Portal
Exhibition:
Samantha Loontjens
"Portal" 91.44 cm x 167.64 cm Ephemera mixed with Photoshop The piece "Portal" is an ephemeral artwork inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and his creations of working with nature such as Woven branch circular arch as well as Nathalia Suellen and her piece Inner Conflict . The meaning of this piece is to represent an entrance or gateway that engages the viewer attention seeing the two worlds, as the outside portrays one world while the inside contains another. |
Artist Inspiration:
- The two Andy Goldsworthy pieces Woven Branch Circular Arch and inspired my piece to create a combination of both of his works. I imitated the idea of creating woven branches in a circular shape while also including the use of Nathalia Suellen work by placing a photo of my work into Photoshop and incorporating the idea of two worlds into my piece.
Planning Sketches:
- Here are three planning sketches that I have created that helped developed my ideas when creating my final piece. I decided to created a piece where I still included the circular shape as the centerpiece of my artwork based off of my inspiration. Here is where I decided to include Andy Goldsworthy use of leaves and incorporate them towards the base of my piece. The first planning sketch has a circular base compared to the second planning sketch that consist of a more triangular base. The third planning sketch fans outward, looking like a wing form.
Progress:
Experimentation:
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Making Process: |
Reflection:
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First when starting this project I gathered several of sticks together that were generally the same size. Then I went out and found some bright colored leaves that I could paste on the bottom of my piece. First when starting off I created a square like form as the base of the project. Then I started overlapping the branches together on the ground, starting that general form of a circle. I weaved the branches within each other to create a similar look to Andy Goldsworthy work. I crossed the branches on the base of the project multiple times for a foundation and then started to place branches vertically, to form that overall circle shape. I allowed the access amount of the branches to stick out like my inspiration. Once I finished my piece outdoors I photographed it and placed it into Photoshop. From there I edited pieces from my inspiration Nathalia Suellen and incorporated the idea of having two worlds into my piece starting with the outside world and then going to the inside world. At the end I edited any poor cropping lines to make the piece look better. I choose to have a weaker opacity to blend the piece together with the Photoshop portion of the piece.
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When creating this piece I was struggling at the basic structure as there was multiple times where the sticks would collapse and I work have to start over again. But once I created that base foundation, of a square like structure the process of creating "Portal" became much easier to construct. At the end, after finishing the main structure and incorporating filler in sticks make the piece stand out more, I had some difficultly as the lose sticks wouldn't stay completely in place. Therefore I had to intertwine more of the sticks with each other. If I were to do this project again I would have a better layout of how the sticks would lay within each other because when I did my piece there was no specific layout which made it harder to make sure the piece was sturdy. I would also want to blend in the center part of my Photoshop process because I feel as if it could have looked more blended. Overall I believe that I did well at the shape of the piece and creating that circular form in the center. The struggle I had was in the beginning, cropping out the main section of the scenery and photo shopping it the ephemera part of my piece.
Critique
The piece "Portal" reflects off of my inspiration Andy Goldsworthy by the use of materials and the overall structure of the piece. In Andy Goldsworthy piece "Woven Branch Circular Arch" you can clearly see the similarity shown in his work with my work and how I imitated the same structure. One can see how the branches woven together are demonstrated in both artworks in created that circular structure. In the final product you can see how I included my other inspiration Nathalia Suellen and her work "inner conflict" by demonstrating two different world on the outside and the inside of my piece.
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Meaning:
The meaning of this piece is to represent a portal hence the name of this artwork. It is to represent a gateway or entrance that catches the viewer attention by the bright leaves used on this inner part of the circle on the piece. The use of Photoshop allowed myself to included Nathalia Suellens work to bring out the idea of two worlds. This can show how one may project to be seen as one way, being shown as the outside of my structure but in reality feel a different way, seen within the circle f my piece. This representing two different worlds where some people other get to understand the outside of a person rather than what they are really like within themselves.
Connecting to ACT:
1. Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
I was inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and his two pieces Woven Branch Circular Arch and Gold Leaf Ring in which I incorporated the same structure and technique of the use of leaves onto my piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Andy Goldsworthy creates ephemeral artworks and creates beautiful pieces with objects found in nature.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I can conclude from my piece is different techniques and methods that are used to create a piece such as Andy Goldsworthy has to do with each of his pieces.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of my piece was to focus on only using natural objects to create an art piece that is a reflection of Andy Goldsworthy.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
When doing my research I found that Andy Goldsworthy creates ephemeral artwork all over the world and he wants to understand nature, therefore he works with natural elements when creating his artworks.
I was inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and his two pieces Woven Branch Circular Arch and Gold Leaf Ring in which I incorporated the same structure and technique of the use of leaves onto my piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Andy Goldsworthy creates ephemeral artworks and creates beautiful pieces with objects found in nature.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A generalization that I can conclude from my piece is different techniques and methods that are used to create a piece such as Andy Goldsworthy has to do with each of his pieces.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of my piece was to focus on only using natural objects to create an art piece that is a reflection of Andy Goldsworthy.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
When doing my research I found that Andy Goldsworthy creates ephemeral artwork all over the world and he wants to understand nature, therefore he works with natural elements when creating his artworks.
Citations:
https://www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/image/23913/inner_conflict
http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/image/?id=ag_03744
https://theartstack.com/artist/andy-goldsworthy/gold-leaf-ring-trunk
http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html