A "Homely" Object

For the spring session of my collage class we were instructed to choose a "homely" or common object to be used for the full 10 weeks but treated differently each time.  I decided to choose keys.  Week 1 was to create a narrative telling a story in collage.  An iconic image that is quickly recognizable  "The Peaceable Kingdom" was one I decided to alter into "Keys to the Peaceable Kingdom."  I photocopied several keys, added an arm and a figure of a man dressed in an old-fashioned suit.  I also added an ornate frame.  And here is the result:

The "Hatchlings" Series

A while ago I completed an assemblage using a small unfinished wooden box, paint, collage papers, and plastic babies to create a piece I called "Hatchlings."  I felt it was one of my more successful pieces and soon sold it.  I then decided that this concept could be part of a series.  With that in mind I just finished a new one called "Medieval Hatchlings."  Both are pictured below.  In the first piece, I filled the box with straw and rested clay eggs on the surface.  The second box is filled with a fabric pillow that I pieced together and rested clay eggs on the top of it.

I wanted to mention a small but fascinating exhibit I recently saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org.  It is the sculpures of a Cambodian artist by the name of Sopheap Pich.  Using indigenous materials he creates beautiful forms that are technically and esthetically most impressive.  An example of one of them is pictured below.  Along with his pieces is a fascinating video depicting the process.

Cambodian Rattan

The Sculptures of Sopheap Pich

February 23–July 7, 2013

Galleries 209, 249 & 251

"This exhibition presents ten works by the contemporary Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich (born 1971), who lives and works in Phnom Penh. Pich works principally in rattan and bamboo, constructing organic open-weave forms that are solid and ethereal, representational and abstract. Much of his work is inspired by elements of the human anatomy or plant life. His constructions combine his training as a painter with the spatial conceptualization of a sculptor, creating three-dimensional objects that are largely defined by their graphic character. Pich's art consciously embodies his memories of culture and place. The exhibition is installed in three spaces in the Asian galleries, including an integration into historical displays, and is part of the Museum's contribution to the New York–wideSeason of Cambodia."

Surrealism

A 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind.

The Morgan Library www.themorgan.org has mounted a large show that is open to the public until April 21 and definitely worth visiting.

"Bringing together more than 160 works on paper by such iconic artists as Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Leonora Carrington, and Joan Miró, this is the first major exhibition to explore the central role of drawing in surrealism, one of the most important movements in twentieth-century art. Once considered a minor medium, drawing became a predominant means of expression and innovation among surrealist artists in the first half of the twentieth century, resulting in a rich array of graphic techniques including automatic drawing, collage, decalcomania, exquisite corpse, and frottage."

I then created a surrealist collage of my own:

Color Studies and Motion

My last two collages deal with 2 elements:  color studies and motion:

What inspired me to create the above piece was seeing "The Life of Pi" for the second time.  The cinematography was so beautiful that I was mesmerized by the amazing graphics and colors especially the scenes on and under the ocean.  I think that is why I chose the fish to be an important part of the collage.  The round form represents the motion and the fish are swimming either toward or away from the shape depending on the viewer.

We all grew up with "The Wizard of Oz" and in this piece I inserted Dorothy and friends in a surreal environment.  I painted wooden triangles to match the original road and then proceeded to display them in a way that looks like the road is breaking up.  I also added shiny black triangles to add more contrast to this fantasy.

Matisse at the Metropolitan Museum

I recently went to the Metropolitan Museum to view the latest Matisse exhibit "Matisse in Search of True Painting."  I have always enjoyed many of Matisse's paintings in particular his strong use of color and shape.  What was particularly interesting to me was to see his process.  Before he finished a painting he would rework it, sketch it, overpaint it many times.  What appears to be a simplistic piece of work was often a very thought out and carefully rendered work of art.  As part of the exhibit, the process he went through is displayed below:

Abstracting a Landscape or Interior

Recently my class was given the assignment to create an abstraction from a landscape or interior.  Duncan Grant's "Interior at Gordon Square" was the example as part of the show at the MOMA "Inventing Abstraction."  Below is an image of his painting:

I took that as an opportunity to create my own landscape using dimensional materials, primarily wooden triangles and cylinders, adding some pieces of grid paper and then adhering everything onto cardboard, and finally mounting the piece on an off- white board.  I created this from looking at a print of an old-fashioned town with many little houses and a waterfall.  Below is the finished piece: