This Is A Mask Made From Cardboard Which I Have Just Finished As Part Of My Art Foundation Course. It’s

Female identity and Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo , ‘Las Dos Fridas’ (The Two Fridas) , Oil on Canvas, 1939 (1.73 m x 1.73 m)

Frida Kahlo is seen as a feminist icon and great artist all over the world. Her painting ‘The Two Fridas’, is one of many paintings that explores her identity as a female. Kahlo often includes the notion of gender in her work, exploring her femininity as well as masculinity and her Mexican and European genetics, with her Father being European and Mother Mexican. These factors shaped her work in a unique way which she expressed through the medium of painting. 

‘The Two Frida’s’ depicts two versions of Frida sitting and holding hands. They both have the same facial expressions and are identical twins however are wearing different things. One Frida wears a modern white wedding dress, which would have been worn in Europe in the 1930’s-40’s with embroidered flowers and delicate lace work around the neck, reflecting her Father’s side. The second Frida wears a traditional Tehuana Zapotec costume from the Oaxaca area of Mexico with vibrant colours which reflects her Mother’s side. There is a stormy sky in the background similar to the stormy skies of El Greco’s work and both Frida’s have an exposed heart connected by an open artery.

‘The Two Fridas’ was painted the year of her divorce with Diego Riviera, with whom she shared a tumultuous relationship. In the same year, in 1939, Frida was also gaining popularity all over the world, exhibiting in New York and Paris. The painting portrays the difficult time of Frida’s divorce but also reveals her identity as a Mexican and European woman at the same time. Kahlo aimed to show her two sides in the painting, the side of her that Diego loved and the one he didn’t.

Traditional Mexican attire became Kahlo’s trademark. She dressed this way to reflect her involvement with the post-revolutionary Mexicanidad movement which fought to redefine Mexican identity and to also reflect her identity as a Mexican Woman. It portrays Frida’s heartbreak and vulnerability, which can be seen through her exposed hearts. Frida said, “(the painting, ‘The Two Fridas’ is a) representation of my loneliness. What I meant to say is I resorted to myself; I sought my own help”. In a time where patriarchy still played a huge role in society, the dependence of women on men was expected and women in art were not taken seriously, Frida did not depend on her husband Diego to become famous. Although her divorce left her feeling broken it is evident that it also led Frida to discovering independence and uncovering more about her female identity. The artery runs from the left hand of the Mexican Frida to the left hand of the European Frida where she tried to stem the flow of blood from the artery. However, with little success as the blood proceeds to flow out and create red flower like shapes mimicking the embroidery on her dress which I think shows how she grew from her experience of divorce. The use of blood is a recurring theme in Frida Kahlo’s paintings, representing family ties, religion and fertility.

Frida had constructed her own identity from her ethnicity, political beliefs and female experience. The painting showed women of the 1940’s that independence was possible, success without a husband was possible. Her traditional outfits in the painting reflect ‘typical’ feminine beauty but with a message of independence, self-discovery as a woman and a fight for social change. Not only does Frida explore her own identity but also the identity of Mexican and European women combined. The artery connects the two continents together like a bridge showing a shared female experience. This can also be seen through the holding of hands between both of the Fridas. The stronger Frida supports the weaker one in her time of need which symbolises solidarity between all women, resilience and empowerment.

References

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/a/kahlo-the-two-fridas-las-dos-fridas

https://www.openculture.com/2020/03/what-the-iconic-painting-the-two-fridas-actually-tells-us-about-frida-kahlo.html

https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-two-fridas.jsp

https://blog.singulart.com/en/2019/07/23/the-two-fridas-1939-duality-and-surrealism-in-kahlos-famous-portrait/#:~:text=The%20Frida%20to%20the%20right,are%20visible%20over%20their%20clothes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxKR2cHmlPY

https://www.artsandcollections.com/article/frida-kahlo-resilience-pain-and-empowerment/

https://artuk.org/discover/stories/frida-kahlo-embracing-her-masculinity

Completed garment for my ‘Then and Now’ project. It is inspired by a traditional Slovakian ‘Kroj’. I used my blue print fabric which I made for the skirt and embroidered a blouse with a floral design inspired by Slovakian folk patterns.

Observational drawings of a pig’s heart.......

Landscape art, Jeanne Claude and Christo.

Wrapped Trees, 1988

‘Wrapped trees’ by Jeanne Claude and Christo, is a unique piece of land art. The two artists worked together and were an art duo which focused on large scale artwork throughout their careers. Claude was from Morocco and Christo from Bulgaria, they were both born on the exact same day in the same year on the 13th of June 1935 and got married in 1960. Their artwork focused on wrapping up huge man made structures or huge natural structures. One of their most famous works was wrapping up the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995 which took 90 climbers and 180 installation workers to complete. This was done with polypropylene fabric and rope. Another piece that they are particularly well known for is wrapping up the West Coast of Australia in 1968. The fabric covered one million square feet, its size shows the sheer scale in the work of Claude and Christo. 

The piece of land art ‘wrapped trees’ was created in 1988 and took 9 days to complete. 178 trees in a park in Riehen in Switzerland were covered by transparent fabric, and this artwork was left up for 3 weeks. The original plan was to wrap 330 trees in the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, however their plan was denied. The trees were wrapped with 592,015 square feet polyester fabric which is the same fabric used in Japan to protect trees from frost, snow and general winter weather. The fabric was all tied on just by using rope. The finished piece is very effective and the trees look ghost- like, mysterious and out of the ordinary. The fabric changed shape slightly and blew in the wind, at different times of the day, different colours light and different intensities of light would shine through the polyester fabric. This created a diaphanous effect which allowed all of the individual branches to be seen. The piece of land art was up in November, so the start of winter once all the leaves had fallen off of the trees. This allowed the branches and main structure of the tree to be seen clearly. The fabric also shrouded the trees in a way that gave the impression of the shape that all of the leaves would take if they were there. This use of negative space almost highlighted the absence of the leaves which gave a ghost-like quality to the work.

Christo once said “Jeanne-Claude and I borrow space and create a gentle disturbance in it for just a few days. When they appear for a few days, they carry this tremendous freedom of irresponsibility.” This quote reveals a lot about the intention behind the work of the artist duo. After all of their work, Claude and Christo made sure that the ropes and fabric that they used were never thrown away but recycled. It is possible that their work overall reflects the alteration of the natural world for our human needs; it could be a message about climate change and the environment. On the other hand, the work ‘wrapped trees’ could be about the fact that nothing lasts forever and everything is fleeting. The artists have to take their work down eventually, if they don’t then they would be intercepting with nature. In the quote, Christo talks about the ‘freedom of irresponsibly’. The artists had the freedom to put their work over the trees but then it is their responsibility to take it back down. This may reflect the importance for everything in nature to return to its natural state.

References

https://christojeanneclaude.net/mobile/projects?p=wrapped-reichstag

https://coveringchristo.wordpress.com/rationale/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/christo-and-jeanne-claude/

https://christojeanneclaude.net/mobile/projects?p=wrapped-trees

https://coveringchristo.wordpress.com/rationale/

Social comment and Anish Kappor.

Anish Kapoor , ‘A Brexit, A Broxit, We All Fall Down.’, Photoshop, 2019

This photoshop piece by Anish Kapoor is as curious as it is controversial. It depicts a huge open wound running through the middle of the UK splitting it in two. The bright scarlet of the fresh blood of the wound and the green of the countryside starkly contrast each other. The huge black space in the centre, looks like an emptiness that may expand. The piece is striking full of juxtaposition and I think that it also mirrors xenophobic attitudes. It is without a doubt controversial which echoes much of Anish Kapoor’s  work. He studied at Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design and was born in Mumbai in India.

The piece was specially commissioned by the guardian newspaper. Anish Kapoor has called the piece “A Brexit, A Broxit, We All Fall Down.” The Irish Times stated that it looks like a  ‘photoshop project by a sullen teenager phoning it in’, people on social media have also commented that the artwork looks like a vulva. However there is more to the work than meets the eye despite the fact it may look simple. Kapoor is known for his anti-Brexit views which are mirrored in this piece and has let the piece speak for itself by not revealing any information about its possible meaning.

The deep hole seems to have no end, alluding to the political situation with Brexit which has been going on for 4 years straight with almost no solutions. The wait for some sort of deal has felt endless which I think is possibly what Kapoor wishes to convey in the work. The wound is also running through the centre of the UK, which is maybe representing the Brexit vote with almost half of voters wanting to remain and half voting to leave, I think it means that this artwork is  showing political divisions. Kapoor is known for his use of the ‘blackest black’, one of his most famous pieces “Descent into Limbo (1992)”, a 2.5 metre hole was dug and coated with a deep black for an exhibition in Portugal and a man actually fell into it. This idea of an uncertain void is prevalent in his photoshop artwork. A profound blackness which looks terrifying and precarious. Anish Kapoor has often commented on Brexit and has said “We’ve allowed ourselves as a nation to enter a space of unknowing” referencing the great unknown which is the political situation.

In my opinion, this artwork by Kapoor challenges society in a unique way. The wound could represent the impact that Brexit has had on the lives of British citizens abroad and EU citizens in Britain, complicating their livelihoods unnecessarily. British citizens living in the EU are now feeling alienated from their home country. Travel restrictions may be put in place and it is becoming more apparent that certain freedoms may be taken away from each individual. This has deeply wounded relationships between Great Britain and the EU and these wounds can not be healed easily or will bleed forever.

References:

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/anish-kapoor-s-brexit-art-it-looks-like-a-transition-year-photoshop-project-1.3848177

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/03/anish-kapoor-brexit-artwork-britain-edge-abyss

https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/41032/1/man-fallen-into-anish-kapoor-artwork-hospitalised-descent-into-limbo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anish_Kapoor

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brexit-prejudice-scientists-link-foreigners-immigrants-racism-xenophobia-leave-eu-a8078586.html

Sculpture and patination, Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois , ‘J'y suis, J'y reste’ (Here I stand, Here I stay) - Sculpture, 1990

Louise Bourgeois is known for her surrealist and abstract sculptures. Her assemblage piece ‘Here I stand, Here I stay’ (J'y suis, J'y reste) is of a pair of feet resting on a roughly cut block of marble with a glass house placed on top. In 1967–68 Bourgeois travelled to Pietrasanta in Italy, which is where she discovered the same marble quarries from which Michelangelo sourced his material. 

Bourgeoise’s work often explores the themes of feminism, family relationships and the unconscious. Born in 1911, she grew-up in Paris where her family owned a tapestry gallery and tapestry restoration business. When Louise Bourgeois Mother became ill with Spanish flu, the family hired a British au pair to teach Louise and her brother English. However the au pair soon became their Father’s mistress. This caused him to neglect Louise and her brother which was especially hard for Louise as she had to also care for her sick Mother often. Those childhood feelings of abandonment would become prevalent themes and ideas in the future artwork of Bourgeois. She married an American art historian and lived in America for the rest of her life, leaving her childhood in Paris behind.

The patination of the pink marble is irregular and coarse which makes it seem worn and ancient and this juxtaposes with the smooth texture of the feet which are also sculpted from the very same marble. The glass house which sits on top of the feet gives a certain fragility to the assemblage. The heavy marble again contrasts with the delicate house construction. It seems almost too fragile to be a safe shelter. This could possibly reflect Bourgeoise's own childhood which left her feeling exposed and alone in her family home. The fact that there's only one pair of feet could be referencing the abandonment she felt as a child and could reflect the unstable and lonely atmosphere. The house may also represent Bourgeoise's life as an artist. It gives a home to the bare feet which stand on a rugged piece of marble. This suggests that her art had given her a new way to express herself and fathom those feelings that she experienced as a child.

Sources:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/656887http://hdamarly.over-blog.com/2015/06/louise-bourgeois-enfance-et-creation.htmlhttp://www.theeastonfoundation.org/biography

Some lino cuts for the book i’m working on...

Prints from my own woodcuts.

Some face casts made from plaster and painted with acrylic paint inspired by Hasegawa Tohaku's mystical paintings

Working on an animation about reconnecting to folklore called ‘The Blooming Heart’. I have used the image of the heart as it has so many connotations to the soul and is often linked to identity and of course life.