In class we had a really good discussion about Kara Walker's work and some of the issues that such provocative work raises. One of the ideas that came up in class is how much a person's personal/life experiences affect the kind of artwork that person makes. By clicking here you can read an interview with Kara Walker where she sheds some light on how her experiences affected her.
To start off our blog this semester, I would like you all to reflect on if/how YOUR experiences affect the kind of artwork you have already made, or the artwork you would like to make. As long as people are comfortable sharing, I think giving specifics will really help us all get to know each and provide us all with an introductory window into your ideas for artmaking. I look forward to seeing all our different (and possibly similar) answers to this question.
15 comments:
It has been my experince that people tend to compare their pasts and see who is really "the survivor." The truth of the matter is everyone has "stuff." And this "stuff" determines our morals, our dreams, our decisions, and, in this case, our art.
About six and a half years ago my younger sister, Whitney, died. She was thirteen and my best friend. She had an undiagnosed neurological disease that slowly took away her ability to walk, talk, eat, move, and eventually breathe. Throughout her life however, she never lost her positive attitude, or the willingness to smile.
Growing up, it was hard to understand (and truthfully it is still a mystery to me) why no doctor in the US could figure it out. You'd think that that would have led me to pursue a medical career... but the emotional, rather than the clinical, questions I had, led me to art.
I find art to be theraputic and it has been the one consistent in my life. While things in my everyday life affect the subject and color palette of my paintings, I can't ignore the overriding inspiration that Whitney has left me with.
I have only started to explore the art world on my own in the past few years. To be honest I haven’t really allowed myself to run free with my ideas concerning the art I make. I actually feel quite displaced from the art world at times... even though I grew up surrounded by it. When I was thinking about what to write I couldn’t help but think about our loft when I was growing up. It was split in two, one part my father’s studio, the other our living space. Separating the two was a line of blue masking tape on the floor… it was written law in our house that my sister and I were never to step beyond the tape into my fathers “space.” I think this separation has followed me through my life… especially concerning my thoughts and experiences with art. I have not explored my art making enough to know what art I make, however I do know that my father has had a great influence on my understanding and appreciation of art, despite of my displacement from him as an artist.
Nothing exactly 'led' me to art. I always enjoyed art class, but I only saw it as another form of accomplishment that I could achieve. During the end of my junior year extending into my senior year, I became a quasi-isolated individual due to tarnished relationships and my natural sensitivity. I became somewhat obsessive about my art projects. My mom is an anxiety-prone insomniac, and my dad has an obsessive compulsive personality. It is probably safe to say that art gives me some tension release. Art is something that allows me to escape from the world, and deal with it at the same time. Like many others, I tend to let my imagination, and especially emotions, guide me through projects. Surrealism fascinates me because of its focus on the layers in people's minds and lives. However, I also like artists like Escher who are cerebral and play with the mind (although I don't think I could possibly come up with stuff like that). Themes that are interesting: tragedy, madness, individuality, spirituality without being explicit(art being a renewing experience, not spiritual art), emotions, gender relationships, and security. I still have not explored or found 'my style' of art, but I now see creating art as more than an accomplishment. Is is something that is truly fulfilling. So here I am three years later and I can't imagine my life without art.
it's strange... i'd like my art to be reflective of deeper emotional issues that i deal with... relationship issues... issues with depression... my religion (buddhism)... but it doesnt. and when i try to make something inspired by myself or things that i'm going through it just comes out contrived and crappy. maybe i'm not pushing it far enough.
the only aspect of my life i've ever been directly inspired by are my dreams. consistently vivid, long, and often emotionally intense, i like to find ways of illustrating the events in my dreams.
to be honest i dont know where my art comes from. i'm pretty sure it's somewhere inside me, but where, or if that me even exists, is a mystery. i just know that theres this place in my mind that has this certain way of thinking and that way gives birth to all my ideas. i guess, to me, thats what creativity is: a place in your mind that thinks about the world differently than the rest of your mind. and people who dont think creativly dont use that part of their mind. but i'm pretty sure everyone has it.
Looking back on artwork that I’ve previously made, I notice some trends and themes in my work; mainly pieces based around nature, architecture, or a combination of the two. While I enjoy these themes, I would really like to get more into surreal pieces, like what Lindsey mentions, especially dealing with my dreams, like what Alex talks about. I keep a dream journal and a dream sketchbook to draw my dreams and this helps to keep me thinking about art all the time. I did do one piece in high school that was Dali-esque and was a lot of fun for me to do, so I think I need to come out of my shell a little bit and take more risks in my work, in terms of not being so ‘traditional.’ I’m also really interested in how different people can visually see different things when looking at the same piece, as well as how drugs help to facilitate art making, and how art is perceived after having taken drugs. One example might be the Santana lion album cover.
I definitely feel that my artwork comes from my experiences and interests, though not as fully as it could. I love looking at a variety of art pieces, but many I just stare at in amazement and figure I could never do something like that, instead of actually trying to make something really cool like those awe-inspiring pieces. If I tried to create my own art full of more ideas that I love, it might be more difficult, but I think it would help bring my interests and experiences closer to my art.
~Ben
I’m a very right-minded person, always looking for the right answer. I was always a math nerd, and art has been an outlet for me to express myself in a more liberated way because there isn’t a right or wrong. It is really difficult for me to escape this “black and white”-“right and wrong”-type mentality even in my art, but I try. Oftentimes I find myself making very literal pieces, and I have to really push myself to go beyond this. I love looking at abstract, figurative, and gestural art but find it so challenging to create anything like that myself. When I was younger everyone used to think that it was cool how I could draw a teapot and make it look realistic, but as I’ve grown both physically and as an artist, I realize that isn’t what art is really about. I think it’s about conveying a message to an audience. Usually when I make something, I start with something that I want to express but by the time I’m done, the piece tells an entirely different story. Maybe that’s the process? Maybe the fact that I struggle to express myself abstractly is itself expressing something? Like Ben, I need to continue to try to “come out of my shell” and take more risks as an artist.
my work and inspiration changes as i grow as a student/...person. my academic and political interests have changed a lot since when i first started doing art.
i think the stuff i did in middle school and high school was pretty bland, and cold, and held only aesthetic value (and maybe not even that). but now that i'm beginning to become interested in political activism and gender studies, my art has been directly affected.
however, it's still pretty evident that aside from the "serious" art i do, i always i love making quirky, weird, whimsical, and colorful art that is inspired by my childish wackiness. i've got a bad case of the peter pan complex and i think that's why i'm kind of obsessed with returning back to a strange infatuation with sea creatures and general...adolescence.
but also, a huge majority of my art, particular the stuff i do in my sketchbook ends up being fueled by stuff from my personal life (relationships with friends and family) and while a lot of it is driven by negative emotions of sadness, frustration or disappointment, it usually turns out to be a lot of really silly and sarcastic stuff that's far from being that dark and emotional stuff. in the end, what happens is my sketchbook become a lot like diaries that documents all the crap that goes on in my life through pictures and sarcastic words.
i guess in the end, what happens is that my art usually ends up going in three different directions (however i think they can sometimes blend together a lot), it's either political and a means of expressing my opinions on society, or it's inspired by my childlike and wacky imagination, orrr my own personal experiences.
For me, I cannot separate my own art from my personal experiences, feelings, and relationships. A lot of times, I try and look for interesting things to research and make art about, and try to give deeper meaning to my art, but recently I have found that sometimes it's okay to make art for the pure reason that it feels good. For this reason, I feel that the actual making of the art is an experience in itself. And along with that, I bring myself along with me with every piece I make.
I guess my ideas and inspirations come from my childhood, from memories and stories I remember, as well as feelings and relationships I have. I think for a lot of us, it is hard to pin down why exactly we make art, or what drives us to do it, or how we got here. Maybe we just do..
I have been racking my brain trying to think of a good answer to this question.
I'm not sure I have one that can fully explain, like Alyson said, it's hard to pin down. I think it varies for me with different media and subject matter. I have used art as a physical representation of events in my life that I've had no control over, to isolate and contain "bad feelings." However, I find that work made in this context for me can only be explored once, and whether that comes from me or the artwork, I'm not entirely sure. Sometimes it's harder for me to make works about being content or happy with life, unless it is a reflection on some specific experience or person. With painting, sometimes it doesn't even matter what I paint (which is probably stupid to say on this blog) but there have been many still lifes and landscapes that have been really satisfying just because I enjoy the act of applying paint to a canvas. I feel like I'm generally a pretty hyper person, but if I'm painting I can sit still for hours. Sometimes I see what I want the end product to be, sometimes it develops while I work on it. I don't really know if there's a reason, I just know that I really really like to--sometimes I even NEED to--and that this question has been driving me crazy for days. I guess the best thing I can do is just accept the urge and figure out what works for me as an artist...?
To end this rambling with a Kara Walker question: Does anyone think that her work may be best received in the audience members that have some personal connection/experience with the subject matter depicted? And that it may have the most profound impact on people that are already passionate about the cases and discussions she tries to initiate?
I am my father's daughter inside and out and have been since I was a young girl. In my youth I would describe myself as shy,imaginative, introverted...just like Dad. Being
such, I was often the outcast of the three children in my family, which led me to find comforts in my solitude, such as drawing. As I grew older I found life to be difficult because of my constant over analysis of all matters, whether they be large or small. When a certain event flipped a switch in my mind, I was driven into a depression that was more lonely than anything else. My sad emotions and constant off-putting thoughts consumed my mind and led me to use the old outlet I had utilized as a child - art. It allowed me to be alone, and it also put my mind to rest. This was mainly achieved by drawing things that I found to be beautiful and peaceful...in particular, the human body. Two years into the long, dark road I learned of my father's struggle with severe depression and learned through him how to better handle the problem to make my life more enjoyable. People are my passion. Knowing people. Interacting with people. Discussing people's lives and feelings. Using art as a way of still maintaining that passion through drawing people has inspired my work and helped me in times when I wanted nothing to do with actual people...but only to be alone. For me art is soothing and a way to detach myself from my overworking mind!
okay soooo i'm commenting again. but after reading what mary said, i kinda wanted to change my answer a little. i think i completely agree with the following statement: "just because I enjoy the act of applying paint to a canvas."
and i think upon more thought, that's what my art is about. aside from all that inspiration and subject matter stuff i said before. the reason why i do art, above it all, is because i'm in love with the process. 98% of the time, i hate what i produce, but it's everything that's leading up to it that i love. i love getting lost in the meticulous and repetitive motions of creating art. it's in the rhythm of painting or drawing or sculpting that becomes so meditative for me where i can let my mind clear or also organize my thoughts and emotions.
to me, it's the process not the product. and i dont know if that's what mary was saying or if any of that even made sense. buuut yeah. okay. soo that's why i do art.
I have sat down about four times now catching up on the recent posts and still wondering what to write. For me, like many others, art is an expression of themselves. It is also deeper…delving into the conscious and sometimes subconscious thoughts that lay within each and every one of us. I guess I have been lucky enough to grow up with art around me. My grandfather is very talented and the one that encouraged me to enroll in art classes when I was young. It wasn’t until I was finishing my year in 8th grade when my painting teacher told me I had to take more art classes in high school. I remember that moment vividly.
Around the end of middle school my parents separated (which was a shock) and then divorced. It was messy and left me switching houses back and forth every night. It was hard. My mom was then diagnosed with MS and that same year my dad remarried. This troubling time was in the beginning of my high school career. The moving houses, switching back and forth from house to house, parent fights, and bouts of MS continued until the end of high school… and now my mom is divorcing again. I guess I am putting this all out there because it is something that has changed me greatly and the way I view the world. I noticed that my art changed in high school, it became meaningful. I sketched constantly and wrote poems that reflected the depressive state that I was in. It also reflected my need for control.
It is interesting because even though I feel happy and am no longer depressed and now in control of my life (for the most part) I feel that my art still dives to a dark place. Most of my art in college has been based on subject matter that directly affects me… I talk a lot about body image and the pressures within our society regarding body image and looking and acting a certain way. I have also noticed that for the most recent assignments in art class I have set goals to paint a pretty picture but it always ends up as something sad and dark. I don’t really know where I am headed with this but I guess I just wanted to give everyone a sense of my art background and events in my life that have inspired the work that I create.
Hi.
Well, of course my experiences have informed what I've made. Is there any other way?
My mother draws and is an art teacher, so I grew up hanging out in her classes all the
time. I really liked making things- drawings, books, little clay guys...lots of stuff.
Making art was special to me, and I was especially satisfied as I became more and more
able to make things look "real". I never wanted to be a professional artist though. I
wanted to save whales or be a choreographer.
I drew and painted a little in high school. The content was pretty flat. The way I
thought about and placed value on art at that time was based greatly on what I had been
exposed to- fairly traditional portraiture, a lot of impressionist painters, and so on.
Nothing terribly conceptual or contemporary. Still, making art felt good. And I was learning. My
work was predictable, probably because my concept of how I could use art was
underdeveloped. Of course it is quite possible that later on I will look back on the
things I am making now and I will think they are immature. That's okay. I am here now-
just like I was there then- just like I'll end up somewhere else.
Now I am here at Denison. It's harder to describe what I'm doing because I'm in the
middle of it. I really love making books, especially those dealing with my Taoist
sentiment. Making books is often meditative for me, and the book format suits me well- it poses infinite challenges but I am
also comforted by its inherent intimacy. I like pages. They allow space for train of
thought. They require a literal movement through space and time.
In our class this semester I have been trying to make paintings that deal with my feelings about animals. This decision was based completely on my experiences and my feelings about the suffering of others. I’m not sure how long I will continue working with this theme as it brings me much sadness and frustration. Either way, I plan to continue making work that is inspired by my personal capacity to have my mind blown. That is what I really like to do.
I believe that art is a construction of both the reality and the subconcious. It is an outlet that channels our individual experiences; a vision ignited by what each of us has seen, done, hope to do, want, fear, and love.
To me, painting allows a kind of mindless expression, or, freedom of thought. I love to create different worlds in my head, binding together both the known and the unkown, escape from what people say and do around me and do whatever i want to do really.
More specifically however, if you've ever experienced the moment before you fall asleep( which most of you probably have), the moment right after you let go and loose yourself among the swirling thoughts of the previous day combined with the To Do list looming ahead in the day to come, it is the moment you begin to fall. And in that fall, you find these creations. Of worlds, of people, of animals, of stars and trees, of music and their lyrics, and of past memories played out as movie scenes. THAT is what I love to paint, that is my fascination.
How/If your personal experiences effect your art?
I think that my personal experiences effect my art because it seems somewhat impossible for my life to not have an impact on the work that I create.
I am usually not aware of how my artwork relates to my life unless I make the choice to create it about a certain event or am told to do so in an assignment.
I do not plan to make my artwork coordinate with my life in the future or make reference to my happenings, but I am sure that it will and then again maybe I will change my mind and make a whole auto painting performance biography!? Or maybe I am already...and I just do not know it.
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