It feels like I've been working on this armature forever! I really didn't think it would take me so long to patch together the wire pieces around the newspaper. Essentially sewing the pieces together with wire has been pretty fun, but its sad to know that the end goal is to not be able to see most of the patchwork underneath once the plaster is put over it. After today's class, I only have one more joint to cover (which have been hard since the mesh doesn't like conforming into shape), and then I can finally start really thinking about the size and shape of the base. Next week we're moving on to oil painting which is cool, but it'll leave little time for sculpture in between. But, for my sculpture piece specifically I think it will be easy enough to work on it piece by piece, especially since I'll have to put the plaster on the armature piece by piece anyways to ensure it's integrity.
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Background:Diana Al-Hadid was born in 1981 in Aleppo, Syria, and raised in Ohio after moving to the States in the sixth grade. When attending Kent State to get her BFA for sculpture, her work focused on comparing her Arab and American backgrounds. She now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She creates sculptures, installations, and drawings, using various different types of materials. Her sculptures are made out of common materials, including wood, plaster, wax, paint, and more. On the other hand, her installations and wall hangings are made out of more industrial materials, such as fiberglass, polymer, steel, and plaster. Al-Hadid makes a point to listen to her materials; she takes her time experimenting with them so they can lead her in the right direction. Both her 2D work and her 3D work explore abstraction and the interaction visual and physical stability, and often transform into architecture. 2008 polystyrene, polymer gypsum, steel, aluminum leaf, pigment 60 x 48 x 90 inches 152.4 x 121.9 x 228.6 cm
My Statement:I personally love how Diana Al-Hadid creates large pieces that seem weightless, because of the way she uses negative space and how she gives the pieces a kind of “lift” that you wouldn’t expect them to have. The inspiration that I drew for my own piece was mostly along these lines; making sure to that I incorporate negative space. I also love the melting, drying, and peeling method she uses in both her paintings and sculptures, and want to incorporate that into the more organic aspects of my piece. I also appreciate how she doesn't force bend the materials to her will, and rather lets them guide her work, not only because it's similar to my own process, but also because I think it adds more depth to the content of her work. Lastly, I was mostly drawn to her work because of the architectural aspect of it, and how they seem to defy gravity and physics. Her pieces seems to take inspiration from architecture while also being architectural pieces at the same time, which is really interesting. Follow these additional links:1) http://www.dianaalhadid.com/exhibitions/the-vanishing-point 2) https://art21.org/watch/new-york-close-up/diana-al-hadids-suspended-reality/ Questions:1. Are there any materials/ techniques that Diana Al-Hadid uses that you may be interested in exploring in the future?
2. In what ways does Diana Al-Hadid blend two dimensional work with works that are in the round? Are her 3D pieces similar to her 2D pieces? 3) How does Diana Al-Hadid draw inspiration from Italian Renaissance paintings? Do you think this impacts the content of her work? Unfortunately I didn't get as much time as planned to work on my project this week, but I still made significant progress! I finished wrapping the armatures with newspaper, and put them together to create the final shape. I spray painted the pieces of wire mesh that are going to be attached to the armature, as a way of bringing more greenery into the piece, but since the wire is so thin the color isn't very distinguishable. Next class, I may experiment with weaving things (like grass blades) into the wire mesh, because I feel like it's kind of lacking something since the color isn't very prominent. To attach the wire mesh, I'm basically wrapping the figure in strips of mesh and then sewing/weaving it shut with thin wire. It is a slow process, but it's working pretty well. Next week, I want to finish up the wire on the armature, and then stick the whole armature in the mixture of the base by Friday, so it has time to dry over the weekend. I think the armature needs to be held in place by the plaster base so it has some support before I can start putting plaster over the actual arms of the armature, since right now its just a floppy newspaper noodle.
This week I just worked on forming the armature for the piece by wrapping layers of newspaper around the long pieces of wire. I decided that I want to add elements of greenery into the piece, and I think the plan right now is creating the base piece first, and then inserting sections of green flower arrangements foam in parts of the negative space, and then using that to attach paper maché leaves. I have to finish the base piece first by forming the other half of the armature and then coating it in the concrete like material, so thats the goal for next week. .
This spring break, my family and I went to Miami, Florida! It was a really good time, and on our second day there we went to see the Wynwood Walls. The Walls are essentially large warehouse buildings without windows, and the sides of the buildings serve as giant canvases for graffiti and street art. Tony Goldman, the creator of Wynwood Walls, wanted to create a place that people would gravitate to, would increase pedestrian interest in the area, and would also lend more attention to the genre of street art, which he believed was under appreciated. Inspiration!
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December 2020
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