Project #5
Exhibition Text
Title: I have Made one too many Turns
Size: 3'x3'
Medium: Acrylic
Date: 12/01/17
I Have made one too many Turns is an acrylic painting inspired by local Wisconsin artist Jake Nordstrum and Gustav Klimt. The painting is reliant on geometric abstraction as it reflects on the lack of a linear path through the choices that are made in life.
Size: 3'x3'
Medium: Acrylic
Date: 12/01/17
I Have made one too many Turns is an acrylic painting inspired by local Wisconsin artist Jake Nordstrum and Gustav Klimt. The painting is reliant on geometric abstraction as it reflects on the lack of a linear path through the choices that are made in life.
Critical Investigation
Jake Nordstrum is an up-and-coming artist that became established in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. Nordstrum has a bachelor's degree of arts from the University of Wisconsin in both drawing and painting. His main focus in art is abstraction. Two of his largest sources of inspiration are Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso.Nordtrum attempts to follow suit of Picasso’s understanding of art in that powerful art is conveyed through emotion rather than the supercilious surface level of beauty. Also, incorporating Picasso, Nordstrum follows suit with the importance in the instruments that were utilized during the creation of the piece. There is little planning or forethought that goes into Nordtrum’s paintings. He believes that the beauty lies within the creation of the art piece rather than the piece itself. In his mind, art is not about a subject matter rather the feeling that is being conveyed in the process of creating art. Most of Nordstrum’s themes have to do with Christianity and the juxtaposition of abstract art
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Gustav’s ultimate purpose was to create gesamtkunstwerk, or a “total work of art.” The goal of this studio was to improve the level of quality and performance of everyday objects. Gustav was one of the primary influences of Art Nouveau period. His work often reflected the line between natural and artificial, fine and decorative art. His own personal inspirations came from ethereal atmospheres and artists such as Aubrey Beardsley. Gustav also used some components and techniques from the Impressionist movement as well as motifs from Greek, Egyptian, and Byzantine art. As popular of an artist as Gustav is today, he received a significant amount of criticism and condemnation for his work in the early twentieth century. Gustav frequently used themes that were looked down upon by the highly influential Catholic church. The church did not approve of Gustav’s works that dealt with topics such as death and sex, which was a large portion of the topics that Gustav enjoyed displaying in his pieces. At times, Gustav received charges of obscenity and criticism for his approaches to symbolism and use of erotic elements. “The relaxation which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.”~ Gustav Klimt
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Planning Sketches
My first planning sketch is simply a study of Gustav Klimt. When I begin every project, I attempt to familiarize myself with the various proportions and the particular style of the artist. Here I simply sketched some of Gustav's various studies and demonstrated my development in technique.
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The second sketch is an actual idea for my piece. Here I attempted to create a specific color scheme in addition to a possible outline for the piece itself. This one is very similar to that of Make his Paths Straight by Jake Nordstrum. The colors are more reliant upon reds and blend into purple at the areas with most shadow.
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Process
3. Next, I created a base for my geometric layout. One of the positives of creating an abstract piece is the ability for it to lack any defined structure. This allowed me to add on to my piece as I saw fit in order to ensure unity and cohesiveness throughout. I stuck with rectangular shapes and squares before moving on to the curved 2D line forms that crossed over one another giving the piece the allusion of being more 3D or at least having several levels.
4. Afterwords, I started on the process of shading. Some of the difficulties that lied within this piece were the separations between the shapes. What I mean by this is that the piece is not supposed to be broken down into a multitude of fragments, rather it is supposed to be one and unified. As a result, I attempted to blend the edges of the squares together to limit the amount of harsh, dark lines in the piece. However, this led to some blurring and loss of structure which had to be reinstated. |
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Experimentation
My largest area of consolidated experimentation was within the blending that I did. The piece is divided into a multitude of different shapes, particularly rectangles and squares. The image is supposed to reflect one of unity and cohesiveness, however when I began to increase the amount of blending to reduce the harsh lines, it lost the structure that kept the piece together and started to become murky and diluted. To combat this, I reapplied smaller short dark lines or sections throughout the piece in order to try and create a bit more structure. I wanted there to be certain components that blended while others stood out more. This helped increase the level of contrast within the piece itself and helped the piece not become too busy with other parts.
Reflection and Evaluation
This piece was not my favorite of the ones that I have completed. This has to deal less with the craftsmanship of the piece and more with the subject matter. This was my first painting piece that had anything to do with abstract elements as a focal point. In my mind it looks sloppy and I cannot point to an individual area of focus. To me, the piece is too chaotic and crowded. An art piece is supposed to have movement that helps the viewers eyes travel across the piece. Instead, that progression is replaced by a constant confusing mess of lines and blending that is constant. The figures do not blend well together, and there is limited purpose. My favorite aspect of this piece would have to be the coloration. I enjoy my color palette, because of its connection to my artist inspirations in addition to how the colors meld well with one another to form different shades while continuing in the contrast of warm and cool.
Connecting to the ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- Noh masks are the key element in this piece. They are used to convey various emotions in the artwork.
- Noh is the oldest form of theatre that is still performed today. It is an art form that has been carried on for centuries and continues to help educate large gatherings of people about various truths about life. Theatre is often about conveying difficult subjects in various forms.
- Art does not have to have words in order to be felt. Music, paintings, and acting all have a way of communication without direct translation from the artist.
- Communication is key to understanding in any art form, but it is also necessary in life. For my piece, I looked to incorporate symbols that represented communication with others.
- Stories are not always what they are perceived to be. There does not always have to be understanding in order to have appreciation.
Bibliography
https://www.saatchiart.com/jakenordstrum
https://www.artsinmilwaukee.org/profiles/2420/
“Gustav Klimt Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story. N.p,n.d Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
“Gustav Klimt Biography.” The Complete Works. N.p., n.d Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
https://www.artsinmilwaukee.org/profiles/2420/
“Gustav Klimt Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story. N.p,n.d Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
“Gustav Klimt Biography.” The Complete Works. N.p., n.d Web. 26 Jan. 2017.