Thursday, December 3, 2009
Impressive work from the almighty seniors, and a farewell to photography class
I stopped by the gallery to view the show last week, and although I wasn't able to go to the opening, I still managed to speak to two out of three artists about their work.
Krista put together a set of pieces expressing Spanish influenced forms of dance. She says that the dances were performed mainly by gypsies, jews, and arabs. The hand motions are very important and were crucial parts of her paintings. She said that the three blank canvases displayed in the front of the gallery were for images of the feet hands and whole body movements that were projected onto the canvases. The body parts were moving, showing how the dance would have been performed. Her pieces include wonderful drapery and the hand and finger gestures were my favorite part. My favorite piece was called Sevillanas, which had a royal blue background and a female who, although a still frame, captured the essence of so much movement.
Monica's exhibit was the next that I looked at. Her art was very fashion-based. There were a couple human figures wearing clothing that she must have designed herself. It looked like the sketches that designers would turn in to companies to be made into actually clothing. One of the pieces I had seen in an exhibit last year. It was a blue piece with a beautiful female face.
Last but not least was Cassie's exhibit. At first I stood there staring at her installation exhibit wondering if I was to remain on the outside, just observing, or if I was supposed to go inside. Draped sheets covered the exhibit like a tent and strings of medicince bottles draped the opening doorway like the hippy beads I used to have in my room in grade school. I could feel the intensity of the piece just from looking inward. I could see that the tape on the floor made human outlines similar to the ones you would see at a crime scene. My first thought was suicide. I read her statement to find that she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis one month before her twenty-first birthday. She designated everyone to go in and even sit down on the couch that was against the wall, so I did. While inside I noticed that the tape that made the human outlines had writing covering every inch of it. I could not tell if they were lyrics from songs or if they were extracts from a diary, maybe even the thoughts that were running through her head when she was writing them. On the back wall were seven self-portraits that were extremely wide ranging yet the face consistent and identifiably Cassie. There were shoes set in the corners with nails protruding directly up. Her guitar was in another corner wrapped in barbed-wire. She explains that every day is painful and the nails and barbed-wire help to convey the pain she experiences. The pill bottles streaming down on the doorway are bottles that she has gone through. There is no cure, only medicine to relieve some pain and reduce the swelling. I had a class last year with Cassie and have seen her progression. She has come along way and achieved great artistic qualities in her exhibit called "99 pills."
I want my pictures to be the last blog on my site, so I'm going to do my normal blog on this one as well. I cannot believe that photography is over. The semester flew by! I enjoyed the presentations and thought that it was a great way to show the class how we can apply what we have learned throughout the semester. Although I did not enjoy the blogging assignments, I am glad and feel quite accomplished to have a compilation of blogging posts. I hope to continue blogging, and probably will have millions of things to talk about now that it is not for an assignment! That's the way it goes! I feel like I am much more knowledgable on the field of photography, and although not even close to being a proffesional, I think I could put up a rather convincing front.
Krista put together a set of pieces expressing Spanish influenced forms of dance. She says that the dances were performed mainly by gypsies, jews, and arabs. The hand motions are very important and were crucial parts of her paintings. She said that the three blank canvases displayed in the front of the gallery were for images of the feet hands and whole body movements that were projected onto the canvases. The body parts were moving, showing how the dance would have been performed. Her pieces include wonderful drapery and the hand and finger gestures were my favorite part. My favorite piece was called Sevillanas, which had a royal blue background and a female who, although a still frame, captured the essence of so much movement.
Monica's exhibit was the next that I looked at. Her art was very fashion-based. There were a couple human figures wearing clothing that she must have designed herself. It looked like the sketches that designers would turn in to companies to be made into actually clothing. One of the pieces I had seen in an exhibit last year. It was a blue piece with a beautiful female face.
Last but not least was Cassie's exhibit. At first I stood there staring at her installation exhibit wondering if I was to remain on the outside, just observing, or if I was supposed to go inside. Draped sheets covered the exhibit like a tent and strings of medicince bottles draped the opening doorway like the hippy beads I used to have in my room in grade school. I could feel the intensity of the piece just from looking inward. I could see that the tape on the floor made human outlines similar to the ones you would see at a crime scene. My first thought was suicide. I read her statement to find that she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis one month before her twenty-first birthday. She designated everyone to go in and even sit down on the couch that was against the wall, so I did. While inside I noticed that the tape that made the human outlines had writing covering every inch of it. I could not tell if they were lyrics from songs or if they were extracts from a diary, maybe even the thoughts that were running through her head when she was writing them. On the back wall were seven self-portraits that were extremely wide ranging yet the face consistent and identifiably Cassie. There were shoes set in the corners with nails protruding directly up. Her guitar was in another corner wrapped in barbed-wire. She explains that every day is painful and the nails and barbed-wire help to convey the pain she experiences. The pill bottles streaming down on the doorway are bottles that she has gone through. There is no cure, only medicine to relieve some pain and reduce the swelling. I had a class last year with Cassie and have seen her progression. She has come along way and achieved great artistic qualities in her exhibit called "99 pills."
I want my pictures to be the last blog on my site, so I'm going to do my normal blog on this one as well. I cannot believe that photography is over. The semester flew by! I enjoyed the presentations and thought that it was a great way to show the class how we can apply what we have learned throughout the semester. Although I did not enjoy the blogging assignments, I am glad and feel quite accomplished to have a compilation of blogging posts. I hope to continue blogging, and probably will have millions of things to talk about now that it is not for an assignment! That's the way it goes! I feel like I am much more knowledgable on the field of photography, and although not even close to being a proffesional, I think I could put up a rather convincing front.
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