Step 1 – Inspiration
- I feel lost when standing in the middle of the crowd and surrounded by unidentified noises that interweave with the music playing through my earphones. This odd feeling was so inspiring but struggled to express. A visit to Atkin’s exhibition in the New Museum influenced me so much by tracking forms of feeling covered underneath technological representation.
- AirPods can be unnecessary and unnoticeable. Yet, they are crucial to me mentally, as an invisible shelter that released me from the surrounding chaos.
Step 2 – Brainstorming
I started by brainstorming keywords such as unnoticeable, dependency, and control. Then, I made a mind map of different categories of content. Sorted out based on my subject matter, similarity in medium and the emotion I want to convey, etc. Then, I pulled out elements from each category and forced a connection between them.
Step 3 – Initial Mood Board
Specifically, ‘control’ and ‘reliance’ send my creative energy in the unique direction of parasitism. I went to the Botanic garden to gain inspirations. However, my initial mood-board sketches were too pretty with the flora aspect of the parasite. Lead to ineffectiveness in conveying the creepy image of tech reliance.
Step 4 – Adjust Ideas Based On The Theme
I felt a bot lost at this point. After had a few conversations with my mates, I investigated the style of expression by researching modern satire and Japanese horror comics. And their extracted way of visualising moods and mental states inspired me so much.
Step 5 – Working With the Elements
After sketch out a genera idea, I begin to pull key elements with similar metaphors and symbolism together. This is my favourite part! I usually do a lot of research into different artists and art styles. I enjoy the process of exploring how others express their moods and thoughts.
Step 6 – Media Experimentation
There are a lot of limitations and challenges experienced during the making process. The main reason behind is I always discover better materials during my making process. It is like I become super sensitive to materials once I started on a project. For this piece, I reconsidered the composition according to the limitation in time and materials. Shifting from multi material to purely digital, I need to maximize the visual impact on a screen shown. As a result, I exaggerated the facial expression of the human figure and skin tones.
Step 7 – Seeking Public Reactions
Once my work has a rough shape, I would start to seek advice from people. First to ensure I effectively conveyed the central message. Second, people see things from their unique perspectives, some of them bring inspirations for improvements. I personally enjoy listen to people taking about what they see from my work, I get to know their stories and discover how it is sharing their values and perspectives.
Step 8 – Speed working
After the first round of feedback, I will push the process forward and work very intensively. I usually plug my earphone in, find my favourite song and spend my entire day in the dorm or making centre. Just any place that is quiet or have a positive working atmosphere.
Step 9 – Refinements
For this work, I switched to oil paint brushes for creating brushstrokes and details such as the wound, tears, and wrinkles. I wanted to showcase how the online world weakens our communicative experiences. Hence, I used the mosaic tool to fuzz the background, emphasizing the foreground figure. In addition, I refined the picture with orange light spots for decorative purposes. Meanwhile, imply the fancy illusion that technique has brought to us.
Step 10 – Artist Statement
wether the professor asks for it or not, I always write an artist statement to my piece. I treat it like a diary that records my thought at the time. I realise that when I look back at my work after a certain amount of time, I tend to mentally alter the purpose of my creation based on my value at that time. Hence I do this step to ensure message does not lost or change overtime.
Step 11 – Seek for Opportunities
I am passionate about play a part in the art industry and I do think it is meaningful to record my growth although some of my work may still not good enough or naive at the point. However, I do send my work to the related department or available activities beyond the school purpose.
Step 12 – Deconstruction
I do create interesting symbolic combinations during some making process. This step does not usually happen, but when I created something new and interesting, I tend to save it for future use. I have a not book that records symbols and metaphors appeared in my work, they sometimes provide me with good inspirations as well.
