“Sibling Rivalry” Nathalie Miebach

Weatherwise, Otherwise

I work in the Dalton gallery as a gallery assistant , and because of that I usually get to see how the pieces are installed and sometimes even meet the artist. Nathalie Miebach’s “Sibling Rivalry” caught my eye immediately. I got to help her install her piece in the space, and talk to her about her work. The more she described her work and inspiration behind it, the more I grew to appreciate the layers of meaning she placed in her work. She constructed the racehorses, ships, and  dominoes in her pieces into a visual representation of hurricane data. Her work to me represent the intersection between science an art. Science has never been one of my strong suits, but Meibach’s work helps me to understand and make sense of the weather data that I can relate to.

“Sibling Rivalry” Nathalie Miebach

Bruce Bobick’s “Patch for the Hole in the Ozone Layer” also caught my eye because it is this beautiful watercolor piece of a scene of penguins in their habitat, but with a out of place element. The work highlights the contrasting beauty of the environment with the overlay of the ugly reality.  It was a really great way to catch the attention of the viewer. I love the exhibit because it shows that climate change is not just a scientific problem with only scientific way to respond. Art has the power to touch and capture the attention of people that science might not be able to.

“Patch for the Hole in the Ozone Layer” by Bruce Bobick

The High

On November 12th the High Museum was having a free day and I just had to go. Of course there were a lot of other people there to take advantage of the opportunity especially since Making African and Civil Rights Movement Photography exhibit was there. I had been to the High Museum before as a field trip during my junior year of high school, and yet I still forgot how massive the museum really it. There is just so much to see that it was exhausting by the end. I did find I few pieces that was drawn to. I mostly like art from earlier periods, but there were a few modern pieces that I liked.

The Portrait of Bessie by Albert Herter

I found myself drawn to a painting by Albert Herter entitled Portrait of Bessie. It was painted based off a painting down by James McNeil Whistler in which he composed a painting mainly using whites. I really like the by Herter because he used different tones of white to to distinguish the dress of the woman from the the fur of the bear and the background. I enjoyed seeing how he also used his brush strokes to further distinguish the figure of the woman from the fur of the bear. The dress is using smooth brushstrokes while short and noticeable brush strokes are used to give texture to the fur of the bear.

The Madonna by Ikiré Jones

Blood On the Leaves by Ikiré Jones

I really liked the pieces by Ikiré Jones from the Making Africa exhibit. The pieces mixed Renaissance conventions with West African elements. It provided a great visual and I love that time period, and I loved how she brought back black figures into that historical context because often times there is this erasure of black bodies from history which is what his piece made me think of. I also loved a photograph from the Civil Rights Movement exhibit called Mary Parker and  Caela Cowan by Dawoud Bey. It mixes past and present by depicting a woman who had grew up during the Baptist Church Bombing of 1963 and a girl around the age of the girls that died in the bombing. It was just a great juxtaposition.

Mary Parker and Caela Cowan by Dawoud Bey

Since it was a free day, practically everyone was there and there was just too many people in the museum for me. But, I still encouraged by trip to the High and I am glad that I got to see the new exhibits.

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The Finished Product

I started off the 3-D project with more than a little trepidation. I am more used to, and comfortable with a 2-D medium because for me it is easier to manipulate items in a 2-D space than a 3-D space. I was originally inspired by the Dome of the Rock and the Pantheon, but as I went along I became more inspired by the arches in the Agnes Scott symbol and triangular shapes. I knew I wanted to construct more of a building rather than a sculpture because I tend to work more from concrete ideas and objects, and the concept of a sculpture just seemed too abstract. But, I found myself having to let go more and more from the original plan because measuring is not one of my strengths. One of the biggest problems that I ran into was measuring and cutting the foam core. I would measure three times and all the sides or pieces I needed would still be different sizes, so I found myself having to work around and respond to those problems. What I ended up with was something a little less like a solid building and instead, I gained something a little more whimsical and something that actually enhanced the look I was going for.

I knew from the start that I wanted the viewer to be able to look inside of the structure, but I had not thought beyond putting card stock squares on the floor to provide something to look at. As I began to work I started playing around with cutouts and layering strips of paper to add some character, and using the scraps from the cutouts to add to the structure. Finding gold paint revolutionized the way I operated because it changed the way I was looking at the piece. I liked that that the gold paint was reflective and I began thinking about capturing how the light played on the gold accents. That is what made me use so much gold on the inside because it was that hint of a surprise that I wanted and it was less gaudy to me on the inside. I created texture along the inside walls of the piece using gold paint and dabbing it on with a napkin, then I gold dusted the floor to give it a hint of sparkle and painted the inside on the roof gold so that it would not be visible from the outside.

The greatest success and what I am the proudest of in the piece would be the dome. I wanted to replicate the shape and material of the Dome of the Rock, but I also wanted to add the hole at the top like the oculus in the Pantheon. Finding an appropriate template and cutting out the pieces and constructing it was a pain, but it turned out better than I had hoped. Finding what to cover the inside walls of the dome was a trial and error process. At first, I had painted it all black and I was going to put gold-dust as I did with the floor, but that did not work out, so I took some cardstock and layered that within the dome. All in all, I did enjoy building the piece at times and I am happy with the results, but I think I will stick to 2-D mediums.

For the final project I wanted to design more of a building than a sculpture. I want to mix some of the architectural and design elements of the Dome of the Rock and the Pantheon with the arches of the Agnes Scott logo. The main body of the piece will be in the octagonal shape of the Dome of the Rock, but the dome will have layered rings seen on top of the Pantheon along with the oculus in the center of the dome where one can view into the piece. The arched opening will be layered and open so that the viewer can see through the piece. There will be three portals with the middle one being the largest and on the floor will be gold designed card stock. Card stock will be utilized throughout the piece  because there will be card stock panels that make up two sides of the octagon as well as on top along with the golden card stock that the dome will be made of. The colors are mostly going to be black with gold accents, but I also want to utilize some blue floral card stock that has gold accents for the panels. The concept is not so rigid, and it is mostly a guide at the moment. I want to be open to deviating from the plan if I think the piece should go somewhere different, or if something does not go according to plan. The images below are of a test dome that I did. I wanted to see how big the dome would be, how malleable the card stock would be, and to experiment with cutting a circle into the top of the dome.

Materials: India Ink, Oil Pastels, Chalk Pastels, Pastel Pencils, Watercolor, Charcoal Vine Charcoal
Size: 22×30 In.

Mixed Media Critique

I think the piece turned out well, but I think I could have done a little more. For the mixed media project I was more than a little nervous to use color. I am familiar with black and white materials because I find getting value out of those materials much easier than color. In the background I used India Ink for the background along with acrylic paint and pastel pencils to create the flowers. I used oil pastels, chalk pastels, charcoal stick, vine charcoal, India ink, and acrylic paint for my face and hair.  The most successful parts of the piece would be the the middle two squares done in vine charcoal and the two left squares that capture the sides of my face.

I like how the chalk pastel and and the charcoal stick squares look, and I believe I was able to capture value with the chalk pastel. I also like the texture of my hair in two left squares. I am also a fan of the flowers in the background because I usually do not like painting at all and painting flowers was difficult, but in my opinion it turned out well. I like how the chalk pastel and and the charcoal stick squares look, and I believe I was able to capture value with the chalk pastel. I also like the texture of my hair in two left squares. I am also a fan of the flowers in the background because I usually do not like painting at all and painting flowers was difficult, but in my opinion it turned out well.

There is not a single element that I dislike, but I think the drawing as a whole could have been better.  The squares fit nicely together and I think I did a good job of mixing the mediums and working with a nice medium in almost every square, but I wish I could have been more creative and free flowing with ideas and layout of the drawing. Looking at other portraits, I found that the parts that I liked most about their piece was the fact that they used did element to construct their face. For example using flowers for hair or words to build the image. While I feel like I did the assignment well, I also feel that I could have done a whole lot more and really just let go of the plans I had and be more open to discovery. Towards the end I realized this and layered on newspaper in a triangle to try to fill the space in a creative way, but even that I feel like I could have added some texture to it or did something more daring with it.

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Self-Portrait Update

I had finished a sort of rough draft on the Strathmore paper and experimented with some techniques I wanted to carry out, and then I moved onto sketching it out on the Rives BFK. I wanted to start on the what is the hardest part, the connection between my neck and my face. Because my head is tilted up there is no clear line of a chin and I decided to work in vine charcoal for that part in order to layer the color and smooth it out.

I am stilling working on the mouth to shift the emotion. In the picture I took my expression was more calm and serene, and not necessarily anger. But, the way the mouth is turned in the drawing is coming across as more angry than anything; so, I will need to go back and reevaluate what I was doing. I am also experimenting with color theory in the other square and exploring inks with a stippling technique. I wanted to try something new and colorful, and to break away from some of the darkness of my other drawings.

Kara Walker

I remember seeing some of Walker’s work at my local museum in my hometown. That was years ago when I was in middle school and at the time I did not fully grasp the scope of her work, but it still left me speechless and unsettled. Years later, her work still leaves me speechless and unsettled, but this time with a sense of understanding.

I relate to Walker’s work on an aesthetic level and on a content/ subject level. Walker uses history and imagery to portray a message.  I connect with her over how she sees connections between the past and the present, and I am intrigued by her ability to create a visual representation of that connection. More importantly, she is able to capture the duality of the South. She captures the beauty of the Antebellum South with the Gone with the Wind elements that conjures, the beauty of a bygone era; and yet, she manages to also encompass the ugly reality of its existence. She takes both these identities and blends them into something indistinguishable from each other. The use of black and white silhouettes simplifies the image and allows the viewer to focus entirely on the meaning of the work and its complexities. It allows for something deeper to slip into the mind and under the skin. She uses not only her art, but projectors in some of her work to literally allow the viewer to become a part of the scene, they are drawn into history.

Her art is good art because it makes the viewer question and feel on multiple levels. You could look at her art and find something new and interesting each time, and it tells a story. It tells a story with a satirical tone with the lovely Gone with the Wind image first, and then something off catches to viewers eye and they sink deeper into the South’s complexities. It is grossly beautiful with a raw and refined edge.

https://art21.org/artist/kara-walker/

https://www.artsy.net/artist/kara-walker

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Materials: India Ink, Charcoal Pencil, White Charcoal Pencil, Conté Crayon
Size: 22×30 in.

Midterm: Composition

I wanted to try something new for the midterm piece. From the beginning when I began researching and trying to find inspiration for the piece, I knew I wanted to divide my space with a broken glass effect. I was drawn to the skeleton in class and I wanted to balance something anatomical with the gentleness of flowers. It was unintentional in the beginning, but the mixture of skeleton and flowers became a theme throughout the piece. I experimented with India ink, a medium I have never used before, in conjunction with black and white charcoal. I have to say that I did like how the combination turned out because the mediums create contrast with each other.

The biggest problem with the piece in my opinion is how dark it is and how the glass theme did not translate as well as I wanted it to. Aside from the right section of the spine and flower, everything else is a little too dark. I wish I would have lightened the ink in some places a little more than I did to provide some stark contrast, especially at the bottom. That lightness would have probably brought out the glass cracking effect I wanted in the beginning. I think going too dark is a problem of mine and it is something I want to try to move away from because at times it drowns some elements that I want to bring out.

Though the glass effect did not translate like I wanted it to, during critique others saw the division as something else entirely. Some saw it as ripped pages from a book, and other saw the division as being part of a bigger pattern of fracture lines on a skull. It was interesting to see how other interpreted the pattern differently from I did because before I saw it as a failed glass effect and others saw it in an entirely different way.

In general, I think I did step out of my comfort zone with the piece because I used a medium I have never used before and I have a slight dislike of painting. Going forward I would like to work on translating my ideas better and exploring new ways to use mediums together while also trying to create contrast in different ways then just stark black.

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Subtle

Subtle- Muted, Subdued, Soft, Faint

Materials: Vine Charcoal and Charcoal Pencil
Size: 7×4.5 in.

Elusive

Elusive- Slippery, Evasive, Intangible

Materials: Charcoal Stick and Mars Lumograph
Size: 7×5 in.

Introspective

Introspective- Introvert, Brooding, Reflexive

Materials: Sanguine Conté, Sharpie, and Vine Charcoal
Size: 7×3.5 in.

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First Critique

Drawing 1- Materials: Graphite Stick, Ebony Pencil, Charcoal Pencil Size: 7×12 in.

Drawing 4- Materials: Charcoal Stick, Mars Lumgraph, Ebony Pencil, Charcoal Pencil, Vine Charcoal Size: 9×12 in.

Drawing 5 -Materials: Conté Crayon, Mars Lumograph, Vine Charcoal Size: 10×9 in.

I think creating texture is an area that needs improvement. Drawing 3 drew me to it because of the texture that I create, and the element of texture is something that I think is lacking in the majority of my drawings. I think that I could try being a little bit more spontaneous with my techniques.  For the majority of my drawings I used a blending technique, but in Drawings 2 and 6 I tried to venture out into using some of the drawing techniques that was taught in class. I like the continuous contour drawing because it was something out of my comfort zone and I the drawing was not as planned as the other ones. Moving forward I would like to explore using more spontaneous techniques because I actually liked the outcome of the Drawing 2. I also think that I need to improve contrasting the background from the foreground. In Drawing 4 there needs to be more contrast between the foot and the box and the piece of wood behind the frame that is farther away in space. From far away the objects seem to blend in with each other.

Drawing 2-Materials: Sharpie, Vine Charcoal Size: 8×9 in.

Drawing 3- Materials: Conté Crayon, Charcoal Pencil, Charcoal Stick, Vine Charcoal Size: 7.5×10 in.

Drawing 6- Materials: Sharpie Size: 8×8.5 in.

In general, I like most of the drawings that I did. I found that the more I drew, the more I liked using charcoal and the mars lumograph. I think that the drawing that drew me the most would be Drawing 3. The work pulled me into it because of the texture I was able to create within the egg shape. I explored using the charcoal and conté crayon with the kneaded eraser to create more shadows and depth. The drawing I liked the least was Drawing 6 because I was using a technique I was not familiar with and I think my line work could have been neater overall. I have to say that during the critique when others pointed out that they like the fabric in the drawing, I began to like it. The fabric does look like fabric with the lines and contrasting white. Moving forward I would like to try different things in my art.

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