Studio 3
Identity
Size
Mixed Media
October 2017
Exhibition Text:
This piece was inspired by Ciara Phelan, and her mixed media works, that are often advertisements for large companies. The intention for this piece was the show the the stereotypes faced by women and the burdens that they have.
Size
Mixed Media
October 2017
Exhibition Text:
This piece was inspired by Ciara Phelan, and her mixed media works, that are often advertisements for large companies. The intention for this piece was the show the the stereotypes faced by women and the burdens that they have.
Artistic Inspiration
Ciara Phelan is an illustrator and textile designer from London. She mixes images digitally and using textile materials to create colorful advertisements and playful images. She likes to fuse ephemera, texture, and bold pattern. She has work for many different topics. She does advertisements for large companies, landscapes, editorials, fashion, and typography. Many of her pieces that I used for inspiration depict a person and what burdens they might be carrying, not necessarily good or bad, just things from everyday life that people have to do. Things like work, chores, or hobbies.
A lot of Phelans work resemble 1950’s advertisements with how she portrays people, objects, and uses color and patterns. Advertisements however, are often fake, and show a lifestyle that is not achievable or realistic for most people. Women specifically are shown in advertisements saying products made their lives better, or some advertisements show that women are simple, and need things to be very easy so that they can finish simple tasks. These advertisements often ignore the actual people using the advertised products, and their emotions. I'm choosing to do a block print, and add different images and paint over it to emulate one of Phelans many collages.
“Portfolio.” Ciara Phelan, www.ciaraphelan.com/portfolio/.
“Portfolio.” Ciara Phelan, www.ciaraphelan.com/portfolio/.
Planning and Process
Planning
Originally, I wanted to focus on a whole body like many of Phelan’s advertisements, and like some 1950’s advertisements, however, doing a block print of that I thought would be too difficult. So I focused on a different piece by Phelan that shows the lower half of a man’s head, and a large geometric shape behind various other photos and papers that Phelan added to her piece. I chose to do the actual block print of just the lower half of a face, and large shapes. This will add contrast to the other images that will be added to the piece, as well as paint, and paper.
Originally, I wanted to focus on a whole body like many of Phelan’s advertisements, and like some 1950’s advertisements, however, doing a block print of that I thought would be too difficult. So I focused on a different piece by Phelan that shows the lower half of a man’s head, and a large geometric shape behind various other photos and papers that Phelan added to her piece. I chose to do the actual block print of just the lower half of a face, and large shapes. This will add contrast to the other images that will be added to the piece, as well as paint, and paper.
Process
The first thing that I did was trace my planning sketch onto my linoleum board. I had newsprint paper, paper, ink that I would do the prints with. I did about 5 different prints. The first few that I did, did not look as clean around the figure like I wanted it to, so I carved more from the background so that there would not be lines in the background of the piece. I wanted the sides to be clean. I did a few more prints after this and finally got one that was how I wanted it to be. After I had all the prints done, I looked for different images to incorporate into the piece. Phelan often uses flowers, other people, everyday objects, and words in her collages so I found images like that. I also added some paint to add more color like Phelan does in her pieces. |
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Experimentation
Because I needed the prints to be a specific way, after about three prints, I had to go back and carve more of the linoleum board because too much of the board was getting dirty and making the print look messy. There was too much going on in the background. Once I carved more, the prints turned out fine, and I got the one that would be used for the final piece. |
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Reflection
Overall, I believe that this piece was successful. At first, I was worried when I only had the block print done, I was not sure how I was going to move on from that, but once I actually found all the images I was going to use, I felt better. However, I do wish that I could have found one or two more really good pictures. So if I were to redo this project, I would do that. I would also maybe want to do a print with an ink that is not black, just to see what that would look like, or use a different color ink on only a part of it. I think that would have been cool. One of my favorite parts of this piece is the lighter pink towards the top of the figure, I really like that color, and I like how it looks against the print, and images.
Compare and Contrast:
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ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
I was able to identify the relationship between my inspiration and my own artwork by the simple images used, not many colors, and images of everyday objects, flowers, humans, and small bursts of color.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Overall, the approach the author has is that Phelan is a very well known artist for large companies, and is a very successful collage and ephemeral artist.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have concluded that American culture in particular while do not portray stereotypes of women as blatantly as they used to, they still exist.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was women, and the stereotypical roles that they have, so I focused on ads from the 1950's because they often depict stereotypes in a way that is not common anymore.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer while reading my research that much of art seen as advertisements for large companies is overlooked, and dont receive recognition because they are just quickly glanced at.
I was able to identify the relationship between my inspiration and my own artwork by the simple images used, not many colors, and images of everyday objects, flowers, humans, and small bursts of color.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Overall, the approach the author has is that Phelan is a very well known artist for large companies, and is a very successful collage and ephemeral artist.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have concluded that American culture in particular while do not portray stereotypes of women as blatantly as they used to, they still exist.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was women, and the stereotypical roles that they have, so I focused on ads from the 1950's because they often depict stereotypes in a way that is not common anymore.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer while reading my research that much of art seen as advertisements for large companies is overlooked, and dont receive recognition because they are just quickly glanced at.