I’m really happy with my exhibition space, as it is exactly what I wanted, to showcase my pieces, which is what I was worried about when looking for a space, and I felt this would be the best choice, as even though it’s smaller than the other areas that I chose, I feel like it’s more suitable, as the wall doesn’t feel empty which is what concerned me with my original space.  I’m really pleased with my final pieces as well, as I think they really showcase the idea and concept of the whole project which is the juxtaposition of the traditional style and composition with the more contemporary subject matter and imagery to show how society has developed their views on what the concept of sin is, compared to the more traditional ideas and beliefs.

Here was a continuation of the drum skins I did as an alternate final piece. I did this because I wasn’t sure at the time whether or not I wanted to have a more contemporary piece, as I felt that the practice canvas was a little weak and not very high quality. However I wasn’t sure about the overall look of the piece although I do like the aesthetics, I felt that it it gave the impression that the pieces were about presenting sin in a way that was positive and I didn’t really want that, and I feel that the colours take the importance of the sin away, as they’re less obvious on the smaller drum skins. I wanted them to be in various sizes, as I wanted to reference Botticelli's levels of hell as, if I want to exhibit them they would be shown going from smallest to largest from the most mild sin, which would be smoking to Eve and the snake, alluding to the cone shaped layout of hell, although it would be flipped as I wanted to have the worst sin at the bottom, much like how the deeper you went into hell the more horrific the punishment.  I feel like these pieces are very reminiscent of the works of Gilbert and George, because of the retro style and layout of the pieces and the use of flowers, which were to represent the garden of Eden, much like the previous drum skins I did, although I didn’t add a lot of religious imagery as I wanted the figure of Eve to be the main focus of the piece, which is why I contrasted the figure with the background by making the figure black and white as a way of symbolising how sin corrupts a person. I’m not certain of whether or not to include these pieces in my exhibition, but I think it would be interesting to see them contrasted with the more traditional and simple canvases to really highlight to idea of the change of society and the interpretation of sin.

Here I was trying to create a very contemporary piece inspired by the works of Gilbert and George while also seeing if I could use the drum skins as a material for my final piece. I think this piece is captivating and I like the fact that the pieces have lots of movement in them and I like how loose the image is, which contrast with the harsh imagery used. I like the colour palette as it makes the images more vibrant and is reminiscent of Gilbert and George and I feel that even though the images are the same, the different colours make each one unique and gives the viewer a variety. I also like how the images show the flowers which I included to reference the garden of Eden. I also think the contrast between the religious imagery and the rude, aggressive gestures  is interesting as I feel like the mirror images creates this almost gangster vibe which is then reinforced by the paint strokes as they give it a street art look, almost like it was improvised and done quickly, which I think is interesting and is a very contemporary way of showcase art nowadays, even though most do view it as inappropriate and as vandalism. I like how the drum skins don’t absorb the paint, so then the piece looks more fresh and has an energy about it, unlike my other pieces I have done and I also think that the shape itself of the drums is interesting and different from my other pieces and I like that contrast between those pieces.  However, I’m not sure about the use of colours in my final piece as I feel that black and white imagery is more dramatic and has more impact and doesn’t present sin as some positive activity as I ant to stay true to the original definition of the word sin, which is supposed to be this immoral act. And although the drum skins create this sense of movement I’m not sure if I  ant to lose the texture that I had with the other pieces as I do want to subtly reference the gargoyles in this project, and I feel that canvas is the bet material for that and I also want to create this sense of juxtaposition between old and new, modern and historical and I would like to create this feeling of a masters painting using modern imagery.

Here are my completed pieces of the Russian dolls depicting what is considered “Modern Sins”.

It was interesting to be working on a new material such as wood, which is something I haven’t used before for painting, and I really like the smooth finish that really makes the piece seem high quality.  This piece is really important development for the project as I feel like this is a great piece that really represents what I’m trying to showcase with this project about modern sins and I like how the piece was inspired by the sin box where a lot of people participated in order for me to get a clear idea of what society considers is sinful with everyday subjects, such as the ones depicted above.

Here are the designs I have come up with for my Russian dolls, which is inspired, again, by Botticelli’s map of hell and the levels and the idea of Hierarchy and I quite liked the idea of creating a pecking order for the sins. It was also interesting to see how people viewed how sinful each modern sin that I came up with, was in today’s society as I asked people to order how sinful they thought each sin was from the least to the most.  Although the first four don’t surprise me so much, it’s the last two that made me stop and think. I thought it was very interesting that people found that racism was the most sinful over murder. When I asked about the order of the ranking, I was told that they felt that racism was the worst sin there, more so than murder, because although murder is a very serious and offensive crime, racism affects a wider range of people and has been a very constant occurrence throughout the ages and has made people lose most of their humanity from the way they treated others and they felt it needed to be treated as a very serious sin as it wasn’t seen as something evil in previous centuries and is still something that is happening now. The designs I came up with, was similar to what I did for the Seven Deadly Sins makeup looks, as I was trying to give these modern sins an identity, and for most of them I designed with a stereotypical view on the sin so then it was very obvious what sin I was depicting. With the more complex sins, such as cyber bullying, pollution and racism, I needed to give them a human form, which I found difficult at first, but I then thought about objects and what they meant and represented for me, so for pollution I started thinking about gas masks, and I thought that it was very appropriate for that sin, as to me, the mask represents danger and contamination, which then led me to design pollution in a radioactive suit with a gas mask. With cyber bullying, I was thinking about characters like the Terminator and Ava from Ex- Machina, and I always viewed these characters as bullies and are manipulative, so I made cyber bullying a cyborg, and I took a lot of inspiration from Ava’s design because I feel she best represents the subject of cyber bullying. For racism, I didn’t really have anything to refer to for inspiration, so I decided to strip it down to it’s bare minimum and show it in it’s simplest form. I know racism is happening everywhere with all races, but for me it’s always been between black and white and I’ve always been ashamed of white supremacy throughout history and I feel like it’s still going on and I wanted to somehow show the discrimination with the white side over powering the black side and I also made the white side seem like it was punching the black and pushing it away, so show case the violence that has been part of this dark subject. I did think about other designs for the sins, such as having different races make up the face for an alternative for racism and making murder made out to be a hunter. I even came up with a design for drugs which was another sin I would have included, however, the Russian doll set I got only gave me six dolls, so I had to scrape drugs, as I was finding difficult to create a look for the sin and when I did, I wasn’t very fond of it, mostly because I felt that it was hard to see what sin I was depicting, I also thought that the design might have been a bit darker than I wanted, as I want these dolls to seem a bit cartoony, as I wanted to have a more modern up beat piece than what I’ve been doing previously with my other pieces, a bit like my collage of hell, with it’s out of place vibe, which seems to be more comedic, and I like the idea of having these two themes contrast against each other.

These are some “confessions” from the sin box that I made a few weeks ago, and I think it’s interesting to see what people consider to be modern sins. It surprised me how the experience turned out as i think it turned out to be sweet rather than serious and dark, as there were some confessions that were silly and put in there for the hell of it, however, I was happy that there were some that were thought about very carefully, and some surprised me about how honest they were.  I think it was interesting what people thought what was considered as sinful, as most of the sins that were said weren’t actually that sinful, and I think that might be because of how culture has shaped our views as nowadays, as we aren’t under as much pressure as society was in past centuries by religion, society has become ignorant and can get away with more mild “sins”  as there isn’t the threat of being sent to hell and eternal damnation,as many people today are atheist and don’t believe in God or don’t follow Him as closely as they did in throughout history, and can get away with more “sins” without the fear on their souls for any misdeed they commit. I think this has helped me come up with sins to use for my Russian dolls, as there are varied sins from mild to severe, but are still important subject to consider and I’ve chosen these sins to create my Russian dolls; Cyber bullying, Drinking, Pollution, Murder, Racism and Materialism. 

These pieces have been inspired by the research I have done about the more historical view on religion and the different interpretations that have been done in the past, including paintings and architecture, which is what helped move this project on and I think it has helped move the project into a more contemporary feel and practice. With these experiments, I have explored different materials that I did consider using for my final piece, however I’ve decided to go against doing a 3D piece, as I have found it difficult trying to come up with a concept for a good final piece that would link up to all the research I’ve done (which has been focused on paintings and illustration) and would be a high quality piece. Another reason why I’ve decided against using 3D materials is because of cost, time and scale, as I know that I would like to do a large scale piece, which is where cost comes in, as I would need big quantities of each material, especially the air dry clay, which is quite expensive , and although paper pulp materials are quite cheap, it’s the time it takes for the material to dry which is going to be too long if my experiment on a small scale was anything to go by.  If I were to chose a material though for my final piece, then I would chose paper pulp as it is the easiest material to handle and use, if you have the mold for it, and it also creates a nice aesthetics and is a very stable material.

I feel like these artifacts are finished pieces all of their own and I like the idea that I’ve created my own collection of religious items, which I was trying to link in with the historical aspect of the project, with a more modern interpretation on what was considered religious or symbolised religion, which is a theme I’ve noticed in my project about hidden symbolism and what different symbols mean such as the cross and triangle and also the gargoyles as well. In conclusion, these pieces have helped develop my project further by helping me decide to do a painting for my final piece and exploring more traditional subjects and methods, which has made me want to do more contemporary pieces. 

With this artifact, I wanted to experiment with texture in a more obvious way and use colour as well, as I’ve noticed that with my previous pieces, they look a bit similar and I felt that I needed a more appealing treasure as the other pieces are supposed to be made out of stone and are ancient, which meant that they are eroded and rotten, where as with this piece I wanted a more stable and preserved piece. I feel like this piece is quite messy though as the hot glue did slip and slide a lot and didn’t hold it’s shape very well, however I feel like this chaotic embellishment helps it link up with the other artifacts. However, this is my least favorite artifact and I think it’s to do with the fact that it doesn’t link very well into the idea of sin, whereas the other artifacts were, with the gargoyles being used by the church as depictions of demons and symbols of various sins and the eggs depicting the punishments in Dante's inferno. Also I don’t really like the aesthetic of the piece, as the quality looks quite child like and very low standard, so I won’t be using texture with the hot glue gun, as it’s too unpredictable and quite scruffy and ruins the piece. If I had to do it again, I would probably take more time for the glue to dry before adding more glue to the piece, so then the patterns I added to the object would have time to set properly.

More photos from the shoot

As suggested in a cross group critique, like the makeup looks I did, I also did a photography shoot based off Anselm Kiefer’s work, who I’ve researched for part of my project, as I thought that his work was interesting in his depiction of religion and belief which, to me, felt confrontational.  For this photo shoot, I had my model do signs that were considered to be religious, such as signing the cross, praying etc. and then making her do rude gestures so then you get a harsh contrast between the two, which makes me reminiscent of some of Kiefer’s work, specifically pictures of him doing the Nazi salute, which is considered to be taboo in German society, which is what I’m trying to depict here. I’m also trying to show two sides of the coin, one side depicting the believers and the faithful and the other side presenting the atheists. This photo shoot is also reminiscent of the works of Gilbert and George, just less graphic. With their work, I really like how straightforward it is in depicting their views , as it really shows how times have changed and how people have more freedom to believe in anything they want and I love how  their work has often taken aim at the dishonest bourgeois pretense of church and state.  I would like to somehow incorporate this line of thought in my final piece as to show the modern times and the change in society, but I’m worried about being too offensive, so I’d have to think about how I would go about doing that. I think this photo shoot was important to the development of the project as I feel like this might be how my final piece will view the subject of religion and depict it as something negative, and be something for mature viewers, as I would like my piece to be serious as I feel like it would have more impact on the viewer than have a more comedic depiction, which is what I feel like my project is showing, and although the work is interesting and contemporary, I, would rather it be dramatic and have a big impact and make the viewer think than being funny.

As a continuation of my Historical religious artifacts and materials research, I made a gargoyle mask out of paper pulp. I quite enjoyed using the paper pulp as a material as it’s process was quick and very simple to make and to use. When making the paper pulp, I found it was easier to use newspaper than regular printing paper as it is easier to blend into a pulp as it is a softer quality.  To make the actual face, I used a mold that I had done of my face in a previous project in order to make a strong structure and base for the whole piece that I wanted to be in the shape of a face, so then I could focus mostly on what made up the features of a gargoyle.  I did find it was a little difficult to drain the pulp of water after it had been blended, in order to make the drying time as short as possible, as I was using a sieve to drain the majority of the water, however I should have also used a sponge to help soak up the rest of the water that was left over, and all I had to hand, was a dish cloth, so the actual draining of the water was quite an arduous task, as the pulp had to be damp, however is was still vastly wet when applying it to the mold, which meant that it took days for it to fully dry and was considered stable enough to apply the left over pulp for the gargoyle features. The application of the features took less time and was an easy part of the process as I was only applying small amounts to the face as I was worried that the weight and the liquid of the extra pulp would make the piece collapse, which meant that I avoided the edges too, so then the liquid wouldn’t buckle and subside.  Over all the actual piece is fantastic and I’m very impressed that I was able to create a stone like texture, which had eroded greatly, which is what I wanted for my other artifact, but I quite like the idea of one being more ancient than the other, as you get the feeling of time between them, though both are quite ancient. However, my only concern with this material is the time it takes to dry, which is too long, and that may have been because of the material the mold was made out of, which was latex, so it didn’t soak up any water at all, so I would need a different mold made out of perhaps plaster, as it soaks water up much easier. I also want to make something of a larger scale for my finale piece and I don’t think I would be able to make something that would be considered a modern sin as I know that’s the direction I’m heading in my project, however I would like to do a combination of old and new. 

Here was one of my experiments for materials research after doing the egg shells. Here I used air dry clay to make the piece and I think it is rather successful.  Before making the piece, I was having a difficult time trying to come up with something to make, following the advice that my tutor gave me before breaking up for Easter, which was to continue developing the idea of egg shells (based on the card board egg shells, depicting the levels of hell) and painting on a more fragile material and using a large amount of eggs to create a big scale piece ( perhaps in the shape of a triangle), however I felt that it didn’t link very well into my project and I thought that I wouldn’t be able to take it very far or develop it as much as I would like, so I decided to drop the whole egg idea. I then remembered that the “eggs” were made out be old and ancient and posed as an ancient religious artifact and I thought that would be much easier to develop and create more artifacts, the statue being one of them. It was a surprisingly long process, and was slightly difficult to work as I had to be quick about using the clay and make separate sections to make sure the clay didn’t dry up all at once, so at the time the piece felt quite rushed and messy, but I think it adds to the aesthetics and makes it feel more aged and weather-worn and makes the piece look like it’s crumbling down on itself. It was very simple to age the piece as well, as I used an old paint brush which had hardened as I needed something hard enough to be able to leave an impression in the already semi-dry clay, which gave it an incredible stone like effect. I was worried that it would be slight overkill, so I didn’t do so much prodding with the paint brush as I should of as I feel like I could have gotten away with more obvious signs of decay. Overall, I’m very pleased with the look of the piece, though I am slightly disappointed that it’s not ancient enough for me and could have spent more time working on it had the clay not dried so much so quickly, which is why I won’t be using it for my final piece as I feel like it would be very rushed and I know that I would like to do a number of pieces for my final piece and using the air dry clay would take too long to dry properly, as even though it dries quickly on the surface, it’s very unstable underneath, and takes a long time to dry.

24/04/2017

After doing a cross group critique, it was suggested that I do more performance art, which included photography and makeup looks. I felt that making up different looks for the Seven Deadly Sins would be a good choice, as it gave the Capital sins a more modern interpretation. Each sin needed to have a definitive look. so then it would be obvious which sin was being shown. It was a bit of a challenge to come up with the looks, as I was worried that some of them would look quite similar to each other, so they needed to be individualistic, while still portraying the sin. 

I took inspiration from sayings such as, paying through the nose, and also facial expressions that would be associated with that particular sin, which was further helped by my model as she was asked to come up with expressions that she thought would be associated with the sin she was made up to be, so it was interesting to see what poses she came up with as I was getting different interpretations of what she thought would help identify each sin, without directly telling the viewer. The use of colours make the looks feel a bit unnatural, which helps the model seem otherworldly and freakish and the make up looks are over the top, so the model stands out more, which makes the more subtle makeup create a sense of unease, which is interesting as you get the sense that this person seems to be anomalous, which is what I was aiming for as I was trying to give the deadly sins an identity, while still trying to show case that they are this otherworldly thing that should be avoided, else you end up in hell, or this is what you could end up like, which I feel could be a modern interpretation of Dante's inferno and suffering for the sin you committed.

I feel that the overall looks meet my standards and feel like the looks do a really good job of giving each sin an identity, and I really like the combination of old and new: the sin and the makeup, which is something I’d like to further develop, or even come up with my own modern deadly sins  and try giving them looks as well.

I think that doing the makeup has helped me get into the mind set of doing more contemporary work, as I feel like the work I’ve been doing has been looking more on the historical and traditional side of the project, which is still important, but I feel it’s been lacking some modern interpretation, without too much influence from old works of art and just the sin itself working as inspiration, which is why I only briefly looked up the meanings behind the sins, so then I could design the first look that came into my head, without getting too much into how it affected religion and society and how it dictated religion as a whole.

Order of sins: Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Sloth, Greed, Lust and Wrath

Tutorials and group cross critique. 

Exhibition.

I’m really pleased with the exhibition and where I’ve put the work as it’s scale really helps deliver the message about my thoughts on cosmetic surgery, while helping to “shed light” on the subject.

Potential space for Exhibition in shop for work experience.

Here I wanted to show the Human Metamorphosis pieces for the exhibition and wanted to have a small space for them to be placed, and have them be a bit haphazard as I wanted to portray the pieces as something that hasn’t been thought about properly enough as the pieces are about cosmetic surgery and the extremes people will go to change their looks entirely, which I think is an issue that isn’t talked enough about. I would prefer the paintings to be tucked away slightly, which is why I prefer the glass cabinet, as it has the shelves needed to showcase the pieces, however the window might be a good place as it would be “shedding light” on the subject and could have that look that the images were quickly put there. 

06/04/2017

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been putting together materials research and secondary research that will help develop my ideas, further my project and help me decide what my final piece will be, as well as having one to one tutorials and group critiques, which have been very helpful in regards to ideas I could do for the project, however there is still a long way to go. The materials research I’ve put together has helped with deciding whether or not I’ll use it for the final piece, although it feels like there isn’t a lot of work that has been done. What I have done is make a collage inspired by Botticelli's painting of Dante’s inferno, a sin box where people can write down what “sin” they’ve committed and what they consider to be sins and an image transfer of Dante’s Inferno onto egg shaped objects that vary in size getting smaller, almost like a Russian doll, that shows the descent into hell the smaller the egg gets. I’ve also done a more simplified, impressionistic drawing of Dante’s Inferno onto a window, labeling the different levels of hell.   At the beginning of research, I felt very unorganized and didn’t know where to start and I wanted to avoid doing work on the computer as in previous projects, I tend to do a lot of research that, in the end, isn’t very relevant to my project and don’t do enough practical work and experimenting with materials. In the end I started doing a collage of Dante’s inferno, with my own interpretation based off descriptions of the different levels using images from magazines as it was a quick way to show the concept of the project and putting my own spin on the Botticelli painting. It was hard trying to find the right images for the collage though and the piece was large in scale, so it was difficult trying to fill the space and make the piece look interesting and in the end I had to draw onto the piece myself, which makes it look interesting, as the landscape and creatures of hell are drawn on and separates the magazine cut outs which creates this stark contrast between the nightmarish punishments of hell one could only dream of, and the all too real retribution of the “sinners”.  The sin box I made, has been really successful, as it acts almost like a confession booth, so I get an idea of what people think is considered a sin and see what “sin” they’ve committed, which was interesting to see as some where very deep and personal, such as doing drugs and stealing money off relatives, but there were also ones like spitting in the street, taking the last biscuit, etc which were more like minimal offences, but it was an interesting contrast to see. It was intriguing to see what people thought should be sins as well, such as privilege, cuber bullying, racism, adultery etc, and I think this is because of how our society is now, as there isn’t the threat of being sent to hell and eternal damnation,as many people today are atheist and don’t believe in God or don’t follow Him as closely as they did in throughout history, and can get away with more “sins” without the fear on their souls for any misdeed they commit. Another piece of work I did was an image transfer onto cardboard “egg shells” that got smaller and was almost like Russian dolls, which was interesting as it would be a good way to depict the levels of Dante’s inferno, which was the image that was transferred on the “eggs”. The image transfer was well done as the images came out very strongly, which was something I was worried about,as in previous attempts at image transfer, the image would always be faded and ripped, which then distorted the image. I’m very pleased with the end product though as the concept behind the eggs getting smaller the further you descend into hell, which was reminiscent of the shape that Botticelli did for his painting, was very interesting and got me interested in the idea behind hierarchies and how sins could be ordered of how serious they were. The aesthetic of the piece was interesting as it almost feels like an artifact, which could represent the historical sins.   I think that doing some materials research has helped as it’s narrowed down what material could be used for the final piece as I’ve come across issues with the collage as it took a long time to find the right images, and because of the size of the images I found, I had to do a large scale which then made it difficult to fill the space and make the piece look like it was finished and didn’t look empty. If I were to do another collage it would be on a smaller scale and in order to get the images that would be more appropriate I would probably have to look on the internet. However I did think that drawing onto the collage creates a nice opposition between hell and the sinners. It also showcases the idea of the project of modern sins, as most historical depictions of hell are shown through paintings and are very traditional where as with this piece, its got a modern interpretation of the levels of hell and creates a sense of humor I feel from how out of place the magazine cut outs seem. The sin box was extremely useful for getting ideas for sins that could be used in future pieces that could be about modern sins, it was also interesting to see what, in today's society was thought to be sinful and how society has shaped our views and the similarities and differences between the beliefs back then and present day beliefs, and I saw that not a lot of people put down many, if any of the Seven Deadly Sins, which was looked at a lot in historical literature and artwork and talked about, and that may be because nearly everyone believed in God and believed in heaven and hell, where as now, because religion isn’t followed as rigorously, beliefs and opinions have changed accordingly to what society has shaped them to be, regarding to what is right and what is wrong. The “egg shells” were probably the breakthrough for the project and gave me lots of ideas for which direction I might go to for the final piece as it has me thinking about the hierarchies of sins and the meaning behind the shape of the triangle, and the idea that as you go deeper the more horrible the sin, so I might do more of the Russian doll idea but depicting modern sins and the deeper you go the more horrible the sin. I could also create more “egg” pieces and use different materials such as plaster to create a more fragile piece that could be made to look like a historical artifact or use real eggs and create an image out of them using the triangular shape almost like Botticelli did for the levels of Hell. However I would like to do paintings and drawings inspired from the research I’ve done about symbolist artists that focused a lot on religious imagery and see where that would take me if I did a more modern twist, using modern imagery and use the sins from the sin box for inspiration for the image.