Caged Bird
EXHIBITION TEXT
|
PLANNING SKETCHES
Making sketches based on the theme of desire, beauty and nature. I made sketches that revolves around the subject of nature and beauty that is struggling with the desire of breaking free; which was my inspiration idea for the title "Caged Bird". As a bird being perceived as beauty being restrained in a cage, it's utmost desire is to be able to break free from the cage and be free in nature where it belongs. With this idea in mind, I decided to sketch my final image of the girl being pulled down by an octopus struggling to come up for air.
ARTISTIC INSPIRATION
For my block print piece "Caged Bird", the inspiration came from "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. In his piece, he uses a lot of movements on the sky, the village and the cypress tree to create feelings and emotions. The piece is created during Impressionism period, they believed in expression image through color and light to express feelings, emotions and imaginations. I incorporate movements to the water in my piece to give it a flowing texture. Another aspect of "Starry Night" that also inspired my piece is the capture of beauty as the cypress tree being connected to the sky and the village. I incorporate this into my piece as the girl is being pulled down by an octopus. Another inspiration for "Caged Bird" is from German Expressionism. It is an artistic movement in the early 20th century as an reaction to the WWI mostly by those who were involved or being affect by the war. Many of the pieces like "The Widow I" by Kathe Kollwitz use rough edges and lines to convey certain emotions to the audiences. I incorporate this aspect in "Caged Bird" as I have many lines with sharp edges to create a sense of confusion and chaos to the piece.
CARVING PROCESS |
PRINTING PROCESS |
|
|
The carving process began with transferring the planning sketch onto the plate. I did this by covering the back of the sketch with pencil lead. I then put the plate right in the back of the sketch and started drawing the sketch again so that it will then be transferred onto the plate. I then started carving by putting the plate on the wood block so that it would not move during carving. I used the carving technique with one pivot hand in the back of the hand that is carving with the tool so I wouldn't risk cutting into my hand. Different carving blades are being used depend on the texture of the planned sketch. It is important to carve not to deep nor too shallow because the ink will clog which will not let the details to show up onto the print.
|
The printing process started with putting block ink onto the metal plate. Some of the ink that I came across was quite thick so I used some warm water to mix with it and started to roll out the ink until it has a consistent sound when rolling through up and down. I gained personal knowledge of mixing ink because it requires experiment to try out what is best for each person. When the ink is right, it will then be applied onto the template with the roller. Rolling in different direction will helps to equally spread the ink onto every parts of the surface. A white paper will then be put on top of the template and another sheet on top of that. Next step was to use any flat object to rub the paper. It is important to rub with the right pressure and to rub in every direction so that the ink will transferred in a solid black instead of having white spots. It is also crucial to keep the white still while rubbing so that the ink won't bleeds. I repeated this process until I had a clean print.
|
EXPERIMENTAL PRINTSWith my first few prints, I experimented with the amount of ink appropriately use for the printing. I also used different amount of pressure and direction when rubbing the print to see it would make any different to the print. Different block ink jars also have different ink consistency that affect the printing process as well.
|
TOOLS
|
REFLECTION |
CRITIQUE |
Overall the process took longer than I anticipated it to be. Small details such as loops and limp features actually requires many hours to carve out. I've also learned many things about the block print process of carving and printing throughout the project. I've learned that it needed to be carved deep (at least half the thickness of the block) so that no unintended details would show up on the print. This lesson was the reason why it took me longer to print because my first print came out very messy with small lines that I did not carved deep enough. The second thing I learned was how much ink was enough which was a personal knowledge because you have to experience to know when you roll out the ink. The ink also had to have a consistent sound when I roll on the plate because it is a sign that the ink is equally spread out across the plate. Not enough ink will cause the print to have white spot, while too much will causes the print to bleeds. One other thing I learned was to use the appropriate tool when carving even if it takes more time. Curve and straight lines should be carved using fine tip tool while large area can be carved using wide blade to save time. During rubbing the print, I also learned to rub into different directions so that the ink can be equally adsorbed onto the print. If I were to do this project again, I would make sure that the plate is carved deep and clean so that the print could be neat.
|
There are many similarities between my piece/process and my inspiration of post-impressionism and German expressionism. My piece contains movement in the water creating fluidity of motion. My piece also has rough edges inspired from the German Expressionism movement that contribute to the confusion that I tried to create in the piece as the girl is struggling to come up for air. "Caged Bird" also has many symbolism inspired from post-impressionism movement to capture beauty, which is the girl in my piece. However, there are differences between my piece and my inspirations of post-impressionism and German impressionism as well. Post-impressionism is a movement where artists believed in the capture of light and color to express certain feeling or emotions, whereas in my piece light and colors do not play any part in the making of "Caged Bird". Contrasting with the German expressionism, most of the artists are from the WWII era where their works are reactions to the destruction of war. However in my piece, it is my reaction to our today society that portray beauty.
|
THE MEANING
"Caged Bird" revolves around the themes of desire and beauty discussing my perspective on the topic of society expectation on beauty. The printing features a young woman being pulled down underwater by an octopus. It expresses the struggle of the young woman as she try to swim up above water for air. In our society, there are expectations for how one should look like and what beauty looks like. These notions and images are being portrayed on social medias with what they viewed as trendy and beautiful. In the pursue of beauty and acceptance, people sometimes lost themselves and later only to struggle to find out who they really are. The octopus in the printing represent the society we live in and the young woman represent our youth. This image symbolizing as our youth struggle to figure out themselves, social media pulled them into a zone where they don't belong. They are being pulled into a place where everyone want acceptance by being something they are not. People are afraid to show their true self because it might not be perceived as beautiful to others. I, myself, sometimes also being trapped in this cage where I try to be a certain way because that's what others think is cool and trendy. "Caged Bird" also touching the concept of beauty is structured as the bird symbol of beauty being contained in a cage. Birds belong to the sky where they can be free. Putting the bird in a cage, aren't we displaying the beauty of the bird to the public (media) where they can judge the bird based on its color and the length of its beak. There is also beauty with birds flying upon the sky as well, however, people sometimes to appreciate the natural beauty of things.
CONNECTION TO ACT
- The inspirations have a fundamental connection of theme and technique to my art work "Caged Bird". I've used the movement from my inspiration on the water surface of the print to create movement of flowing water. I also use the sharp edges and lines from German Expressionism to create chaos and to provoke certain feelings to the viewers.
- .The perspectives of my Expressionism and German expressionism are that they believe in the capture of light and color to express certain feeling, emotion and imagination. With "Starry Night" of expressionism, it is the capture of beauty as the tree is touching the village and the sky symbolizing life and death. With German Expressionism, it is a reaction to certain event of history using rough and sharp edges.
- The culture of expressionism is that they believe in capturing the image with light and color to express certain feeling, emotion or imagination. It is a capture of beauty by showing movement within the painting. German expressionism artists believe in showing their reaction through rough edges and sharp lines to create chaos provoking certain feelings in viewers.
- The theme of my inspirational research is the capture of beauty and the expression of emotion.
- From researching about German Expression, I've reached a conclusion that most of the artists are from the world war. They must be involved in the war somehow. They were neither civilian when the war come sweeping through their town. Or they might have lost their family members to the war. This has a big impact on their art work because it is a reaction, mostly to war. Most of the art works show chaos and suffering of people during the war.
References
- By 1888, Van Gogh Had Returned to the French Countryside, Where He Would Remain until His Death. There, Close Once Again to the Peasants Who Had Inspired Him Early On, He Concentrated on Painting Landscapes, Portraits (of Himself and Others), Domestic Interiors, and Still Lifes Full of Personal Symbolism. "MoMA Learning." MoMA. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
- Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867-1945). The Widow I (Die Witwe I), 1922-1923. Woodcut on heavy Japan paper, Image: 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 44.201.4. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 44.201.4_SL3.jpg)