Natalie Frisinger- Project 3 Statement

Natalie Frisinger

Lia Halloran

Advanced Painting

Project 3- Historical Reference

For my historical reference project, I attempted to incorporate a historical influence in a continuation of my previous analysis of a distinctly feminine spirituality and expression of transcendentalism. Building off of the depiction of a seeming beginning of physical ‘ascension’, this piece attempts to create an image that depicts a figure that has ‘ascended’.

Predominantly influenced by Paul Gauguin and the larger Symbolist movement of the late 19^th century, my piece addresses the subjugation of women in the expression of desire. The symbolist movement was to the development of transcendental expression in art, what impressionism was to the larger development of modernist trends. Thus making it a difficult challenge to penetrate the trends (regarding the expression of one’s spirituality and ‘inner-self) as a woman. At the movement’s core, symbolism was a movement that rejected prior trends in naturalism in favor of the reflection of emotion and idea; thus strongly opposing the quasi-scientific manner of expression developed through impressionism. The core of the Symbolist era was one, which expressed the themes of love, fear, aguish and sexual desires, often depicting women in vulnerable, oppressed positions. Paul Gauguin’s work is a body of work, which aptly depicts this notion. In addition, his expression of said themes was done in a way that made the women he was painting, objects of expression as opposed to subjects.

In my attempt to express a strictly feminine perception on spiritual expression, I have created pseudo-religious deity-like figures, placed in positions of power that suggest a reclamation of femininity, lost in the symbolist movement. In revitalizing this, I also attempted to negate the objectification of women, giving my figures a lively, energetic form that suggests that they are more than a simple still image. Once again utilizing negative space, my piece makes use of oppositional forces in a poignant fashion, in drawing the viewer while also dwarfing him/her. The extremity of the figure’s pose is one which supports a certain aggression in addressing these issues.

Final Project Statement- "When the Water is Sweet"

Natalie Frisinger

Lia Halloran

Advanced Painting

Final Statement

My final series, entitled “When The Water is Sweet” is a thoroughly autobiographical set of pieces addressing plural levels of relationship and identity assessments. First and foremost, the physical dynamic and tension between the figures attempts to urge the viewer to consider the tension and interaction between the figures. This is in service to the presentation of specific relationships in my life. Strongly influenced by Zackary Drucker's series of photographs entitled "relationship", my work attempts to chronicle, in a single image, the nature of t

hese relationships. Thus, while not depicting various moments as stand-ins for a holistic image, my work attempts to select a specific, fictional image to embody said relationships.

On a broader level, the choice to present those specific relationships is one, which attempts to convey an on-going exploration of sexual identity. The choice to depict un-clothed figures lends itself to the sense of vulnerability, which surrounds such an exploration. Consequentially the mere communication of a sense of interaction between the figures is one that inherently suggests a physical, sexual relationship. Thus, the seeming lack of interaction between the two female figures in the top painting is one, which goes further than an exploration of sexual and physical contact. Rather, it expresses a far more emotive conversation between the figures. As such, I chose to create the semblance of great distance between the figures, where one seems to disappear back into the space created on the canvas (her face and expression completely erased from the piece), as the other faces away from her. This highlights the intention to communicate a strong sense of tension and shame. In sharp contrast (though depicted using the same palette), the second piece is one, which communicates a far more physical aspect of sexuality, whereby the figures are in physical contact with one another.

Strongly influenced by the works of Rebecca Campbell, my series creates almost surreal, mystic environments that do not shy away from a raw exploration of difficult and personal material. In addition my work attempts to embrace her expression of feminine beauty and power captured in climactic-like scenes bursting with movement and energy.

Natalie- Project 4-Collaboration

Natalie Frisinger

Lia Halloran

Advanced Painting

Project 4: Collaboration

For this collaborative project I partnered with Lily Standberg and Maddi Lucas from our painting class. As our collaborator outside of the art field, we selected (randomly) an acting major named Taylor Owen. Finally as our ‘collaborator’ from art history, we selected to channel Yves Klein. Furthering our art historical influence (Dada art trends), and seeing that we were a group of three artists, we decided that our final product would be 3 separately made piece of work that would then come together in an exquisite corpse, thus dismantling the authorship that was put into the original expression. Although our method visually referenced the essence of the exquisite corpse, it attempted to transform the idea of creating a whole without knowing what the other parts might be, to one where all the parts are seen by the artists, and only then are they deconstructed.

            In incorporating our historical referencing of Yves Klein, we decided that our works would take the form of body impressions, done in Yves Klein patented blue. The act of creating prints of our own bodies was one that, in and of itself, completely uproots the ideas behind Klein’s famous anthropometries, using the bodies of women pressed against canvases, walls and sometimes even dragged around by the artist to create indexical marks. This highly performative act was one, which brought up the questions of the essence of painting and its depiction as an extremely physical act. Thus, Klein’s pieces questioned not only the authorship of art but also the expression of feminine form through male authorship.

            Finally, we asked our third party (person from a different discipline) to give us a specific yoga pose that we would all replicate in our prints. Ironically, she selected the corpse pose, where one lays on one’s back with their arms and legs straight. This was great as it played with Klein’s ideas of the physicality of painting by replicating his prints with an extremely static position. In addition, by creating our prints using only the backsides of our bodies, the finished product triggered dialogue about the passive role of females in Klein’s work- following his orders and sometimes getting dragged around.

Natalie- Project 2 Statement

Natalie Frisinger

Lia Halloran

Advanced Painting

Project 2: Image Interface

My image interface piece is one, which deals predominantly with the dialogue between the production of photography and painting. As such, the piece addresses painting’s ability to transform the physicality of a photograph.

Additionally, this project is an exploration, which furthers my previous examination of the expression of divine feminine energy. Fueled by the lack of depiction of spirituality, self-exploration as well as esoteric depictions of subjective spirituality through a feminine auteur in the monumental first years of the modernist era, my piece attempts to acknowledge this. Thus, my diptych attempts to play with interface on multiple levels. Beginning with the depiction of transformation from a light-created image to one, which attempts to create light (painting), and ending with the conversation between acknowledging a lack of female representation in the endeavor to express one’s spiritual perspectives, as well as attempting to depict my own spirituality.

To further the created tension between image and painting, I attempted to transform the figure from her seemingly vulnerable state depicted in the image, to one, which embodies the physical act of ascending. Though photograph and painting present the viewer with the exact same image, the removal of the hardwood floor in the photograph as well as the accenting of the foot placement to appear as though it is coming out of the canvas (creating a greater sense of depth), emphasizes the depth of the created space in a way that functions to transform an otherwise undefined space.

Heavily influenced by Bill Viola’s video art pieces, which feature a strong sense of oppositional forces in creating a tension as well as a sublime image, my painting attempts to replicate some of these tactile effects. Particularly, in Viola’s piece entitled “Tristan’s Ascension”, viewers are confronted with the image of a man rising from a surface he was previously laying upon as water pours down onto his body. A spectacular image is created, as one is struck by the struggle between the force of the large body of water pouring down and the man, seemingly weightless as he ascends. I therefore attempted to make optimal use of negative space in my paintings, leaving spaces in limbs and feet so that the viewer is at once engulfed in the experience of being pushed away from the painting (as the figure is seemingly stepping out or onto the viewer) as well as being pulled through the environment in which the figure is immersed.