Painting Final: Horizons Lost

Kaelyn Okuhata

Advanced Painting

Spring 2015: Halloran

Painting Final: Horizons Lost

            This piece is a series of five oil paintings made over the past month, each for a specific individual.  Each panel is 33x44in and displayed horizontally next to each other. The reason for this layout is the consistent horizon line that connects each piece. These paintings are inspired by photographs from Catherine Opie’s surfers and icehouse series. These two series feature completely different subjects, however, they are photographed in a similar way to capture a specific essence of what it means to exist on an existential terrain. For both the surfers and icehouses, solidary figures are seen awaiting something beyond the horizon. Both surfers and icehouses are a part of a temporary community, which leaves behind an eerie sense of belonging, always waiting for something to happen. Whether they are waiting for a wave or a storm to break the horizon line, the figures in each series are all wandering lost. However, it seems that they find comfort in being with each other, although they are separated and can only communicate silently.

            The paintings in this series also reflect a sense of a needing to belong and connect with others through various settings. Each painting captures the scenery of a specific view of an ocean, from the perspective of the individual. The view is slightly abstracted through staining patterns and melting forms, which emphasize the sense of time as a distinct memory.  Not only are the paintings meant to exhibit the memory of the location, time of day, and feeling of existing in that space, but also capture the overall personality of the person that each panel is painted from. This representation of individual personas is displayed through use of color and brush stroke, as some paintings are more robust and chaotic while others are more calm and collected.

            Just like the variances of the ocean, each piece symbolizes the different perspectives of visualizing one’s ideal setting. More importantly than the ocean itself, with its currents, reflections, and tides, is the horizon line that we seek to discover. Some imagine what’s beyond the horizon, while others simply acknowledge that it is an unattainable phenomenon. What this piece tries to accomplish with a horizon line is trying to discover what is lost, and attempt to connect them without disturbing where they are headed. Just like old friends that have been separated into completely different worlds. This piece is a reminder that everyone is connected through one permanent path that keeps moving forward. No matter how lost one may seem, comfort and consistency can always be found on the horizon.

Catherine Opie: Surfers & Icehouses

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/school-educator-programs/teacher-resources/arts-curriculum-online?view=item&catid=728&id=103

http://www.art21.org/videos/short-catherine-opie-cleveland-clinic

Locations: 

                 Lanikai                                                Waimanalo

 

               Huntington                                               MauMai

Final Project: Rumination of Woman

For my final project titled Rumination of Woman, I explored numerous representations of self in reflection creating psychological portraits of the female form in power struggles. The title Rumination of Woman explains the compulsive focus on symptoms of distress or possible causes and consequences of said symptoms as opposed to their possible solutions demonstrated through the use of mirrors and the act of looking at oneself. Intrigued by the exploration of disturbances found in environments, where the viewer subtly realizes something isn’t quite right; what happens within a piece when all points of reflection of true reality are displayed? Where the viewer is faced with female forms examining each other and in turn, is also confronted with examining oneself in the mirror as well. This introspective notes on the use of a portal surface; reflection as a tool is rationalized perfectly by the French writer and film director Chris Maker, ‘the structure of seeing and not seeing lies in the kernel idea of a memory, of what we remember and what we forget, demonstrating how remembering and forgetting are not oppositional acts buts two sides of the same coin,’ (Marker 4). This juxtaposition delves deeper into the exploration and genuine curiosity about looking and of the self.

I originally became intrigued with the idea of using glass as my medium when I visited Nick Mauss’ exhibit at 303 Gallery in New York. Although Mauss work deals more with understanding how forms and materials gain shape and attach/detach from numerous systems of images, materials, objects and subjects; his representation of the human figure and use of energetic line work on mirrors, as well as how the viewer approached each work and wandered around the gallery space inspired me immediately. In my previous projects and in my junior show, I dealt more with the examination and display of the self and the female figure, for this project I wanted to explore myself in reflection and deal more with the abstract sense of rumination and humiliation. I started by placing two mirrors angled together side by side creating a mise-en abyme effect, photographing myself in a various poses of simply staring at and turning away from confronting my own face pressed up against the mirrors. Capturing the presence of the artist delivered through the mirror, I turned these photographs into simple gestural drawings inspired by the line work of both Henri Mattise and David Hockney. I translated these drawings onto glass layering various mediums of pebeo vitrail, cel-vinyl and airbrush fluid creating memory within the painting and alluding to the psychological portraits. After painting, I sprayed that same side of the surface with mirroring spray paint to turn the clear glass into a reflective mirror. On exhibit in the Guggenheim gallery the works hang together in a fashioned line, displaying the paintings embedded into the seamless mirrors.

Nick Mauss:

Henri Matisse:

David Hockney:

My Photos:

Derek Overfield, another inspiring artist in this series, deals primarily with the male figure exploring the portrayal of power and romanticism. I was drawn to his work through his skilled use of layering various potency of color. His mixture of figure gestures and color illustrate depth, movement, and character in the simplest and most provocative way.

Derek Overfield:

With this year coming to a close, I am fortunate to have been able to have grown as much I did this semester. Art has always been such a love and passion for me, this class has really pushed me to create my own artistic practice and really formulate my ideas and statements I want to share with the world through my art. I can honestly saw I gave this class 100%, keeping my journals and notes with my all the time, jotting down notes and ideas here and there. I am so grateful I got to learn the importance of this as it has helped me tremendously in my work. I think I rightfully deserve any sort of A in this class.

Bibliography:

La Jetèe. Christ Marker. Afterall Books, Central Saint Martins. London. 2009.

Print.

Mediators of the Gender Difference in Rumination. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema and

Benita Jackson. Blackwell Publishers. Yale. USA. 2001. Print.

Project 4: Collaboration

For project 4, a collaboration with both Maddi and Natalie from my advanced painting class, we had the challenge to incorporate a person from history, a person/s from our class and a person from a different discipline. We wanted to create some sort of structure or system throughout our process since it included 3 people as creators and 2 others as outside influences. Drawn to the traditional Yves Klein blue Anthropometries  however we wanted to incorporate them in a new unseen light. In turn we started researching the Dada concept of an ‘exquisite corpse’ or ‘exquisite cadaver.’ Thinking along a new system of reference, the exquisite corpse game was traditionally a sort of parlor game invented by surrealist thinkers who wanted to generate new creative collaborative exercises. With the assemblage of either words or images, the artist divides a piece of paper into 3 folded parts, keeping only one side visible to him or her. After creating any sort of image or colloquy, leaving guidelines that extend to the next folded section, the work is then passed so on and so forth to the next collaborator for further contribution. Dada and surrealist thinkers loved this exercise as it questions the conditions of dream and reality with the creation of bizarre and unconscious collective imaginations.

Yves Klein:

‘Exquisite Corpse’ or ‘Exquisite Cadaver’:

4-part Corpse drawing; Man Ray, Yves Tanguy, Joan Miro, Max Morise:

Yoga Corpse Pose:

For the contributor from an outside discipline, we asked Maddi’s friend a non-art major Taylor Owen, for her favorite yoga pose, thinking in terms of different body positions to create body prints of. Ironically she chose the corpse pose or as some people like to call it the ‘lazy California’ pose. Pairing hilariously with the exquisite corpse system all three of use created our corpse pose body prints in Yves Klein blue separately and then came together for the assemblage. By creating our body prints separate from each other, the end products held unique differences that kept the body prints engaging and not too uniform. With three dried full body prints, we then cut sections separating the body into the upper, middle and lower body. By mixing and matching our body sections with each other’s crafting noticeable off but still intriguing silhouettes of bodies, the viewer is invited to examine 3 female bodies in relaxed stasis of lying down that incorporates the feeling of exposure yet is toned down by the playful exercise of mix and match. Although many people think of exquisite corpse exercise as a child’s game, I really admire and respect this game as it reminds me that art can be anything, bizarre or not, while also reminding me again of the creative possibilities not explored or produced in time yet. If I were to do this project again in the future I think it would be really fun the play with the assemblage of a crazy assortment of different poses and prints. Creating crazy dominating prints of female bodies for the entire art world to see.

My process: in my room haha

Collaboration

Project 4: Collaboration: Create a work with interdisciplinary input from 3 people (Critique April 22nd) -one person from history who you haven’t met -one person in the class who you have met -one person in a different discipline that have or have not met

For this project I partnered with Lily Strandberg & Natalie Frisinger from our painting class.


We were trying to come up with a frame of reference to do it in. We decided on the "Exquisite Corpse" which is a collaborative drawing activity which originated in the early 20th century by the Dada & YBA artists. Essentially, it is one unified piece of work that is broken up into equal parts, vertically, each person draws and then folds their portion under to pass it onto the next person. The next person, without knowing what preceded them, draws their own, and it continues on. Only to reveal a collaborative and very different firgurative image that lacks any preconvention.

With this concept with thought of our own bodies. And of course referenced Yves Klein as the historical reference. Yves Klein is known for his anthropmetries in which he painted women and had them press themselves upon to canvas. Sometimes he would drag them or move them around, other times it was done up against a wall. This was the first time that making of a painting was revealed; the process of creation was a very physical practice and became something of its own in Klein's work-- and very performative. These impressions create a dialogue not just about artistic practice and the creation that goes into the final product, but also a dialogue about authorship and feminism.

We decided that we would do impressions in blue, after trademarked International Yves Klein Blue-- monochrome. And we would use ourselves. We decided that we would ask a person from another discipline for a pose which we would all do on our piece of paper. Then cut up the paper at like points and put them back together, mixing one's upper body with another's legs and the last's torso.












We asked my friend Taylor Owen, an actor major who does yoga with me, to name her favorite pose. Her response, jokingly, was "corpse pose" or Savasana. This is the pose one does at the end of their yoga practice that requires absolute stillness and is intended to allow the body to absorb and take in, slowly, what they have just completed; to create muscle memory.


It was only after the fact that we made the connection that we were doing an exquisite corpse AND the pose was corpse pose!












With all the discourse of Klein's work considered, we were also adding another dynamic element. Which was that we were facing forward in order to make these, so while the image presented to the audience is of our backside, it is also a confrontational position because it requires us to be facing the viewers.

The pieces turned out great and managed to work with one another in a way that we could not have planned. The beauty of the collaboration was developing the structure or framework for our piece and then being able to perform our painting on our own-- which created varying degrees of color in the colbalt blue, the way we put the paint on and how we laid down, perhaps index marks of the experience were left, the minor shifts in positioning were made visible and certainly we emphasized our differences in stature.

 (My own scenario for the painting)



In the end, we come back together to create three collaborative works that are each new individuals, hybrids of the three individual artists. Beyond, they could be put back together in a different way, leading to new possible forms only achievable through collaboration.

In the future, we want to redo the project. I envision working with a more fluid surface, like linens or sheets and actually folding it into three parts where by we can all lay onto a uniform canvas, attain the same connectivity that the original exquisite corpses had.

Us with our backs covered in paint from doing the project. )