Title:"Calla Lily in Flames"
Size: 23 cm X 15 cm
Medium: Block Print
Completion Date: September 8, 2017
Size: 23 cm X 15 cm
Medium: Block Print
Completion Date: September 8, 2017
Exhibition Text
My piece “ Lily in Flames” serves to tell the narrative and message of the irrelevance of purity. My piece has been heavily characterized by the (stylistically) simple subjects of Henri Matisse throughout his career and by Diego Rivera Mexican Muralist movement where he utilized his heritage as a vehicle to portray his message. I directly take from Diego Rivera “Flower Seller” by utilizing the calla lily but add my own twist to portray my own message.
Research/Inspiration
Inspiration
I had a ton of ideas surrounding just what to do when it came to block print. Keeping this in mind I figured that I had to find a way to condense and focus my attention. I decided that I needed to focus in on creating works that incorporated my Mexican culture, helped create a theme that challenge a preexisting notion, and picked an artist who’s style were best suited for block print. That was when two artist stuck out as inspiration, Diego Rivera and Henri Matisse.
Diego RiveraAt first I looked towards Diego Rivera’s implementation of his culture on his artwork in the movement of Mexican Muralism as inspiration. At that point I decided I wanted to have a similar style of selecting imagery that utilizes Mexican culture and celebrates the diverse heritage. Meaning I wanted subjects that were Mexican and told a Mexican narrative to do so I wanted to use pre-hispanic subjects (as Rivera did) or Post-Mexican Revolution subjects. As its core I was inspired to go on the same exploration of culture that Rivera did.
“Flower Seller 1942 by Diego Rivera.” Diego Rivera , www.diegorivera.org/flowerseller1942.jsp. Accessed 5 Sept. 2017. Calla LilliesI utilized Diego Rivera’s work as inspiration in a variety of ways but the one that stands out most in my final print is the use of the calla lily imagery. It strives from my misconception that Diego Rivera’s use of calla lilies with women was meant to mean purity of women. Instead through research I realized it was was used because it was a,“ sensual flower”(). Moreover those pieces were suppose acknowledge the importance of indigenous women to the Mexican society. Through this revelation I was able to create my own theme utilizing the contradicting symbolism of the calla lily and the empowerment of women. My message, inspired by Rivera, would be the irrelevance of purity; making a point of how it is dwarfed by much more important characteristics.
“Flower Seller 1942 by Diego Rivera.” Diego Rivera , www.diegorivera.org/flowerseller1942.jsp. Accessed 5 Sept. 2017. |
Henri MatisseFrom the start I knew that Matisse really was the artist whose style could be best executed on the block print medium. The aspect of Matisse’s style that came to mind was his use of simplifying his subject, as he does in his later cut-out paper collages. This aspect just seemed to be so fitting because instead of cutting simplified shapes I would be carving out the shapes. All in all what drew me in was the idea that Matisse had behind the simplified shaped, being that it allowed the emotional power of the piece to take the forefront. Even though I know that it was his use of bold color that allowed for the emotion to do this, I believe that my subjects symbolism could bear that emotional impact on its own.
“Henri Matisse | Snow Flowers | The Met.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490000. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017. |
Planning
The original idea with this sketch was to connect to the indigenous side of my culture. Running with that idea I decided to take inspiration from," tzompantli", or the Aztec practice of collecting the heads of the people they sacrificed (Neuman). With this in mind I decided to make two heads kissing with a flow of blood from a God like figure but maintain the stylistic qualities in aztec art such a angular and flat shapes . In my mind it was suppose to be a representation of how love is not always enough because ultimately it won't save you from a terrible fate like death. Ultimately I didn't pick it because it was to unfocused both conceptually and composition wise. It seemed like too many concepts that could not be conveyed properly in small piece of linoleum block. Neuman, Scott. “Aztec 'Tower Of Skulls' Reveals Women, Children Were Sacrificed.” NPR, NPR, 5 July 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/05/535613480/aztec-tower-of-skulls-reveals-women-children-were-sacrificed. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017. |
In this sketch I try to pay homage to the mayan stone heads by depicting my own father in that style. My thought process was, if my goal is to connect to my Mexican culture what's better than illustrating the man that has taught me most of my Mexican culture. I thought back to Matisse and tried to simplify my dad’s face as best I could while keeping the angular shapes and exaggerated expressions of the mayan stone masks. In the end I decided against this sketch based on my indecisions when it came to what type of lines best helped maintain an exaggerated expression on my subject but also worked most efficient on an linoleum block. It came down to me realizing I lacked comprehension of how to portray to negative and positive space to achieve the look I wanted.
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With this sketch, which became my final product, I started to steer away from pre-hispanic era art and move closer to Post-Mexican revolution art as a source to explore my Mexican culture. With all my sketches I had utilized Diego Rivera’s implementation of the Mexican culture in his art as inspiration but in this piece I decided to be more obvious in the inspiration and utilize his famous use of the calla lily. That’s when the idea of a calla lily inflamed came to mind. I ultimately chose this option because it I was able to create a clear theme that challenged a preexisting notion, it was the lack of importance on purity.
With this sketch I felt like it most aligned to the simplification of subject that Matisse is know for which I was inspired by. Yet it still invoked the (my) Mexican culture because it used the most famous imagery of the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, the calla lily. Which is something found in most major Mexican restaurants and in many homes as interior decor. Despite the obvious alignments I was till able to incorporate my own details like the serpent like border and the flames which are in neither style of Rivera or Matisse. |
Process
Now that I had my final sketch, I would utilize it as if it was my final product and my print would have to mimic it. The first thing I had to do was transfer my sketch onto the linoleum block. I did so by shading the back of the sketch with pencil then lining up the paper to the linoleum block and tracing on my sketch.
After I did this using my sketch as a blueprint I began to carve all the spots that were not shaded on my original sketch with a large carving tool since the non-shaded regions were quite large. This stayed the same for the calla lily and flames of my piece but once I began work on my border I switched over to a smaller sized carving tool since it was detailed oriented.
Once I had carved out my linoleum block to my satisfaction I began the printing process, this is where I utilized the ink tray, brayer, barren, and the water based block print ink. The first thing I did was use a palette knife to take small amount of block print ink and place it onto the ink tray. After I did this I used the brayer tool to equally spread the ink onto the tray so no globs of ink existed and the ink was well distributed. At that point I took the bayer with ink and began rolling it onto my linoleum block until it was covered fully. Finally I took a piece of clean white paper and placed it on top of the linoleum block. I then rubbed circles on top of the paper and linoleum block using a barren tool then I carefully peeled the paper away from the linoleum block and let it dry. I repeated the printing process until I felt satisfied with my final product.
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Trials & Tribulations
The number one thing I should acknowledge is that at first I was not utilizing the barren tool correctly. I would use the circular pressing motion on top of the the paper and linoleum block but I wouldn't do it long enough. This led me to believing I had to add more ink onto the ink tray yet but repeatedly this bring unwanted results. My prints would be faded, like a picture that had been over-exposed.
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Finally when I started to look to my peers I realized instead of using more ink they were actually pressing the barren for longer amounts of time. That was when I acknowledged my mistake and corrected it.
Experimentation
During the process of block printing there were many times where I needed to think outside of my original idea of just carving everything that wasn't shaded on original sketch. The majority of my experimentation had to do with how I utilized negative and positive space in order to make certain aspects of my piece distinguishable or even to add (but ultimately remove) texture to my piece.
Click to enlarge pictures
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Initially at the start of carving my sketch onto the linoleum block I had very little understanding of how to use the carving tool. This led me to starting off with fairly shallows cuts, so instead of the smooth like negative space, that heavy carving brings, my piece seemed to have a roughness to it. At that point I realized how this was the first time I had worked in medium where I could actually feel texture on the piece. With this in mind I started to think if I could utilize this natural existing texture in a purposeful way. This led to my idea of keeping the texture in order to evoke my theme.
The biggest connection I made within his work is his use of calla lilies and women together, which made me think that he thinks of them as one in the same. Following that same line I decided to utilize the calla lily as a representation of women but put my own twist. In my work the calla lily would be the representation of women’s purity. In the bigger picture I utilized flames and the surrounding serpent to showcase the destruction of this purity which hopefully would make the audience infer that I believe it is irrelevant. I thought I could further this by leaving rough texture on the calla lily to showcase that women are actually quite the opposite from pure and docile but actually rough. In a way I kept true to the most important aspect of his use of the calla lily in Rivera’s work, as a vehicle to promote his message (in his case the importance of indigenous women). Ultimately I went against keeping the texture because it didn’t add anything to my piece and it could be perceived as lack of craftsmanship since the lines used to create texture seemed nonuniform and lacked crispness. Although I did get to experiment with how deep I made my carving, once I had printed my piece I realized that the roughness did not really show up, meaning I had cut too deep. This made it seem more as if I had forgotten or gotten to lazy to remove positive space in my piece instead of a purposeful decision. Essentially it came down to the fact that the roughness no longer helped convey the message I wanted, so it became irrelevant to keep it. |
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At first I had many mishaps when italicizing the carving tool but it was through trying different techniques with them that I was able to correct them. It was in my first print that I realized that all the aspects of my painting seemed to blend into each other. For example the scales of my serpent like border seemed more like an accidental occurrence then something I intentionally did. This problem had to do a lot with my lack of technique when it came to using the carving tool. Not only did I only continually use a larger, wider carving tool; I also failed to understand how negative space worked and how without proper line outlining the positive space the final product would look messy.It was then that I decided to begin to experiment with different line and carving tools. I decided that I had to carve into each scale but leave enough positive space to create a border to make them distinguishable. At this point I saw the need to utilize a carving tool that would help when working in detail. It was then that I decided to purchase my own set with a more varied tip selection. That is where I came across a tool that was narrow and had a smaller tip ideal for detail and just what I had been missing for my work. This eventually helped correct the unity in my piece. It went from a composition that lacked balance and harmony, since it seemed to be one indistinguishable blob to a piece that utilized all its different aspects (the calla lily, serpent like border, and flames) to make one cohesive piece that sent the same message.
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Reflection
Overall my final print of “ Lily in Flames” has the aspects I thought it would of had but not in the exact outcome I would have liked them to be.
First of all I am happy with how the calla lily and flames came out for the most part. They really do utilize the simplicity in subjects that I was inspired by Matisse to do. It also shows a good demonstration of how to use negative and positive space for the flames. One of my biggest worries was that the flames wouldn’t look distinguishable. That worry actually led me to carving out the extended tip of the calla lily in order to achieve the separation between where the flames are and where the calla lily is.
Going back to the calla lily, its depiction would play the biggest role towards the viewer alluding (my theme) the irrelevance of purity. As well as the biggest connection towards my Mexican culture. For this to happen the biggest idea that had to come across was that I was inspired by Diego Rivera. Anyone who knows Rivera’s work would probably describe his use of calla lilies as his biggest distinction factor. Now as a Mexican artist who would use them alongside indigenous Mexican women, as well as someone who openly celebrated his culture through his art. Thinking like this I thought my use of calla lilies would make the connection clear to my Mexican culture. Other than that I also believed the viewer would realize,( like I had) that Rivera utilized the calla lilies alongside women. In that fashion that I would utilize the calla lilies but I in turn would use the calla lily metaphorically, in my piece they were the women.
Still I have a lot of regrets when it comes to technical skills especially when it came to my serpent-like border. One particular thing I would have improved and completely redone if I could of on that border, is the line work. It was the crispness of my lines in the linoleum block that even after my experimentation was lacking. The root of the problem was my stubbornness to keep the small scale details despite knowing I lacked understanding of utilizing the carving tools. The scales are roughly carved into and many times don’t display a scale like look. Still I kept them because I needed them in order to convey my theme without out them alongside with the flames I couldn’t show the destruction of purity of women. It was suppose to be a biblical allusion from the story Adam and Eve when they commit original sin and to God become impure. In my sketches the look of the serpent influence look apparent still in the block print it didn’t translate as well. In the process of trying to keep my theme I sacrificed the other part of my inspiration of Matisse, since it wasn't in his style to be highly detailed. Still I can not help to realized that it helped me learn that just because it looks good in one medium it doesn’t mean it will to another medium.
All in all it was the best I could do and I tried to correct the things I lack in the best I could.
First of all I am happy with how the calla lily and flames came out for the most part. They really do utilize the simplicity in subjects that I was inspired by Matisse to do. It also shows a good demonstration of how to use negative and positive space for the flames. One of my biggest worries was that the flames wouldn’t look distinguishable. That worry actually led me to carving out the extended tip of the calla lily in order to achieve the separation between where the flames are and where the calla lily is.
Going back to the calla lily, its depiction would play the biggest role towards the viewer alluding (my theme) the irrelevance of purity. As well as the biggest connection towards my Mexican culture. For this to happen the biggest idea that had to come across was that I was inspired by Diego Rivera. Anyone who knows Rivera’s work would probably describe his use of calla lilies as his biggest distinction factor. Now as a Mexican artist who would use them alongside indigenous Mexican women, as well as someone who openly celebrated his culture through his art. Thinking like this I thought my use of calla lilies would make the connection clear to my Mexican culture. Other than that I also believed the viewer would realize,( like I had) that Rivera utilized the calla lilies alongside women. In that fashion that I would utilize the calla lilies but I in turn would use the calla lily metaphorically, in my piece they were the women.
Still I have a lot of regrets when it comes to technical skills especially when it came to my serpent-like border. One particular thing I would have improved and completely redone if I could of on that border, is the line work. It was the crispness of my lines in the linoleum block that even after my experimentation was lacking. The root of the problem was my stubbornness to keep the small scale details despite knowing I lacked understanding of utilizing the carving tools. The scales are roughly carved into and many times don’t display a scale like look. Still I kept them because I needed them in order to convey my theme without out them alongside with the flames I couldn’t show the destruction of purity of women. It was suppose to be a biblical allusion from the story Adam and Eve when they commit original sin and to God become impure. In my sketches the look of the serpent influence look apparent still in the block print it didn’t translate as well. In the process of trying to keep my theme I sacrificed the other part of my inspiration of Matisse, since it wasn't in his style to be highly detailed. Still I can not help to realized that it helped me learn that just because it looks good in one medium it doesn’t mean it will to another medium.
All in all it was the best I could do and I tried to correct the things I lack in the best I could.
ACT Connections
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work?
The effect of my inspiration is very clear in my work, it directly influenced the stylistic choices in my piece and it’s message. The (cause) use of Matisse as an inspiration made the calla lily and the flames be used in a non-realistic and simple way. As well as the inspiration of Diego Rivera not only made the piece an ode to my Mexican culture but also identify the calla lily as symbolizing women’s purity.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author within my research tended to to use words that gave a very descriptive yet objective tone. This made it apparent that it was from the point of view of someone who is very well informed in the subject matter of art. In the research of aztec traditions it was more scientific but equally as objective.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
In my research I came to realize that Matisse (and other artist that breached into the abstract) tended to work with simple subject because they did not distract from the emotion of the piece. Now as for Rivera he utilized a lot symbols (like calla lilies) to further his message and help his viewers allude to them.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea I had in my work was challenging a preconceived notion which led me the theme of the irrelevance of purity. It was through my research especially in how Rivera challenged ideas in his society (Mexican culture) that I came to want to do the same.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that for many artist it isn’t necessarily the techniques they use that distinguish them but the meaning behind them. Neither Matisse or Rivers belong to one art movement their whole life but their work seems to keep the same central ideas.
The effect of my inspiration is very clear in my work, it directly influenced the stylistic choices in my piece and it’s message. The (cause) use of Matisse as an inspiration made the calla lily and the flames be used in a non-realistic and simple way. As well as the inspiration of Diego Rivera not only made the piece an ode to my Mexican culture but also identify the calla lily as symbolizing women’s purity.
2) What is the overall approach(point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author within my research tended to to use words that gave a very descriptive yet objective tone. This made it apparent that it was from the point of view of someone who is very well informed in the subject matter of art. In the research of aztec traditions it was more scientific but equally as objective.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
In my research I came to realize that Matisse (and other artist that breached into the abstract) tended to work with simple subject because they did not distract from the emotion of the piece. Now as for Rivera he utilized a lot symbols (like calla lilies) to further his message and help his viewers allude to them.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea I had in my work was challenging a preconceived notion which led me the theme of the irrelevance of purity. It was through my research especially in how Rivera challenged ideas in his society (Mexican culture) that I came to want to do the same.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that for many artist it isn’t necessarily the techniques they use that distinguish them but the meaning behind them. Neither Matisse or Rivers belong to one art movement their whole life but their work seems to keep the same central ideas.
Bibliography
“Flower Seller 1942 by Diego Rivera.” Diego Rivera , www.diegorivera.org/flowerseller1942.jsp. Accessed 5 Sept. 2017.
“Henri Matisse | Snow Flowers | The Met.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490000. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Neuman, Scott. “Aztec 'Tower Of Skulls' Reveals Women, Children Were Sacrificed.” NPR, NPR, 5 July 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/05/535613480/aztec-tower-of-skulls-reveals-women-children-were-sacrificed. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
“Henri Matisse | Snow Flowers | The Met.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490000. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Neuman, Scott. “Aztec 'Tower Of Skulls' Reveals Women, Children Were Sacrificed.” NPR, NPR, 5 July 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/05/535613480/aztec-tower-of-skulls-reveals-women-children-were-sacrificed. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.