Research Objects

- Anders Zorn (1860-1920) -
- (Selft-portrait) 1904 -

- Etching -

This piece of work by Anders Zorn I find inspiring in many ways. First of all, I had the opportunity of producing etchings based on my childhood memories for a college project using various tools and equipment. I found this assignment challenging, as it was a skill I had never practiced before but I thoroughly enjoyed learning it and I ended up basing my end of year exhibition piece using this medium. The thing that captures my eye the most and inspires me about this piece of artwork is the amount of detail Zorn has gone into when etching his very own self-portrait.  And although the whole piece is one colour, you can notice the different shades and lighting effects throughout the image. In the last six months I have started to work in a new way where I have become more of a perfectionist in my own style of working which I discovered shortly after I began a personal project about etching based on Anders Zorn’s work.

- Juan Gris (1911-1912) -

- Bottles and Knife -

- Analytical Cubism (oil) -

I have always been interested in Cubism by various artists especially Juan Gris from Spain. Coming from a highly influenced culture by Spain myself, I find this piece of Gris’ work very personal and I always discover different ways of interpreting this particular work of his. The first thing that catches my eye is the wine bottle and knives, which to me straight away suggest wine and cheese, something I really associate with my culture either before or after a meal. I find it really easy to relate to his work in ways that I have never done before with any other artists. I very much indulge in his passion for transmitting his culture and personal life through his artwork in the same way that I try to do the same within my practice. After I start to look away from the wine bottles and knives I start to realise that there is much more to this image than I thought. The way in which Gris plays with shadow and tone really give the linear shapes a total new meaning of distortion and inaccuracy, which may suggest confusion behind his artwork. As well as including a little bit of my culture within my work I always aim to have something that will make the viewer think about my work and the meaning behind it.

- Wassily Kandinsky (1913) -
- Watercolor (Number 13) -
- Watercolour on paper -

I always intend to make my work relate to my experiences in life and that is why I believe that Wassily Kandinsky’s Watercolor (Number 13) piece is very significant to me. As mentioned previously, I come from a Latin country in South America where life is often described as fun, fast paced and very cultural. However, even though this artwork by Kandinsky gives away a lot of those characteristics when I pay close attention to it, I believe that there is more to it than just colours and personality. I always tend to find that artwork speaks to each and every person differently and this is when I come to terms with myself to try and associate the piece with my own personal life. When I look at the various coloured shapes without the black outlines I automatically assume freedom and happiness, whereas all of the other objects outlined in black suggest that they are trapped and limited inside those lines and they cannot be freed. This further meaning of Kandinsky’s artwork somehow represents me as a designer because I often tend to go with the flow and sometimes I let my mind restrict me from being as adventurous with my work as I could be.

- Moholy-Nagy (1922) -
- Cover proposal for "Broom" -
- Photogram -

Photography has always been an interest to me especially film photography and work produced in the darkroom. This is why I have picked to talk about Moholy-Nagy as one of my inspirational artists because of his unique style and composition of objects and subjects within his photography. When researching into Moholy-Nagy I didn’t just find photographs on his webpage but also photograms that he produced in the early 20^th century. The image above really stood out to me and caught my eye straight away because of its contrast in colour and variations of size within the text. I strongly believe that typography is an interest that is growing on me, as I get more and more involved with graphic design and everything that comes with it. Although I don’t quite know how I find this piece inspirational, I wanted to include it within my research objects as a way of showing new ideas and directions within my practice as a designer. I know that since I started university I have kept my eye open for new ways of expressing my thoughts and ideas visually, and typography is one of the main ways that I now try to use when communicating the concept behind each and every artwork I produce.

- Eugene Richards (1970s) -
- Untitled -
- Black and white photography -

Eugene Richards to me is a very original photographer who concentrates on capturing every day life things and adding a special touch of feelings and emotions to his photography. This image is my personal favourite of his because it is very strong, moving and expressive. First of all, I find it inspiring in ways such as the fact that without a caption the image still speaks for itself making an impact on the viewer which causes them to want to know the story behind this woman’s life. I also think that the choice of subject to photograph in this case is excellent, as Eugene Richards wouldn’t have got the same message across or effect if he had used a young woman or child. Several ways in which I find this image inspiring are the idea and thought process behind this particular photograph and the composition within the framing which captures attention and makes the image seem straight to the point as there is nothing around her to draw attention away from the face. 

Bibliography

http://www.wassilykandinsky.net (accessed 1/11/12)

http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-207.php (accessed 1/11/12)

http://www.juangris.org (accessed 3/11/12)

http://www.juangris.org/Bottles-And-Knife.html (accessed 3/11/12)

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/prints/printsA2Z.htm (accessed 6/11/12)

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/prints/printsA2Z.htm#ron (accessed 6/11/12)

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/prints/jpg/42.jpg (accessed 6/11/12)
http://www.eugenerichards.com (accessed 7/11/12)

http://www.moholy-nagy.com/index.html (accessed 7/11/12)

http://www.moholy-nagy.com/ArtByMedium_7.html (accessed 7/11/12)

My own work from 2011

- 1960's project -
- May 2011 -
- Digital Photography -
- Size A2 -

- Personal emotions -
- November 2011 -
- Paper Making -
- Size A3 -

- Untitled -
- October 2011 -
- Printmaking -
- Size A3 -

- Exploratory Stage -
- January 2011 -
- Silk Painting -
- Size A5 -

- Repetitive Typography -
- February 2011 -
- Printmaking -
- Size A1 -

The making of who I am

There are many reasons why I do graphic design and there’s a story of how I got to where I am today. It is mainly because of my change of culture that I got involved in studying art. Moving from one continent to another at the age of ten was exciting yet challenging for little old me that didn’t speak a word of English. I started primary school three weeks after moving to England from Argentina, and the only subject that I could express myself in was art and design every Friday afternoon. As it took me around six months to begin to understand the English language, I started to develop a deeper interest in art and the message behind each and every artwork.

It didn’t take me long to realise how much I enjoyed expressing my feelings and emotions visually, and I soon moved onto secondary school where I chose to study art as one of my main subjects. My passion for art decreased as a passion for photography emerged throughout my college years, until I came to the conclusion that photography limited me to only using one medium so I decided to go back to study art and design at foundation degree level. During this one-year course I had the opportunity of working with different mediums where I began to develop a new interest in typography and graphic design using printmaking to produce my work. This was when I became aware that graphic design was the undergraduate course for me and I applied for University of East London shortly after.

Coming from a not so privileged background has given me the ability to make the most of what I have, giving value to every opportunity presented to me. My history has inspired my way of thinking in many ways, such as altering the message behind my artwork to make it unique by relating it to my personal experiences. I also tend to give a bit of my culture away through my work bringing colours and shapes together to generate something different and I aim to make my work thought provoking to allow the viewer to interpret it in their own way.

When I am set an assignment I usually do things differently from the way that I have been taught. For example, I am very likely to have thought of a rough idea for my final piece before I even start doing my developmental work leading up to it, and I sometimes struggle to work in stages when I don’t know what the next part of the brief will be. However, I always make sure my work meets the client’s needs as well as making it something I am happy with and proud of.

Thinking back to when I was in secondary school, I never would have imagined myself to be studying graphic design at university. I consider myself as someone who adapts to change easily and my open mindedness and can do attitude have got me to where I am today. This is why I hope to be as successful after university as I have been throughout the past five years by going with the flow and taking life as it comes, not only as a regular person but also as a graphic designer.