triptych
Exhibition Text
Progression is a triptych series inspired by Gustav Klimt's works and the Vienna Secession movement. This series was centered around my own crippling self-doubt and anxiety, and how i hope to work to overcome my own inner conflicts.
Planning
Artistic Inspiration
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter who is most known for his paintings from the Symbolism and Art Nouveau periods. Klimt was originally a conventional academic painter. He was known for his detailed and realistic architectural paintings. However, he moved away entirely from realism and historical subject material all together as he moved to attempting to discover the more decorative possibilities of art. One perspective of Gustav’s art was that it was a transition mechanism between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This was around the time of the inventions of life altering technologies, and Klimt’s work often reflected that delicate balance of what is known and remains unknown. It was the beginning of a new era.
Gustav’s ultimate purpose was to create gesamtkunstwerk, or a “total work of art.” This could also be seen as the use of decoration for fulfilling art. Klimt also worked with Wiener Werkstätte. 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 |
Planning Sketches
My first sketch attempts were all portraits. I had the intention of painting three self-portraits that demonstrated how i perceived myself, who I actually was, and how I wanted to be viewed as. This is my first idea, which is a play on words demonstrating how I am my own biggest critic. In other words, how I "beat myself up."
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**WILL SCAN**
My second sketch was how I thought that I was seen by other people. My stance in this sketch is more defensive, and the color scheme is slightly darker than my first. The geometric shapes were more structured, but this limited my ability for complex designs based off the color-scheme that I chose, resulting in me scrapping this particular sketch based off of the lack of ability to incorporate intricate detail such as Gustav. |
This is where I edited my initial idea of three self-portraits and decided on incorporating other Gustav works such as The Tree of Life (1905). With the use of trees as symbolism, I did decide to continue with my initial ideas for theme. I also chose to male this panel the middle panel to be my tree panel to show the progression of time from where I am to where I want to be.
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Process
The first step of my process was to stretch and gesso three two foot by one foot canvasses. After this, i had to decide upon a color scheme for all three of my pieces. I settled upon a crimson red, gold, and brown set of colors with other flesh-tones and berry hues. The next step was to sketch rough outlines of my sketches on top of my base coat color, and begin to apply second step base colors such as the skin tone, or deep brown for the sweater in the first panel. I proceeded to create simple structures for the various pieces of jewelry, as well as the other geometric shapes in the piece, and created smaller color pallets for those regions. Lastly, I added texture in areas such as the hair and sweater, as well as create the bruising around the eyes and shading of the face.
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My second panel began the same as my first, with the painting of the deep red background. This was also the panel that I decided to use an alternate inspiration and opted to paint a tree instead of a self-portrait. To start my tree, I experimented with a gold base coat, to fit my color scheme. I applied several layers of this gold and free-handed a tree like form. I didn't want to copy directly from Gustav, but I did want to keep the free moving surreal style branches. Afterward, I applied
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Experimentation
Reflection
Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of my piece. I feel that I was able to exaggerate the human form and features, but still keep that crucial element of realism that I was looking for. I feel that my piece is easily connected to my artist inspiration, and that highlights of his work (i.e. prominent geometric shapes, semi-realism, drama, and elongated features) are all present within my own piece. Gustav also frequently covers the ideas of self-identity through various subjects without the use of his own form, which I attempted to convey in my second panel. I wish that I had spent more time on the hair in my first panel. Hair is normally a stronger point for me, and i feel that it really fell flat. The colors appeared to blend in with the background and make it appear blocky and lose its realistic touch. I also would have liked to add more shapes into the piece, specifically within the background of my pieces. I feel that this would have created an even stronger connection with Gustav upon first glance. My last critique, if I was able to do it again would be to create more harmony within my three pieces. I like certain aspects about all three of the pieces as individuals, but I feel that the progression between the three is confusing and could be stronger.
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?
- I attempted to take elements of Gustav's work and portray it in my own through the prominent use of geometric shapes, specific color scheme, and blurring the lines between real and Post-Impressionism. I also wanted to use a similar style as Gustav, with the use of a pale complexion, slightly exaggerated features, but also realistic.
- Gustav famously said, "Non of my self portraits are of me." I wanted to use a similar mentality in the more abstract idea of what things are. Gustav was often his hardest critic, as well. An idea that I used in my pieces was that things should never be taken for face value.
- The Catholic Church liked to believe that they were the final say in what was and what was not acceptable in art. They were very controlling with certain themes and ideas that people had questions on, or that peaked individuals interest. They were oppressive to many artists for expressing their artistic talents, including Gustav.
- My research was centered-around the idea of self portrayal of artists.
- How a person perceives their own work and their own accomplishments is often much different then how it is, for better or for worse.
Bibliography
“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.
“Gustav Klimt Biography.” The Complete Works. N.p., n.d Web. 26 Jan. 2017.