My goal this semester has been to make work that is about a communal identity rather then my own.
To find imagery representative of my community, collaboration was imperative. Using text messaging, facebook, and a lesson taught at an after school center, I asked a wide range of people one question: "What is most important to you?"
Text messaging and facebook allowed me to obtain perspectives from outside of my immediate geography. After logging answers from my friends and family, I had a hierarchal list of the most important things in people's lives. I found symbols that represented each of these words and created a group of abstract acrylic paintings on various sizes of canvas and masonite.
After these nonrepresentational paintings, I executed a local mural. I originally wanted to work at a place of high esteem, but the possibility of renovation and revitalization in my community was too strong. Mount Royal Elementary-Middle, a local "arts integration" school, wanted a mural in their theater. Because of their focus on the arts, I painted mentors teaching children dance, music, theater and visual arts.
Next I decided to implement my big question at the Police Athletic League's after-school center in my neighborhood. I asked the students to write a list of things that are important to them. They chose their best idea from the list and drew a symbol of it. I incorporated these symbols into abstract circular watercolor paintings, as well as a mural designed for the main room at the PAL center. At least forty kids from about ten different Baltimore schools looked on as "The Things That Are Important To Us" went up on their wall.
I had finally achieved my goal of visually unifying the identity of my community (both abstractly and representationally) while beautifying public spaces. However I was not content. Ironically enough, I was left with a longing to express my own identity.
When I looked back at all of the answers to my big question, I finally realized that I'm interested in making the personal universal. The most frequent answers given were friends and family. Personal, tangible relationships. So that is what I painted. My final piece, titled "Holding Painting," is all that man has ever really made art about - the personal, the relational, and ultimately the universal.
2 comments:
let's see it!
it's funny, i had a conversation with jackie recently that ended on the whole personal/universal thing. she had come to the conclusion from mondrian that the only thing we can all understand are lines and squares. and she wondered if that should make her sad...
Post a Comment