Claustraphobia

There are few universal fears in human kind. Claustrophobia is one of them. For generations people have subconsciously identified with the fear of being confined within a small, limiting, trapping, space. I don't find myself attracted to a lot of art pieces, but I absolutely love the simple yet profound message communicated by the image below. The artist used a technique here known as "grouping" defined by Stewart (2012) as grouping visual units by location, orientation, shape, and color. (pg. 68)
By making the trees in the center darker, and more pronounced than the other trees we instinctively group them together, creating the appearance of a small space. The reason I am so drawn to this image I think is due to its contradictory nature. We typically visualize freedom as existing within nature, especially when looking at the sky. But this piece brings up the disheartening idea that perhaps we aren't free, but trapped within a life, or a world we don't understand; one that is multidimensional and perhaps infinite.

Mother-Son Montage

This photomontage is composed of pictures of me and my son from the time I brought him home from the hospital until now-- he's almost 19 months old. The main photograph is the most recent one, taken about a week or so ago, whereas the other layered photos are older pictures taken of me holding Rylan. I made them blurred, and a bit opaque to reflect the passing of time. I focused on the layering of my arms around Rylan's little body to convey the idea that no matter how old he gets I will always be there to pick him up when he needs me-- my job is to be there to support him as his mom. One of my favorite aspects of this piece is the picture of Rylan as a newborn- when he was only two days old, being cradled in the curve of my arm. I layered different pictures of Rylan at varying ages on his face to show that although time has passed, he is still the same person that I gave life too. I love my little boy so much so this piece is very special to me!

Rythm of Art

"Visual rhythm is similar to musical rhythm. In music, rhythm is created through the organization of sound in time. (...) As with music, the rhythm in a visual composition can take many forms"(Stewart, pg. 83). I think the text describes the essence of rhythm beautifully. An orchestra is only powerful when it follows a rhythm. To me, drawing on the previous post(s) about patterns in nature, rhythm is simply another way of describing a unification principle, a more aesthetic description of something that helps create order from chaos. The below picture illustrates a breathtaking use of rhythm in artwork for me. Rhythm in this piece comes together to create a piece that reminds me of a visual depiction of infinity.

A Matrixed World

Let's start with a little bit of a mind bender. Quantam physics has recently revealed the somewhat horrifying reality that we live in a holographic universe. (For more information, please reference YouTube I don't have the expertise, nor the time to say any more). What this means, in simplistic terms, is that what we think we know is nothing more than a projection, like a movie on a screen. THAT is what makes our fascination with patterns and grids all the more interesting. Nature, like the construct of our minds, operates according to patterns. In art, patterns are described as "any visual element repeated over an extended area". Contrastingly, a grid, "is created through a series of intersecting lines"(Stewart, pg. 72). My personal theory is that our attraction to grid artwork that follows certain patterns is due to our subconscious recognition that we live in a matrix-ed world, propagated through the holographic repetition of cyclical patterns. The artwork below is an example of both patterns and grid-work in design. 

Don't Judge Art by its Surface

I have to draw on my psychology background a little bit for this post. Art is such an interesting tool for expression, because, as Photoshop clearly acknowledges, it operates in layers. People who don't understand art (I am not immune to this), oftentimes see only the surface layer. This can be explained by a simple little psychological school of thought known as Gestalt psychology which asserts that, "visual information is understood holistically before it is examined separately" (Stewart, pg. 68). More simply put, we seek out unity in the world. Our minds don't like to confront chaos and confusion, but art, (or at least the more fascinating art, in my opinion) is intended to bring us out of our comfort zone. Consider the image below. At the surface level the image appears to move, but upon closer inspection it is the ingenious use of lines and patterns that creates the illusion of movement. The mind is so easily tricked. 

Life in Color

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The reason for this is the instant emotional and mental connection we feel when looking at a frozen moment in time. But could it also be attributed to color? Black and white photos convey a different message and overall mood than do color photographs (See the Dichotomous Nature of the Self post). The Bezold effect, proposed by color theorist Wilhelm Bezold, explains this phenomenon by positing that change in a single color can substantially alter our perception of an entire pattern (Stewart, pg. 42). I included the picture below to illustrate this effect. By only utilizing a single color in the center of the image it capitalizes on the overall message of the poster and draws the audience in like moths to a flame.

Art & Technology

A fascinating topic for me has always been the relationship between art and technology. Our present and future world is rampant and highly dependent on technology to function. Art emerged as a tangible form of self-expression and awareness. We are the first species to be aware of our mortality, and thus leads us to question who we are, what our purpose is, and how we got here. Art is a way of helping us release these potentially anxiety-laden thoughts, and in our modern age, technology is the perfect medium to help us express these complex philosophical and psychological reflections. We can do so much more, I feel, with the tools technology equips us with and thus I pose the question if new media artists can actually convey much deeper, more philosophical, questions to their audiences, than their predecessors could by utilizing the highly complex and wide-ranging functions technology presents us with?

Dichotomous Nature of the Self

I created this image with essentially two basic layers (although there could be additional layers if one wanted to really dig deep.) At the heart of this self-portrait is the idea of duality; basically the dual nature of the self, and the relationship of the self to life. The cloud represents life and the potential situations that life can bring, sometimes dark and painful, and sometimes unexpectedly wonderful. How we live our lives has a lot to do with how we respond to these situational circumstances, but on the other hand, they also mold us into who we eventually become. To truly realize who we are we have to experience both sides of life, painful and dark, and joyous and bright. Pain reveals the essence of who we are, while joy reveals the potential we have, and the inner goodness we have to offer the world.