La Cadena
Size: 60.96 cm X 91.44 cm
Medium: Digital collage
Date of Completion: March 2018
La Cadena is a digital collage done in Adobe Photoshop inspired by the portraiture work of both Kehinde Wiley and Frida Kahlo. La Cadena or the chain is mean to visually convey the turmoil, longing, and optimism experienced by many in the journey to reconnect with one's roots and history.
Inspiration
Frida Kahlo |
Kehinde Wiley |
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who specialized in painting portraits. Kahlo's work often incorporated symbolic features, references to Mexican artifacts and history. It was through her lucid use of imagery and symbolism that she cam to be associated with the surrealism movement though she herself protested the validity of her work as surrealist. In Kahlo's work, one can bear witness to an extremely honest take on her life and times.
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Kehinde Wiley is a New York-based artist who specializes in painting portraiture. A unique take on portraiture and comment on history as a whole, Kehinde paints the minorities who have often been overlooked. He paints his off the street models into great works from Western art history. His aim to create a place for minorities in "grand" painting while also commenting on current culture in which minorities are percieved and live in.
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I was and will always be inspired by the manner in which Kahlo is able to bare her true self onto a canvas. Her "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird" inspired me greatly while I was still conceptualizing how to portray feelings and concepts in my piece. As I observed and analyzed how she incorporated a thorn necklace to convey pain and a black cold hummingbird to allude to death I began to wonder how I could do the same in my own piece. It was through her use of animals and objects in her work to help further convey a feeling of despair that I was inspired to incorporate similar imagery to express my own paradigm.
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When looking at Kehinde's work I am always taken aback by the not only the technique displayed in the portrait but background. The manner in which Kehinde cares and elaborates on the background as much as he does foreground inspired me to create a similar piece. This coupled with my utmost respect for his intention and manner of creating a space for minorities in art history through similar depiction inspired the particular style and cleanliness which I wanted my piece to have. Kehinde's work inspired a desire in me to attempt to emulate the way in which he achieves his "grand" paintings.
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planning
In this first planning sketch I was merely assembling and playing with components I might want in the piece. While I was brainstorming for components to add to the collage I wanted to include some tie backs to my inspiration but I wanted them to have significance and not be included merely because I was trying to make sure my inspiration was clear.
In this first little thumbnail I have decided I would like an abundance of foliage to signify a sense of misplacement, concealment. I also chose to include foliage to reference the background of Kahlo's work which I believe garners the same effect I was after. The next aspect I chose to incorporate was a traditional Mexican garment. I chose to include this in the piece to once again tie back to Kahlo's work where she is also wearing a piece of traditional clothing. I also chose to wear a particular style of Mexican garment which has increased in popularity outside of Mexico to tie in Kehinde's use of contemporary trends within his art. The last thing this sketch yielded was the manner in which I would represent a sense of hopefulness for the future and strive to re-connection. This would be accomplished via butterflies in the piece and would tie back to Kahlo's use of animals as a way of expressing emotion. |
In this second sketch, I was exploring the concept of composition and further incorporation of other elements. This sketch didn't eliminate any aspects of the previous sketch but added to them. In this sketch, I chose to sit centered and facing the viewer, such as both Kahlo and Kehinde's work do. The butterflies are also being tied to me with chains. This sketch was ultimately abandoned because I could not conceive a viable way to tie in what the butterflies are meant to express with the chains attached to myself.
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This last sketch was me finalizing the composition of two components I was unsure about. Though at first, I was unsure about their interaction with each other I found that if I also interacted with them the piece would achieve the tone and message I hoped to convey. Here, a broken chain halos my head. As I stare at the broken link butterflies fly in various directions. The chain here is meant t signify broken traditions as opposed to will in the previous sketch. My gaze a clear indicator that I have acknowledged the severed ties and information I do not possess. The butterflies a symbol of the directionless, child-like hope I possess of being able to re-capture the history I have lost.
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Process
The first step I took once I had finalized the concept and general idea I was creating was taking pictures. I took pictures of everything I had listen in my sketches.
collection of images
The collection of objects to incorporate in my digital collage was fairly simple and easy as I was already in possession of everything I needed.
creation of collage
After I had taken all the photographs I need I uploaded them onto my computer. Once that was done I could begin the actual collage process. To begin the collage I began with the background and thus the foliage. I uploaded the two plants I had taken pictures of onto Photoshop. I then selected the specific area of leaf I wanted to blur the edges and copied it over the actual collage. Once there I multiplied the both of the leaves alternately for the middle. The majority of the leafs visible are palm-like because I was much more content with their collective appearance and effect than I was with the other leaf.
Once the background was completely full of foliage I then took my own photo and cropped it. Once cropped I followed the same steps that I had with the leaf in order to blur and past myself onto the collage. After I had done this I went back in with the palm like leaves and covered the part where I had cropped myself completely out. I also immersed myself with leaves to give a sense of depth to the piece and begin the setting the tone for feelings of loss and displacement.
After I had finished properly shifting the composition of the leaves to look more natural I moved on to the broken chain halo. To achieve this I followed the same basic steps to isolate and copy part of the chain. When I had copied the desired part of the chain onto the collage I then used the puppet tool to change the shape in which the chain laid. This proved to me a tedious and timely task that yielded fine but not great results.
the last addition to this piece was the butterflies. To add the butterflies to the collage I isolated, blurred, copied, and pasted onto the collage. Once this was done I duplicate several of them in various sizes and positioned them flying in various direction. To add further depth to the piece I created layers of leaves which I then overlapped with the butterflies.
Once the background was completely full of foliage I then took my own photo and cropped it. Once cropped I followed the same steps that I had with the leaf in order to blur and past myself onto the collage. After I had done this I went back in with the palm like leaves and covered the part where I had cropped myself completely out. I also immersed myself with leaves to give a sense of depth to the piece and begin the setting the tone for feelings of loss and displacement.
After I had finished properly shifting the composition of the leaves to look more natural I moved on to the broken chain halo. To achieve this I followed the same basic steps to isolate and copy part of the chain. When I had copied the desired part of the chain onto the collage I then used the puppet tool to change the shape in which the chain laid. This proved to me a tedious and timely task that yielded fine but not great results.
the last addition to this piece was the butterflies. To add the butterflies to the collage I isolated, blurred, copied, and pasted onto the collage. Once this was done I duplicate several of them in various sizes and positioned them flying in various direction. To add further depth to the piece I created layers of leaves which I then overlapped with the butterflies.
Experimentation
While this whole project was an experiment I did particularly try to create patterns. In the quest to create an immersive background such as Kehinde's I chose to play with the pattern tool in Photoshop. While at first, I struggled to gain an understanding of how the tool worked when I eventually caught on I found the end results to be lackluster. Thought the tool was great for covering a wide area the end result was flat, too flat and dull compared to the work by both Kahlo and Wiley that I was attempting to channel. While my experimentation with the pattern tool was ultimately a failure I did learn more about Photoshop in the process.
Reflection
Overall I would say I am content with the outcome of this piece. While to proved to be challenging and very tedious at times I enjoyed working with the program and playing around with the effects. When I look at the piece I created it is very obvious the work of someone who is not familiar with Photoshop but had fun. Furthermore, I am proud that I was able to depict and convey what I wanted to from the start. I believe the end result channels an ambiguous sense of hope and loss I wanted to capture. With this, I also feel I have achieved very surface level of resemblance to both Kehinde's and Kahlo's work via the background, butterfly, and foliage. Overall, I believe I have created an adequate work of art.
ACT Response
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work?
The cause of my inspiration was the research I had been conducting for my comparative study and the desire for me to know more about my roots and family history.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach to my research involved studying the artists' works individually from the artists analyzing them critically and then reading about their own decisions and ambitions with their piece/
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
From my research I generalize the importance of seeing a role for oneself in history and the importance of representation. This is important because both these aspects inspired me to create and thus can be a cause for others to fulfill their desires.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea for my research was understanding how each perspective artist conveyed tones and mood in their works through various tools such as symbolism.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While conducting research I came to the conclusion that representation and shared experiences transcend multitudes of social factor to drive people.
The cause of my inspiration was the research I had been conducting for my comparative study and the desire for me to know more about my roots and family history.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach to my research involved studying the artists' works individually from the artists analyzing them critically and then reading about their own decisions and ambitions with their piece/
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
From my research I generalize the importance of seeing a role for oneself in history and the importance of representation. This is important because both these aspects inspired me to create and thus can be a cause for others to fulfill their desires.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea for my research was understanding how each perspective artist conveyed tones and mood in their works through various tools such as symbolism.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
While conducting research I came to the conclusion that representation and shared experiences transcend multitudes of social factor to drive people.
Citations
“Frida Kahlo Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-kahlo-frida-artworks.htm.
Kahlo, Frida. “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.” Frida Kahlo, 1940, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-thorn-necklace-and-hummingbird.jsp.
“KEHINDE WILEY STUDIO KW STUDIO.” Kehinde Wiley Studio, kehindewiley.com/about/.
Wiley, Kehinde. “St.Dionysus.” Milwaukee Art Museum, 2006, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, collection.mam.org/details.php?id=17255.
Kahlo, Frida. “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.” Frida Kahlo, 1940, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-thorn-necklace-and-hummingbird.jsp.
“KEHINDE WILEY STUDIO KW STUDIO.” Kehinde Wiley Studio, kehindewiley.com/about/.
Wiley, Kehinde. “St.Dionysus.” Milwaukee Art Museum, 2006, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, collection.mam.org/details.php?id=17255.