oils!

oil painting assignment in sec 3! ^^ seeing this just reminds me of the europe trip since we were doing this before and after it :D we were asked to pick an art movement and use techniques from that movement to paint something related to nanyang. i chose post-impressionism, and was inspired by georges seurat's painting style of pointillism to complete this painting ^^

If you can tell, I painted a scene that you would see if you stood at the midpoint of the 2nd floor classroom block corridor, looking out past the flags, to the admin block. i think the thing that stood out the most for me was the presence of the flags. The combination of a school flag and a national flag is like a trigger that immediately tells you its a school. Also, the first thing that has always caught my eye about ny's appearance was the light red bricks that make it. Also, this is a view from the classroom block, a view that most students will see of nanyang. I wanted to show that this scene was from a student's point of view instead of just another glamourous shot to advertise nanyang or something. Another thing I added to reinforce this point was a girl sitting on the floor, sketching. Since sketching or observational drawing usually requires some form of peacefulness, I added her in to create a sense of tranquility in the picture, and to show how she feels right at home in nanyang, as it would not have been possible to be so peaceful in uncomfortable surroundings. A human presence also seems to make the picture seem more "real", as opposed to just a shot of a building. It humanises the picture and shows that nanyang is not just a building, it is a home with living breathing people inside it.

For me, this work is important because I have never really been confident in my artistic skills and this assignment showed me that if i put my mind to it, something like an oil on canvas painting is actually possible of me. Through this painting, I realised that i really like painting, or more precisely, the tranquil feeling you get just sitting there and dabbing blots of paint on a canvas. As far as this painting is concerned I feel that I could have done a lot better with regards to the painting technique. Pointillism was supposed to be dots of pure colour placed next to each other such that the eye blends them together from afar. But i sort of mushed up the colours together instead of neatly dotting them next to each other thus not really capturing the point of pointillism.

dreams. what will we do with(out) them?

credits! this is valerie's coursework but i thought it was really cool and so i'm going to try and interpret it. (SORRY VAL IF I MISINTERPRETED SOME STUFF OR LEFT OUT SOME THINGS!)

the story starts when we're little. when we are small, and asked the question: "what are your dreams?", a thousand ideas burst into our heads. Although answers may vary with each ask of the question, we never fail to provide an answer. Practicalities or societal norms or economical problems don't plague our heads as we dream our dreams at that age. We are secure in our innocence, and peaceful in oblivion to the harsh realities of the world - as is clearly shown in the young girl's peaceful expression as she draws. This is the age where you don't think too much into things, and its okay to be different. The bright pink of her shirt shows her uniqueness and the brightness of her dreams, unclouded by fear or reality. The amount of colours in the colour pencils she securely holds show the vibrancy and diversity of her dreams. Her cup is upright, secure, and packed full of colour pencils - essentuating how secure she is at this age. The positioning of her in the smack center of the painting adds to the feeling of security in the painting. The blank paper shows her potential for dreaming. She is a blank slate, capable of being anything she wants to be. She is (for lack of a better phrase,) in her own world; a world full of bright colours, and innocent ideals, where black is black, white is white. The chair in front of the painting is carefully tailored to ensure the chair will not wobble, further emphasising her security in her world. It also has a drawer under the seat, which i feel is a nice touch because it adds to the air of innocence since little kids often have a secret compartment (like a drawer) where they stash their most precious things (or dreams). However, it is not painted; which could symbolise how incomplete her view of the world is, or the amount of life she has experienced thus far, or her state as a blank slate, her potential to dream and develop.

The cup is whole, and full.

the story continues as the girl grows up to become a teenager. we enter the stage of adolescence, a stage of maturity, a stage of growing up. this is the most unstable part of life, as we are exposed to the true face of the world with all its problems, norms and realities. as we go through this period of rapid growth and exposure, we face the struggle of finding ourselves, our insecurities, and continuing to hold on to our dreams. The girl is positioned at the side of the painting showing a rather unstable view of the painting. We see the vast difference between this picture and the previous picture, evident in the girl's expression and the colour of her shirt. In the first picture, her expression was one of peaceful security; now, she hosts a face of shock as she is faced with the world she is expected to accept and conform to. In the first picture, her shirt was a bright pink that contrasted starkly with the white background, showing her uniqueness and brightness of her world; now, the tones have cooled to blue with a white collar, as though showing how she is turning into the white background bit by bit, losing her some of her uniqueness and brightness. But the colour of her shirt is still a bright, vivid blue, showing the "bit by bit" part of growing up, instead of turning dull all of a sudden, thus giving the sense of transition into the paintings. In actual fact, the most eye-catching bit of this painting, is that everything is partial: The shirt is partially coloured (collar white), the cups are partially coloured cups, the chair in front in partially painted, and it has a partial leg, making the chair very unstable. All this serves to emphasise the girl being "neither here nor there", as she is in a stage of transition - neither a young naive girl, nor a mature adult woman. She struggles to keep hold of her dreams, and finds it very much harder than before due to the fact that she has left her sanctuary of innocence.

The cup stumbles, and falls.

this one is a bit harder to explain. so you've lived your share of life, seen lots of things, experienced lots of things - good, or bad. your dream cup is battered and cracked despite many attempts to repair it. The woman's expression is blank, her eyes staring, unfocused, into the distance as though reminiscing about her past, be it her successes, or her failures. Her shirt is now completely white, just a shade brighter than the background. The painting is rather devoid of colour, as the woman has now lost most of her innocence. Her dream cup seems to symbolise her state as of now - battered, but still able to hold some water. It seems to say that although she is not the blank slate she was years ago, she still has a chance to fulfill her dreams - if she takes the chance. Will she just abandon her cup because it leaks? Or still try to mend it and make it usable? This is further emphasized by the chair in front of the painting, which is narrow and with a low back rest. As you sit on it, you feel a sense of discomfort at the narrow seat, and if you lean back, you feel insecure immediately, not knowing if you will be supported by a back rest, or just tumble backwards to the ground. It symbolises that there is always a dream out there, even for this woman. All that is needed is a little faith, and a willingness to take the risk and try.

The cup is cracked. Not broken.

labyrinth-

"Labyrinth", (1987-8), Dede Eri Supria

I really like the amount of symbolism and meaning, as well as the significance of the message this painting conveys. The first thing that would strike people is the sheer size of the painting. At 200x250cm, this painting can dominate an entire wall, forcefully and deliberately attracting the attention of any who pass it. In addition to size, the artist has used bright colours to further enhance the eye-catching effect, as though to say "hey look here! the message i want to tell you can't wait any longer!"

Next to draw the eye would be the vast labyrinth of cardboard boxes, decorated with an array of well-known brands that we probably encounter in our everyday lives. The labyrinth stretches to the top of the painting, becoming increasingly packed and complicated as it goes up to create a sense of depth and perspective, making viewers wonder if there is even an end to this maze. The cardboard boxes seems almost sinister in this painting because of the way they are portrayed as the walls of this never-ending maze. They serve as the evidence of the rapid consumerism that has steadily increased throughout the passing years. On top of that, metal bars (not unlike those frequently seen in construction sites) weave through the cardboard boxes, strengthening their structure. The appearance of construction bars seems to draw a connection to the industrial revolution, as metal is mostly seen as an unnatural, man-made, industrial material. Viewers may also feel a twinge of unease at how familiar all the brands are to them, reminding them that they too are culprits, and the builders of this labyrinth. As if to make the picture even worse, right at the top of the painting is a cramped array of new cardboard boxes, impatiently wanting to squeeze themselves into the picture. It seems to spell the ominous question - Does the world know when to stop?

Also, this painting is almost devoid of life, except for two boys, lying in a loose fetal position, weak and helpless. The way in which they are arranged - limbs and all - practically scream out their helplessness, faced with the impossible task of getting out of this maze. As the only human figures in the painting, and in their weak state, they naturally evoke a feeling of sympathy in the viewers. In this aspect, the never-ending cardboard boxes seem even more sinister, as they are the cause of the childrens' suffering.

I think that the main point of the painting is how it portrays the relationship between poverty and industrialization. While there have been countless representations and documentaries and what not on poverty, this painting is a still a stand-out among the billions of other representations. This is primarily due to the fact that most of the other representations only show a picture of say a factory spewing smoke next to a village, or children walking barefooted to work in sweatshops etc. Only showing singular cases and examples. However, "Labyrinth" stands out due to its attempt to portray the entire situation of poverty and consumerism in its magnitude in one picture. Just using one picture to show this huge problem clearly reinforces the message and makes sure to deliver it with a huge impact. He also cleverly makes the boxes seem to carry on even off the canvas to show that this is still not the full picture.

AEP Lucia Hartini assignment!

1. (a) Describe the use of space, colour and brushwork.

In this painting, “Srikandi”, Lucia Hartini separates the painting into foreground, middle ground and background. In the foreground, we see a huge woman who bears great likeness to the artist herself, taking up more than half of the canvas, standing in a warrior stance and draped with blue cloth. This central positioning of the woman emphasizes that she is the main subject matter and makes her the first thing viewers will see as they view the painting. In the middle ground, are zigzagging walls that lead into the distance, providing depth to the painting and leading the viewer’s eyes to the background. In it, are turbulent clouds and a bright moon, creating a sort of contradiction as the clouds seem very violent as compared to the calmness the moon provides. This highlights that unsettling tone of the painting as possibly intended by Lucia Hartini. Another use of space in this painting is how Lucia Hartini splits her painting into two parts: the sky and the straight wall, and the eyes and the zigzagged wall, with herself in the middle separating the two. Previously in “Spying Eyes” (1989), we see that both walls are zigzagged and the composition is rather haphazard with the eyes all over the place, the artist shrunk and cuddled up in a fetal position and the sky shrouded with dark turbulent clouds. It is safe to assume that the brick walls are symbolic of the odds in Lucia Hartini’s life and in “Srikandi”, we see that one of the walls (the wall behind her) is straight, as though she has already straightened out half of the odds in her life, and is now facing the rest. This is highlighted by the sky as instead of being shrouded with dark turbulent clouds as in “Spying Eyes”, there is now a bright moon rising out of it, lighting the sky up with hope. Lucia Hartini wished to depict herself as a brave, strong warrior woman which she did so by painting herself facing her adversities (the eyes and the remaining zigzagged wall) with determination.

In “Srikandi”, Lucia Hartini uses earthly tones for the skin of the woman, possibly to contrast the woman as natural as compared to the unnatural setting she is in. She also primarily uses only blues and oranges in the painting – complementary colours. Her use of complementary colours to contrast the earthly toned walls and skin with the rich blue cloth and clouds boldens and brightens the entire painting and makes the warrior woman stand out even more, as well as making the painting one that exudes confidence and has a bold story to tell.

As for brushwork, Lucia Hartini has executed her brushstrokes carefully and smoothly, making them nearly invisible to the human eye. This makes the work extremely realistic, despite its unrealistic composition and subject matter. The seemingly absent brushstrokes also lets the viewers subconsciously forget this aspect of painting and concentrate on the symbolic subject matter and composition instead.

1. (b) Comment on the influences behind this work.

Firstly, the unrealistic composition and subject matter show influences from Surrealism. Surrealism is based on the irrational combination of unrelated objects and contrasting forms derived from the depths of imagination or the dream world, or a fusing of the dream world with reality to bewilder the viewer. Lucia Hartini lived in a culture where a straightforward, critical or confessional discourse is not acceptable and thus turned to Surrealism to encase symbolic messages within.

Secondly, she was possibly most influenced by Srikandi, the archetypical “Warrior Woman” of South East Asian legends for this painting. She depicted herself as Srikandi, dressed in the blue cloth worn by members of the women’s armies who historically protected the Sultans of feudal Java. Lucia Hartini painted herself as Srikandi, repelling the critical and doubting eyes of society which had rendered many of its women prisoners of tradition.

Thirdly, would be the culture are lived in. In the Indonesia that she lived in, the status of a woman always depends on the male and she is always regarded inferior to the man, an object of the man’s orders and admonition. Because of this, Indonesian women and prisoners of tradition, having to inherit society’s expectations of them to play the role of a mother, caring for children and not having the rights to express themselves freely, always fearing society’s critical and doubtful eyes. This could arguably have influenced Lucia Hartini’s obsession with spying eyes, and subsequently, her wish to have the power to stare back at the eyes and defy them, symbolic of her having enough confidence to stand up for her own rights against societal norms.

the seed of life

"The seed of life", Ermis



It gives a really surrealist feel.. whether is it the brushstrokes, form, or subject matter. The head of the mother reminds me of the head of Dali's Narcissus. Thats probably where the artist got the inspiration from too. I like how the artist blended the mother's womb with a seed and made the mother's face have a very plant-ish feel with the leaves as hair and the sprout as her fringe. Notice that there are only females in this picture. Whether the baby in the womb, or the two spectators. The artist is probably feminist and wants to show that females are the ones that carry life on and on and should be given their credit, not the males. The whole painting is really tranquil and gives the warmth of a prospective new life and a mother's anticipation. The mother also appears to be growing out of the ground. Could this be a hint towards mother nature? Hmm.. makes me think of Gaia, mother of the earth :D