Progress Report 2: Church Window

Got the sawdust vacuumed up, the window exterior blacked and the back of the thing all framed up. It's not the sturdiest thing is the world but it's made 2 trips in my hatchback now without breaking. The unfortunate thing is that I have to stick my head up between one of the openings in the wood too see while I drive, so if I get in a wreck, I will be decapitated... so it goes. Here is what I worked on last night. First the design plan in black and white. 

The central figure. 

And the 4 encircling figures on the top, 

the left, 

the bottom,

and the right. 

I'm not making good time, but I like what it looks like so far and I'm really proud of what a stellar job I think I'm doing. Delusional. Maybe... that's how I live.

Progress Report - Church Window

My landlady is going to kill me!

I didn't have a jigsaw but I do have a reciprocating saw, and I cut this whole thing out of 1/4 lauan with a reciprocating saw. I couldn't get it timed right either so I could use the projector to cast the image to cut, and I actually had to do the geometry instead. Gag. But here is where I am on my church window.

I included this angle for scale. The window is a 7'0" circle meant to mimic the Rose Window from Notre Dame or other such gothic/romanesque churches.

Artist's Statement to come...

The Mehrya Rug

This is my design for a rug I'm making in my Collaborative Projects class with a student named Mehrya, whose family came here from Afghanistan. The eye shapes are a natural geometric intersection of the style of design I pulled from actual afghan rug art, but are meant to represent the fear of her family as they struggled through the explosions and carnage and war which compelled their dramatic escape. The bone shapes also speak to the fatal path of their journey. Although Mehrya was not born yet, her family's struggle to care for siblings and eventually bring her into the world is firmly planted in her self-identity. However, Mehrya herself is a sunny and bright person, a beacon I can only imagine to her family - someone who makes them happy and strong in her warmth. I have represented her in the center of the rug with the radiating beams, and a smaller version of the eye pattern, which is round and more human and insists on looking not to the fearful events of the past but to the human possibilities of the future.

Kloeshi ei Kosta - Work in Progress

 

This is just the beginning. 

This is the bottom.

The middle.

 

Some detail.

The top.

And for scale reference, the skeleton marionette will be a little taller than me.

Medieval Macabre and Font Research

I was trying to concentrate only on church arcade sculptural imagery from the Romanesque Period which depicts scenes of hell and the torture of humans who lead an "immoral" or impious life. This imagery was a prime instructional tool of the medieval period to lead people away from paganism and oddly enough away from the fanciful mythology of the Roman and Greek culture.

I found quite a bit of Medieval imagery, but not specifically from the Romanesque arcades. I'm looking for that high contrast stone work just jam packed with people getting tortured. I'm going to draw a small set. I'm mountiing it on foamcore and driving my new HDSLR (fingers crossed I get it tomorrow after I get paid...) through the scenery for the opening shot of the short film I previously mentioned working on, which is tentatively called Lisolette and Gregory.

I am also looking at text from Medieval manuscripts and attempting to create writing in the visual aspects of this work which looks as if it says something but the characters will not actually mean anything. I'm very interested in the use of written and verbal language in art, as language is both beautiful and practical for communication but highly inefficient in some aspects. Language, while noble in its attempt, can never describe certain personal experiences. This is a thought I've mulled over lately which was inspired by recent discussions about Buddhism.

I will continue paring down the visual research until I find the exact period I'm looking for, and the imagery I know exists... I remember from art history, eight years ago. Surely I remember correctly...

Pictures of The Floating World

Works of Kitagawa Utamaro:

Works of Katsushika Hokusai:

 

 

Objectless

Shunga, or "spring" art, initially held lower class popular appeal in 7th and 8th century Japanese culture until it became suddenly fashionable in 19th century Europe and imported massively by Dutch merchants. Namely, Kitagawa Utamaro's ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world," were in high demand. With a delicate eroticism and a sense of melancholy, his works rendered the inherent sadness in a life of pleasure seeking and the act of love.

For me there was a spirituality to the muted ethereal quality of these pillow book illuminations. There was a sweetness and uncharacteristic sense of permanence to these renderings of the sex act. In Objectless, I borrowed from the naturalistic interiors and landscapes of Japanese imagery for the three inked illuminations. In each depiction, however, the male identity is either obscured by flora or intentionally draped in concealment by the female figure.

The fish were a personal symbol for sexuality as I find their wide, lifeless eyes and chaotic movement seductive and terrifying. There is no doubt a mystifying allure to the appearance of the fish.  A classic symbol of miracle, providence and magic, for me the fish is both beautiful and hideous. Spewing forth from the inguen of the erotically posed female nude beneath, the arched bodies of the koi-like vertebrates are both fluid and spastic where they are caught in motion, either swimming the depths in harmony with their watery nature, or squirming, panicked and purged from their safe place. They mimic the meaningless gestural language connecting the pieces of the illuminated story.

Both submissive and aggressive, sprung on her knees, the figure beneath the romantic illuminations is consumed in her half-formed fantasies and objectless desire, isolated beneath a soft translucent fabric sheet, her saddened identity, still as yet, half-formed.