and attitude and I basically wanted to comment on the fact that in today’s world, with the mass production in the fashion industry and its wide offered variety of colored textiles, we are all making color choices that respond to unconscious preferences in order to express ourselves through the concept of colors.
There is a contrast between the diversity that we are exposed to and our behavioral response: we are embracing our individuality and authenticity through our color decisions.
The colors we decide to wear reveal a lot of our taste, mood and even traits of our personality. The way I see it is that colors play a major role in self-awareness and identity shaping.
I decided to take away the form of the regular configuration of clothes to erase my audience’s attention on that detail and have them focus more on the colors of the articles.
By installing the work on a mobile and open rack, I want to induce the sense of freedom and comment on the fact that we have the option to pick whatever satisfies our unconscious preferences.
The wearing of clothing is a sort of layering: an explicit and first-degree layer that unveils aspects of internal decisions which was the motive of my choice of semi-transparent fabric.
The see-throughness and transparency of the fabric portrays the idea of exposure and revelation.
I decided to stick on the most habitual colors because the selection is simply not the main focus of the piece. It is more about the idea that there is always a meaning or message behind a connotation of color in general.
Concerning the process of my work, I think that the photographs allowed me to discover new traits of my identity. I went for a self-exploratory experience because I had to become an audience member of my piece and I had to translate my hidden implications on colors. I was really surprised by the accuracy of the final outcome.
I want to keep my work open to the public by not explicitly writing down my emotions. I just think that my pictures are already a strong visual representation of my feelings.
That’s also why I kept white borders on the pictures to show that there is room to other points of view and opinions and that I am not taking over the whole blank space.
Throughout the semester I researched a lot of artists like Emmanuelle Moureuax and Gabriel Dawe who both worked with colors and installations. It was very interesting to contemplate how other artists used different approaches to the same concept to deliver their message.
One of the most helpful discussion was with Lionel Sabatte. His work and concept simply reminded me of the importance of incorporating a touch of personalism and DNA in the work and that initiated me to add a personal touch in the piece.
I am passionate about colors and I enjoy manipulating them to stimulate and trigger emotions. I am convinced that colors reveal traits of our identity and I want to communicate that to the people.
3- Artist Statement:
The colors we decide to wear reveal a lot about our taste, our mood, and even our personality. Through my installation, I want to comment on the fact that today’s fashion industry is offering us a wide variety of colors in textiles and that we are unconsciously taking advantage of that diversity to express our originality and embrace authenticity.
Observation is what fuels my creative process the most. I am deeply interested in analyzing and understanding my environment. I get inspired by simply contemplating the people and the ambience that surround me, knowing that I have developed a genuine curiosity for behaviorism. I look for the reason or the motor behind people’s conduct because I enjoy drawing connections between behavior and environment. This creative drive is also fed by regular visits to museums and the contemplation of other’s artist work. For this project, I went for a self-exploratory experience. I became an audience member of my piece to portray my hidden implications on colors and to embrace this relationship between my behavior and what surrounds me.
To transcribe my inspiration into tangible work, I start with a lot of researching. The main source of my information comes from the media or the news. I always try to assess their credibility by referring to art history. This process allows me to progress exponentially, and this tidiness always manages to translate in the final form of my works. I love keeping my work very simple and ordered to translate my ideas through a visual language that I relate to. I am passionate about colors and I manipulate them to stimulate emotions. I am convinced that colors reveal traits of our identity and I want to communicate that to people.
4- Reflection – Feedback:
During the critique, I enjoyed listening to other people’s comments on my work. I found it very enriching to listen to other interpretations. We were discussing how I could take my piece further to expand it, and I was very satisfied by the diversity of options and concepts that my comrades and instructors offered. Someone mentioned the idea of redefining my audience by keeping the work exclusive to color-blinded people, another student introduced the concept of nuances and shades, allowing me to focus on one specific color and analyzing its gradation, my instructors commented on the entailment of time and space in the work, and explained how these two fundamental concepts can have the potency to constantly redetermine or redefine both the structure and content of the piece. It was definitely worth receiving feedback and being exposed to comments in order to explore further potential directions.
Working on a single project throughout the whole semester was pretty challenging. I was very lost at the beginning so I started doing a lot of research. This technique was very effective and it helped refine my ideas. Although I benefited so much from it, I admit that I overdid it: I spent most of my time nourishing my creativity with information and visuals and I got to a point where I found myself overwhelmed with all this research. For future projects, I will definitely try to find a balance between “researching” and “making” in order to use my time wisely. I am very satisfied with the final outcome of my work and I am proud to say that I was able to overcome the confusion and the fear.