Reference Images

So in the past few days I've been scouring old family photo albums and boxes full of loose photos and negatives and undertaking the task of scanning them pertaining to a thesis idea I have along with for general reference photo use. I've gone through and copied over 400 images in the past few days, here are a few examples of what I'm talking about.

This next one is the best piece I think I've done this far. Based around the idea of misrepresentation of people suffering from eating disorders I worked with around 50 images compiling them in a photo album in order to tell a story.

Here is part of my proposal I had to submit n order to get final approval for my idea:

For this final assignment I hope to tackle the issue of misrepresentation of people suffering from anorexia. My goal with this piece is to bring to light how society views people with eating disorders as nothing more than the disease but that in truth they are people first, they have a past, a family, goals, and spirits that live beyond the disease. I plan on juxtaposing images of people suffering from anorexia –not done in the traditional harsh light they tend to be displayed in but in a soft, loving manner with images of my cousin.

Sarah died from the disease when I was six, she was only 18 and is my main inspiration for this piece. The only memories I have of her are from when I was 4-6 years old and those were the two years where the disease took over. I want to try and get back to the way a child would see someone with this issue. I was always aware that she was ill and had it explained to me by my parents but because of the innocent child’s point of view I never saw her as the disease but instead as someone who I loved dearly without ever concentrating on the external. By using both redrawn images from old family photos, some photo reprints and articles about her life-birth announcement, write ups in the paper about things she accomplished in her youth along with her obituary and possibly some belongings of hers I now have in my possession. By putting these too styles of images together I hope to open a dialogue about how the disease and also facilitate some person closure.

The Following are a few images I've chosen from the book.

Here's a link to the rest of the images in the piece: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56993399@N02/sets/72157625464541419

This was a piece I created for my creative component of my Reading Popular Culture final assignment. It was based around a paper about the exploitation of the female image in the media and the public perception of the 'perfect' female body image. Done on a mirror and through using collaged images of meat in to create a female face it goes along with a series of other works I've been ding and planning lately revolving a lot around the issues of eating disorders and the misrepresentation of identity.

Porcelain Dolls Finished

I haven't updated in a few weeks, been very busy finishing finally assignments and getting ready for exam time. So this is the first of a few posts with updated final pieces, unfortunately I forgot to take photos of a book I made for my creative writing class but I should be getting it back next semester.

This is my finished Porcelain Dolls piece. I'm pretty happy overall with how they turned out after a few snafus. I plan on expanding the idea and possibly doing some smaller scale pieces alone with mixing some sewn elements into others as soon as I get my sewing machine fixed.

Works In Progress

I realize I haven't updated in a while but I haven't really had any completed work to post. It's final assignment time and I currently have 3 different works on the go all in different levels of completion. Here are some photos of where they currently stand. I'll update with better documentation and artist statements when they're finished.Creative component for Reading Popular Culture, person made out of meat-media collage on mirror. The frame is currently being painted black and the face still needs to be finished and then attached to the mirror. Due friday with a 5 page written component.

Next up is for Painting Studio. Series of 7 slightly demented porcelain dolls. Done on wood and will eventually be painted most likely using acrylics.
And finally the piece I'm most invested in is for Representation of Memory and Desire. The work I'm doing is based around the misrepresentation of people with eating disorders.My goal with this piece is to bring to light how society views people with eating disorders as nothing more than the disease but that instead they are people first, they have a past, a family, goals, and spirits that live beyond the disease.

Studies

I'm contemplating doing a series of painting around the idea of demented dolls and have been doing some rough sketches along with a test painting to determine which direction I want this idea to go.

Final Installation

This is the final installation of my memory assignment. The crit went pretty well and I'm really happy with the way its turned out and is a format I hope to continue working with.

Painting on Glass

For my latest painting studio assignment I tried painting on glass. The window the piece was done on was being thrown out by some neighbours and brought to my attention by one of my roommates. It was a larger format than I've been working in lately as it seems a lot of my ideas are becoming more installation and interaction based paintings. I'm pretty happy with the results and would like to experiment more on glass surfaces.

Memory

Complete

Work in Progress

A painting I currently have on the go and is due later this week. It's a continuation of the work I've been doing for the past few months. My prof suggested I try and work with more muted colours and pastels...I'm not personally a fan of that type of colour and am not 100% happy with where this piece is going but we'll see.

My latest finished assignment for school had to do with the dream portrait. However what we deemed a dream or a portrait was up for debate. I chose to go in terms more of a goal and the focus of regaining what has been lost and again having some type of control over my life and the control over certain information pertaining to past events.

The Image I chose to go with is an appropriation of a Victorian death photo. I took the original image and redrew it replacing the child in the photo with a image of me from when I was about 4 . They are done on 3 inch by 4 inch wood panels with watercolour paper attached to their surface and repeated a total of 13 times.

Some images from an assignment from last semester. It was about defacing a magazine, I also tried to take it more in an appropriation stance and mess around with the imagery typical in fashion and female geared media.

almost done...panel two anyway

Book Pages