dieu, ou etais-tu?Tryptic Size(s): 2ft x 1 ft (24in x 12 in) Each
Medium: Acrylics on Canvas Completion Date: April 22, 2019 |
Exhibition Text:
Just like the name suggests, this is a three piece composition. Three different panels made of cloth and stretched into canvases, inspired by the story of the legendary Medusa in an attempt to also illustrate the story of those people who aren't myths that share her pre-snake Medusa story of molestation and the stigma that came afterwards. |
ARTISTIC
I N S P I R A T I O N
(A Critical Investigation)
Medusa, an immortalized character of the Greek literature. Besides the cold and deathly stare that she has been described to carry; Medusa has a story like every other human on this big blue sphere of water and earth. Looking beyond her human aesthetic as well as her unfortunate beheading while asleep, before being the snake-haired Medusa that the contemporary pop culture of today knows, Medusa was desired by a God going by the name of Poseidon. Isn't it rather interesting how an immortal being, "greater than the rest of humanity" had the same desires as a your average homosapien... He really wanted Medusa. He felt an extreme attraction to her and she was a vulnerable human. What did Poseidon do? He raped her. |
Medusa by Ronnie Ray Mendez. Retrieved from, https://www.moderneden.com/collections/vendors?q=Ronnie%20Ray%20Mendez
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As a result she was cursed by Athena to the mythological appearance that she has in our heads today.
To live with the stigma and "shame" of being just another piece of meat malleable to the hand of another being who says to be different because of his position of omnipotence.
The story of Medusa is not completely known.
She was more than another pretty face, she was a woman and because of that unavoidable reason the avoidable happened to her.
Her voice, her name, and her body were stained by the stigma that a "God" didn't have to face simply because he's above the rest of humanity and holds power above those who were told to praise and adore him.
Poseidon took advantage of her vulnerability and naive humanity. There is no way to sugar-coat the truth of what concurred.
That is how the story of Medusa has impacted my piece.
Her story and how deaf some can be to these types of stories when it isn't just a myth.
When it happens here and now, every day at every hour while the world still spins around.
To live with the stigma and "shame" of being just another piece of meat malleable to the hand of another being who says to be different because of his position of omnipotence.
The story of Medusa is not completely known.
She was more than another pretty face, she was a woman and because of that unavoidable reason the avoidable happened to her.
Her voice, her name, and her body were stained by the stigma that a "God" didn't have to face simply because he's above the rest of humanity and holds power above those who were told to praise and adore him.
Poseidon took advantage of her vulnerability and naive humanity. There is no way to sugar-coat the truth of what concurred.
That is how the story of Medusa has impacted my piece.
Her story and how deaf some can be to these types of stories when it isn't just a myth.
When it happens here and now, every day at every hour while the world still spins around.
A BROKEN PITCHER, MY BROKEN PITCHER:
When I came across a painting while visiting the Milwaukee Art Museum, I was captivated by the girl on the painting. I remember thinking about it as such a young soul, a sign of purity and innocence at it's peak. Then I read the exhibition. "The broken pitcher", that was the title of the piece after all... You may help yourself and read it with your own eyes as I've placed the an image of the text to the left of this one. Needless to say the most, a broken pitcher will also make part of my tryptic with an appearance in the third and last panel of the conglomeration. Concluding the story of our relatable protagonist, Medusa... |
To read in depth to the tragedy of Medusa explore the following articles:
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/qvxwax/medusa-greek-myth-rape-victim-turned-into-a-monster
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-original-nasty-woman-of-classical-myth/506591/
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/qvxwax/medusa-greek-myth-rape-victim-turned-into-a-monster
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-original-nasty-woman-of-classical-myth/506591/
Censor our art, censor our bodies but you won't censor the truth
What about the standards of decency...
Decency of what?
Nudes, the natural anatomical construct that the population has seen before?
The talk about rape culture to different audiences?
How come decency isn't something taught to men and women alike as to what it means to not violate someone's space and body?
What about the decency to respect the freedom of imagery.
Sure, you feel uncomfortable to place your eyes on a canvas with a vulva, but other won't flinch at the sight.
You can be respectful and close your eyes to see the painting instead of demanding it to be taken down because it doesn't fit in your standards of decency.
There are people with different standards and that's okay.
What about the standards of decency...
Decency of what?
Nudes, the natural anatomical construct that the population has seen before?
The talk about rape culture to different audiences?
How come decency isn't something taught to men and women alike as to what it means to not violate someone's space and body?
What about the decency to respect the freedom of imagery.
Sure, you feel uncomfortable to place your eyes on a canvas with a vulva, but other won't flinch at the sight.
You can be respectful and close your eyes to see the painting instead of demanding it to be taken down because it doesn't fit in your standards of decency.
There are people with different standards and that's okay.
PROCESS
&
I N T E N T I O N S
01. Creative Ideas & Brainstorming
No surprise, I find myself debating on different possible visions for the tri-piece.
I had four different ideas and I was decisive of 2.
Let it be known that the other two were too elaborate and the story they were supposed to tell weren't as efficient as I narrowed down my options.
I had four different ideas and I was decisive of 2.
Let it be known that the other two were too elaborate and the story they were supposed to tell weren't as efficient as I narrowed down my options.
These were the beginning ideas. Sure I was fond of them, but they were not the best for a tryptic, at least that's my thinking as the creating artists. They told my story...however it there was no "ambition" to create them. At least not yet. These were like I said preliminary ideas to get me thinking about what I actually wanted to bring to life. |
Ideas c and d were the ones that I was having more of a feeling for. I thought the messages were there and a lot more clear than the other two, thus I ended up sketching them out and building some sort of visual on the actual canvases. I opted for the last of the ideas, d, and started to move on with the project. |
02. Into Planning
I don't think I have ever sketched so much for another piece before. Even if I did sketch out my vision for the entire project...I know that it would shift once working on the canvas.
These sketches were sone while my visualization of the project was still somehow foggy. Even though I should say that it still has been foggy but clear enough to know in what direction I want to take it.
These sketches were sone while my visualization of the project was still somehow foggy. Even though I should say that it still has been foggy but clear enough to know in what direction I want to take it.
Planning Sketches
I over planned for this tryptic. Seems like I can't keep things simple.
These were all of the planning sketches that I attempted to build off some messy thoughts and late night light bulbs.
Spoiler Alert, great majority of them...didn't make the cut.
Even the ones for the concept that I decided to follow.
These were all of the planning sketches that I attempted to build off some messy thoughts and late night light bulbs.
Spoiler Alert, great majority of them...didn't make the cut.
Even the ones for the concept that I decided to follow.
- PHILOPHOBIA, BUT IT'S NOT REAL -
- PHILOPHOBIA (PT II?), MIND GAMES & A DRAINED HEART -
- THE MEDUSA, RAPE CULTURE & A BROKEN PITCHER -
Voila, the sketches for the story that made it into my tryptic. Well at least a basic and blurry direction to the final pieces. They would of course take a different shape later on as I actually free-handed on the canvases themselves.
03. Prepping the Canvases
To make the tryptic I had to, well build them in the first place.
A. Gather all the unwanted pieces of canvas left behind by other art students and made sure that they fitted the desired dimensions to the previously built frames.
B. Once the sizes of the canvas cloth was set and ready to attach, I settled on a clean area to begin building. Materials Included: A Staple Gun / Scissors / Hammer
C. I began stapling the canvas onto the wooden frames and cutting off the excess canvas cloth with the scissors. Ensure that the canvas is tight enough but still had a bounce to it. When making the cuts, one should make sure that they edges are not too short nor too long from the edges of each individual frame side.
D. Prime each of the canvases using acrylic gesso.
A. Gather all the unwanted pieces of canvas left behind by other art students and made sure that they fitted the desired dimensions to the previously built frames.
B. Once the sizes of the canvas cloth was set and ready to attach, I settled on a clean area to begin building. Materials Included: A Staple Gun / Scissors / Hammer
C. I began stapling the canvas onto the wooden frames and cutting off the excess canvas cloth with the scissors. Ensure that the canvas is tight enough but still had a bounce to it. When making the cuts, one should make sure that they edges are not too short nor too long from the edges of each individual frame side.
D. Prime each of the canvases using acrylic gesso.
A
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B
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C
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D
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04. Sketching on Canvas
And again, I redrew my ideas on the actual cloths making the canvases.
I lost time and patience.
Rough start, but that is part of the process ultimately unavoidable.
I'll refer to it as experimentation of creation. Which is essentially exactly that. Experimentation.
I lost time and patience.
Rough start, but that is part of the process ultimately unavoidable.
I'll refer to it as experimentation of creation. Which is essentially exactly that. Experimentation.
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Erasing pencil form canvas is incredibly hard..
Yet painting over pencil with a light hue will not erase it either. That's a mental note.
Anyhow, the following are finally the set of sketches for my tryptic. :)
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05. Adding Color to the Canvases
I used acrylics for the tryptic because they were available and rather cheap to replace once they ran out.
I forgot to record swatches of my color palettes which is something I should improve for my later work.
The "notes" for each individual panel are listed below according to the order in which I finished them, Panel 03 being the first one I had worked on and so on.
I forgot to record swatches of my color palettes which is something I should improve for my later work.
The "notes" for each individual panel are listed below according to the order in which I finished them, Panel 03 being the first one I had worked on and so on.
( PANEL 03 NOTES )
Texturized the broken pitcher with overlaid acrylic paint.
Turbid waters are not my best for this panel.
Added a wash with pastel pink and white, didn't really work.
Went back into skin tone with darker and more melanin rich hues.
Expression of the eyes...I feel like I lost it with the paint.
I do very much appreciate my blending technique for her eyes.
Texturized the broken pitcher with overlaid acrylic paint.
Turbid waters are not my best for this panel.
Added a wash with pastel pink and white, didn't really work.
Went back into skin tone with darker and more melanin rich hues.
Expression of the eyes...I feel like I lost it with the paint.
I do very much appreciate my blending technique for her eyes.
( PANEL 01 NOTES )
I should've recorded more of it, got lost with the actual painting of the canvas. It interrupted flow of work if I'm completely honest...
Different skin tone, lighter, much paler skin tone. "Normal" Medusa when human.
I like the rawness to it.
The colors don't completely blend and are swatches, brushstrokes of a complete experimentation with the different shades of the same color: portrait pink acrylic.
I should've recorded more of it, got lost with the actual painting of the canvas. It interrupted flow of work if I'm completely honest...
Different skin tone, lighter, much paler skin tone. "Normal" Medusa when human.
I like the rawness to it.
The colors don't completely blend and are swatches, brushstrokes of a complete experimentation with the different shades of the same color: portrait pink acrylic.
( PANEL 02 NOTES )
I experimented with the acrylics on the canvas itself. Meaning that I would mix the primary colors themselves on the cloth rather than creating a separate color on waxing paper or so.
I wanted to portray a lot of movement within the piece, kind of an unpleasant environment thus the bright bursts of violent brushstrokes. Each stroke has an actual texture as I wanted it to say something about the story of the female in all three canvases.
If you look closely, the arm shows trails of light bruises and the skin being held tightly by the end of the tail.
The tail is forcing the hand to open which alludes to the idea of rape.
I experimented with the acrylics on the canvas itself. Meaning that I would mix the primary colors themselves on the cloth rather than creating a separate color on waxing paper or so.
I wanted to portray a lot of movement within the piece, kind of an unpleasant environment thus the bright bursts of violent brushstrokes. Each stroke has an actual texture as I wanted it to say something about the story of the female in all three canvases.
If you look closely, the arm shows trails of light bruises and the skin being held tightly by the end of the tail.
The tail is forcing the hand to open which alludes to the idea of rape.
C R I T I Q U E
SIMILARITIES
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DIFFERENCES
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R E F L E C T I O N
I had a hard time coming up with the concept, at least with the final “story board”. This time it wasn’t a lack of ideas or artist block but I had multiple visions for my tryptic thus I couldn’t decide on which one I wanted to act upon. However, many of my creative ideas were a little foggy and I couldn’t exactly tell the direction in which I would led them. That was until I stumbled upon my last idea, The Medusa Story, and everything else fell into place. It was rather simple to sketch out the outlines to the canvases and prepping all of the materials. Experimentation was rather intriguing for the mixtures of colors were no work at all and my color palette was expanded for each of the panels. Struggles along the way were mainly for the last panel in which the face of Medusa was quite challenging because of the skin tone and shading of the features. Besides that I feel like I spent too much time on each of the panels which put me behind schedule (once again). Compared to the cultural inspiration, my depiction of the events that concurred to Medusa are merely a contemporary record of other beings who are not myths. I will not confirm nor deny wether or not my story is being told in the tryptic even though that was the main purpose of the project..
I will state that the story told by my tryptic is something that hits home and that people around me have told me about their experiences.
I felt like I owned it to them just as much as I owned it to myself...
It could be considered as some sort of a closure piece that is open about taboo topics like partial nudity in art, the rape culture existing at a global stage and other topics that I have previously mentioned.
I will state that the story told by my tryptic is something that hits home and that people around me have told me about their experiences.
I felt like I owned it to them just as much as I owned it to myself...
It could be considered as some sort of a closure piece that is open about taboo topics like partial nudity in art, the rape culture existing at a global stage and other topics that I have previously mentioned.
ACT
R E S P O N S E S
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The story of Medusa was the main concept that held the tryptic together. Medusa makes a direct appearance on the last panel which was in fact the first panel that I worked on. The overall story shown alludes to the Greek mythology as it portrays more than a personal perspective in regards to the topic of rape.
The story of Medusa was the main concept that held the tryptic together. Medusa makes a direct appearance on the last panel which was in fact the first panel that I worked on. The overall story shown alludes to the Greek mythology as it portrays more than a personal perspective in regards to the topic of rape.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both of the articles that I read talked about Medusa with a strong tone of feminism and justice. Because the background story of the Greek myth doesn’t see much light; the articles try to make said justice by not putting her in the same destructive and negative light that her own myth puts her on.
Both of the articles that I read talked about Medusa with a strong tone of feminism and justice. Because the background story of the Greek myth doesn’t see much light; the articles try to make said justice by not putting her in the same destructive and negative light that her own myth puts her on.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I’ve discovered that the rape culture in America is very prominent yet not a lot of action is being taken. People are traumatized by the occasions and are left to deal with it with some sort of stigma and shame because of something that they want on the first place. However people are quick to speak before they know the full story as all they see is the superficial layout of a status quo. Given that Medusa was cursed with snakes by Athena because all that she (Athena) saw was a beautiful women that just “slept” with a god.
I’ve discovered that the rape culture in America is very prominent yet not a lot of action is being taken. People are traumatized by the occasions and are left to deal with it with some sort of stigma and shame because of something that they want on the first place. However people are quick to speak before they know the full story as all they see is the superficial layout of a status quo. Given that Medusa was cursed with snakes by Athena because all that she (Athena) saw was a beautiful women that just “slept” with a god.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The purity of the body as a temple which is ripped away because of the mere “human needs” of those that are in a position of power. Fragility and literal innocence of rape victims being taken away.
The purity of the body as a temple which is ripped away because of the mere “human needs” of those that are in a position of power. Fragility and literal innocence of rape victims being taken away.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I assumed that not every body knew the story of Medusa thus I had to find a way to somehow illustrate it to get the desired message across while maintaining a raw material of the human body.
I assumed that not every body knew the story of Medusa thus I had to find a way to somehow illustrate it to get the desired message across while maintaining a raw material of the human body.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Medusa, the Original 'Nasty Woman'. Elizabeth Johnston. Retrieved from, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-original-nasty-woman-of-classical-myth/506591/
The Timeless Myth Of Medusa, a Rape Victim Turned Into a Monster. Christobel Hastings. Retrieved from, https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/qvxwax/medusa-greek-myth-rape-victim-turned-into-a-monster
The Timeless Myth Of Medusa, a Rape Victim Turned Into a Monster. Christobel Hastings. Retrieved from, https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/qvxwax/medusa-greek-myth-rape-victim-turned-into-a-monster