Secret Lives of Color

 

Color: puce
The Flea Queen
cardboard, wire, tissue paper, brown craft paper, hot glue, yarn, acrylic paint

        The color puce arose out of early 18th century France where Marie Antoinette wore her famously dark red purple colors dress. Puce refers to the under belly of a flea, harboring the same color as the queen's dress. It later became a fashion statement and then a way to shame Antoinette. I chose to make her gown, representing some of the fashion themes form 1700s France. The small round dots places on her arms, hair, neck, and under her dress represent the fleas the color came from. She is covered in these seemingly foul bugs as Marie Antoinette was disliked by the public for the majority of her royal position. 

Color: Absinthe
A Worrisome Wobble
acrylic paint on cardboard, wire 

            Absinthe was originally a strongly alcoholic drink coming out of the late 18th century by a French doctor. Many strange tales were founded around the beverage but its most common symptom was disorientation and hallucinations, which i chose to represent through a green monochrome street with a lot of movement to emulate the uncertainty and disorientation this drink gives it's taster. 

Experimental Sculpture

 

Bloom, Sun, Rain

Rain
wood, balsa wood, yarn, string, hot glue, acrylic paint

Sun
wood, wire, watercolor paper, tissue paper, modge podge, paint

Bloom
wood, tree branch, wire, tissue paper, modge podge, paint

                Throughout these works i wanted to focus on lines that lead the viewers eye so I used materials like tall thin wooden sticks, wire, and paper to create negative space, movement, and leading lines to focal points. I also want the viewer to see the shadow of these pieces and the lines/ negative space those create as a part of the art as well. There were many times throughout the process where a piece wasn't supported or standing the way i wanted it to, in order to combat this i used wire which is able to bend into the shapes i want as well as support small structures like the red ball in the center of Sun. I want to keep exploring with abstract themes, there is something methodic about looking for materials that inspire you first and then building a more solid idea and further, piece of art out of them. 

Experimental Sculpture Collections Research

 

Terry Kreiter
http://terrykreiter.blogspot.com/2017/11/balsa-wood-and-japanese-tissue-new.html

Alexis Granwell
https://www.alexisgranwell.com/sculpture

Kevin Erickson 
https://www.archdaily.cl/cl/02-181884/pabellon-cuerda-kevin-erickson

Paper Sculpture

 

No Way Home
water color paper, copy paper, wood glue, ink

Paper Sculpture Inspiration

                     

              My paper sculpture was inspired mainly by the ink painting on sliding door panels Old Plum by Kano Sansetsu. The large, interictally textured tree and the architectural aspect of the sliding door panels caught my attention. I integrated these elements into my own work, featuring a large, looming old tree and panels scattered around my land scape which adds interest and detail for the viewer to look into, and to imagine themselves inside this tiny world. For color inspiration, i drew from ink painting, Splashed Ink Landscape being held in the Tokyo national museum. the mostly white paper with a few accents or splashes of color inspired my piece as i wanted there to be an element of touch with my coloring as well as emphasis on a few interesting points. 

Splashed Ink Landscape
Ink on paper 
Held in the Tokyo National Museum
https://www.wikiart.org/en/sesshu-toyo/haboku-sansui-1495

Old Plum 
Kano Sansetsu
Ink on four sliding door panels
https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/painting-formats-in-east-asian-art