So, I've been working still, I promise. A lot of the last two weeks has been spent playing catch up in all of my classes after the BFA show opening and the distinction paper deadline. But I was able to accomplish a few more things to finish out this quarter.
First, I've been writing a lot. Again. I felt that since I'd been spending so much time studying various mythologies, it was apt to start creating some sort of mythology or theological system for this society I invented. It's helped a lot because the development of various deities and things has helped me determine how technologically advanced this civilization is, among other things. It's still in progress, of course, but I am glad that I've been able to push all of this even further.
Once I had the system established, I tried to illustrate the six deities of this theology, which ended up looking like this:
This is basically how these figures look to the people who worship them. Each God/Goddess is paired with another, hence the similar stances, and each acts as a sort of foil to the other. They also each have their own symbol which was created from an alphabet I recently developed. (The alphabet essentially represents the language shared between the three separate sub cultures that populate this world. It is essentially english, they just have a different way of writing it). Each symbol is essentially an abstracted version of each God's name as it is written in the common language.
I did the drawings above in pencil on extra scraps of mulberry that I had around, but of course I decided that wasn't enough. On Thursday Fukami and I went on an adventure to Plasticare, where I was abole to legally acquire a couple pieces of plexiglass, and one of those pieces has now become this:
So that was fun. Actually it really was fun. I just figured I'd do it to experiment, to see what all of the fuss about plexiglass is about. It turns out that plexi is fairly fantastic. It's amazing how much depth you are able to get by simply printing on both sides of the plastic. I don't know if I'll continue to work with this material, but I'm excited that I at least got to experiment with it. Also I have no idea what to do with this thing now, but it stands on it's own, so maybe I can use it as a clever book end.
...suddenly I want to back to Plasticare to get the giant cubes they had and use them as book ends. Also I could print on them. Oh my god it never ends...
Anyway, at another point I also decided to take one of the symbols and turn it into a labyrinth. So I did. And I screen printed 15 of them, and I was going to draw on them (lots of little tiny stars again), and I did on one, but I think I like that better when I print black on black instead of black on white, so I'm not sure what to do with these now.
So there you have it. That's basically what I've been up to since the BFA show opened, aside from class projects and papers. I think my favorite thing about having decided to use my own stories as inspiration for artwork is that as long as I keep inventing and expanding this world I have created, there is no limit to what I can create from that. I just hope that it's interesting enough to appeal to an audience. At least I'll always have something to work with.
Without a decent transition, I'm just going to launch into this next part, because honestly my brain is too fried to even attempt to write this well. But let's be real, this blog post is basically just cerebral vomit. ( kind of have a hard time thinking of blogging as a place where one must write academically, so I just....don't).
I don't really know how to talk about my experiences over the last quarter. It all just feels like "A Thing That Happened" and now it's over. I mean, completing this sequence was definitely one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but of course I am extremely glad I did everything that I did. I feel like I've grown exponentially over the last two quarters, which is the point, of course, and I have learned as much as I can, and I can't wait to learn even more from whatever comes next.
Overall, I think I am glad that the sequence is structured the way it is. It's tough, and it has its issues. My biggest struggle going through all of this was reconciling the idea that I am allowed to make the art that I want to make, but I am still being graded on that work. There seemed to be an abrupt switch between quantity and quality, which came out of no where. And by that I mean that winter quarter it seemed that quantity was the goal, that we were supposed to be making a lot, and that spring quarter it was all about quality. In a way, I wish that had been clearer from the beginning, because it would have relieved me of quite a lot of stress.
I hope that made sense. Basically, what happened happened, and it happened exactly how it was supposed to, at least at the time, and I learned what I could from this experience. And I'm sad it is over.
But then there's that whole cliche "don't cry because it's over smile because it happened" trope.
But frak that I'm going to cry because it's over.
P.S. I really do love you all. Faculty, and peers, who I really hope to call friends. Thank you all for everything.
--M
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