< PreviousJOURNAL 230 231 JOURNAL I want my work not only to be representational but also to have make-believe, dream-like qualities. German Expressionist and Surrealist really inspire me. The way they can have their works to be not only compelling visually but tell stories and have important messages is what I think makes art so impressive. That’s why in a lot of my pieces I usually take normal, maybe still lives or figure studies and change the hue of the subject to be unnatural. I also tend to make the values very dark within the painting to create depth and an eerie atmosphere. To me using this sort of technique achieves giving my work a mythical ambience. I was really able to develop this idea and technique this semester and I look forward to further work on creating my own style. Painting, Drawing and Mixed Media | Prof. Federico Gori PDM 392 Advanced Painting II Rabbit CAROLINE AULL PDMJOURNAL 232 233 JOURNAL For my final project in Advanced Painting II, I have chosen to create a series of work with spiritual and symbolic themes. In technical terms, it will consist of three separate works- united in theme and color as well as composition. The animals of innocence I chose are a swan, a dove, and a lamb. I see all three of these animals as vessels of a higher power, bringing peace to the world. Their color is also highly symbolic- white and untainted by the world. Cut through these three animals are a simple white arrow alluding to St. Sebastian, the saint who in times of the black death, Italians prayed to in hopes of salvation. The backgrounds of these works are deep Prussian blue. The creatures are rendered on the side of realism, but something to them gives them an ethereal quality. Painting, Drawing and Mixed Media | Prof. Federico Gori PDM 392 Advanced Painting II Creatures of Innocence PDM EMMA ODETTE GALLAIS PRADALJOURNAL 234 235 JOURNAL Painting, Drawing and Mixed Media | Prof. Federico Gori PDM 392 Advanced Painting II I talk in my work about what it means to be a woman – the inequalities and power balance with men, as well as trying to capture the feeling of what it means to be in our bodies. I am inspired by Tracey Emin, Francis Goya, Cecily Brown, Michael Armitage, Jenny Saville and Francis Bacon. I like to create tension, for example like taking a dark subject and painting it a light happy color. I also like to overlap figures and morph/distort them to show physical connection, the connections between experiences and also the distortion of memory. It is not important to me if the work is realistic or abstract- I do both and something in the middle; it is more important that I have something in my head I am describing and letting out on the canvas. Even though I would like my work to translate what I was trying to describe it does not matter to me so much that the viewer understands, but that they can be intrigued by the ambiguity and feel something from the color choices. PDM MIA GRASSIE-CLARKEJOURNAL 236 237 JOURNAL My paintings this semester have worked to accomplish various things. The painting of the model focused on capturing movement while my painting of the room tried to accomplish the surrealistic technique. My collection of paintings for my final project is one that I feel I have left a part of myself in. When beginning this semester, I had no idea that my education, lifestyle, and living status would drastically change. This semester started as a semester abroad in Florence, Italy. When planning my final project, I was basing my inspirations on abstract ideas that I thought felt personal and immediate. Within 5 weeks of my semester, due to unforeseen events, my peers and I were sent to our home countries within a few days of notice. Because of this, the old ideas I had for my final project no longer felt relevant and I found myself not knowing what to do. While spending an innumerable amount of hours at home with no way of going out, I felt a pressure to start and finish numerous tasks and pick up every hobby and talent I knew. This feeling of pressure was the catalyst for my paintings and what they embodied. While my feeling of instability during this time was hard, I turned it into something positive, using it as an inspiration but also as a motivation while creating my final project. Painting, Drawing and Mixed Media | Prof. Federico Gori PDM 392 Advanced Painting II PDM JULIA HIGGINSJOURNAL 238 239 JOURNAL For this project, I have created images of my body as I view it now, from the position of someone who has partially recovered from anorexia. Through the process of drawing myself in the mirror many times, I have gained a great deal of clarity. This was a mentally challenging task to take on, I often found myself frustrated or discouraged, but in the end it was an extremely therapeutic and beneficial experience for me as an artist. As I stood in the mirror and tried out many different poses, I found that I really enjoyed poses that felt vulnerable or exposing. I believe that the works show a sense of vulnerability and sexuality, which is closely tied to my journey to self-acceptance. PDM AVA PEARLMAN Painting, Drawing and Mixed Media | Prof. Federico Gori PDM 392 Advanced Painting IINext >