A Strange Child
Final project for 'Hot Off the Shelf', Fall 2010
Final project for 'Hot Off the Shelf', Fall 2010
I made this font using an internet program that allows you to scan handwritten text and convert it to font. The characters are based off of a made up language I created in my childhood.
6' x 4' Watercolor
For my final project Idecided to deal primarily with time, place, and how the two in combination, canaffect one’s identity. I used a retrospective point of view to incorporate myfocus on childhood perspective and imagination. Language also arose a secondaryelement that also tied into issues surrounding my own identity. After completingmy first piece, I constructed an additional spinoff project based on theconcepts that arose surrounding the influence of language in my first piece.
Though I think my workoften intrinsically references my own stream of consciousness (or subconsciousness),for this project I wanted to make a piece with a more deliberate conceptualfoundation. So, I thought about what issues and elements I was most interestedin and then formulated a step-by-step plan to execute a visual culmination.
I started with the idea of childhood andretrospection and when I went home for thanksgiving break I visited the house Iused to live in and dug out some old boxes from the attic. The boxes containedart projects and drawings I had made in my childhood. I decided to focus on imagesI had made between the ages of six and eleven; during that age range I hadcreated an imaginary world called “Noton” with it’s own language, solar system,and creatures. I narrowed down the pictures and scribblings I collected andmade color photocopies of what I liked most. From these photocopies, I made acollage that I would base the majority of my painting off of.
I think it is importantto note that, if speaking conceptually, the process of revisiting images andmemories I had not thought of in many years, in a way constitutes part of thepiece. I engaged my little sister and in doing so created nostalgicinteraction- I created a particular moment, just by going through my childhooddrawings. In the process I also came to realize that place, particularly animaginary place, and language would become an integral part of my finishedpiece. More in motivation, than in the actual aesthetic, I thought a lot about MatthewRichie and how he dealt with the universe within his own mind.
After making the collageI conjectured as to how I would add another dimension to the painting thatwould follow. Though making a painting based on a collage would automaticallyadd the element of mental translation and flattening of the image, I wanted toadd something more. I decided to add some iconography that would make the piecerecognizable as retrospection.
I painted the collage asif it lay beneath a puddle. I hoped the disposition of the water would hint ata mental reflection and that the surrounding dirt would suggest an uncoveringof the past. I added a forgotten timepiece and a tube of lipstick to further romanticizetime and exaggerate my own recollection of the magic I used to believe in andtake for granted. The lipstick references my own maturity as a now adult woman-a permanent departure from my childhood. Upon later review I realized the happyaccident that the pocket watch caused an Alicein Wonderland kind of association for some people, and in doing so addedanother dimension of childhood awe and imaginary place.
The piece isapproximately 72”x48” and is done exclusively in India ink. I chose awater-based medium not only because its what I’ve been using recently, but alsobecause of the psychological inferences that transparency provides. I chose Indiaink as opposed to watercolor because of its lightfast nature and timeless,archival quality, which complimented my subject. I decided to make a large-scalepiece because of my desire to expand out of the typical watercolor scale andbecome more involved on a material level- this was somewhat motivated by RobertAmesbury’s large works in gouache; the large scale also makes more of an impacton the viewer and is appropriate for referencing an imaginary macrocosm. Inthese ways I think my choice of materials reinforced my subject matter.
I thought the piece, whenfinished, was relatively successful in representing my intent. I liked thecomposition and colors and thought the childlike context was represented withoutmaking it look as though a child had made it. I think a lot about Amesbury’swork, and his ability to add fantasy through his color choices and visualperspective; though this piece was much less graphic and a lot more fluid thanAmesbury’s work, I look to him often when trying to channel magic in theeveryday.
I was glad I had added anenvironment, and other symbolic references to separate the original collagefrom the finished painting. The purplish outlines that interconnect the entireimage also seem to add an almost filtered effect and add another layer ofmysticism. While I was relatively contented with the piece, I think it maybetter serve as a launching pad for a body of work that is more simplistic andrefined on an individual piece-by-piece basis, though more complex as acumulative body. As I write this I envision Vico Fabbris’ Floralies; His work is much more scientific, each picturecontaining a more dramatically solitary subject, but I enjoy how it makes for ahandsome aggregation; as a compilation his work makes one believe in anonexistent place.
Whenthe piece was finished I felt the need to more thoroughly explore the languagecomponent of what I had done. I looked at the alphabet I had made as a child.Each character stood for an English letter; it was a shallow and childlikeunderstanding of linguistics and foreign language, but because of this thelanguage I had made subliminally retained its English nature; it was trying tobe something it could never fully become. As a child I was trying to be thisalien, I was trying to renounce my connection to reality by creating my ownworld- a world that revolved around me.
Ilooked at the characters only I had the power to decode. It was a selfishlanguage; the point of language is to enable communication, the language I hadcreated was intended to keep secrets. Still, I had an emotional connection toit; I could remember tediously drawing each letter in the back of my black andwhite English compositions book in fourth grade. I wanted to do something morewith it; I wanted to give it a new life.
Ifound a website where you can create text (ttf) files for free using a printout template. To my surprise it was a relatively easy process and within a halfhour I had transcribed all of the letters with some additional punctuation ontoa template and scanned it into my computer. Immediately after, a ttf file wasgenerated and I downloaded it onto my desktop. To my amazement, I could thentype out my personal language instantaneously in Word or Photoshop.
This revolution changedmy language; My language evolved; It’s existence was affirmed in listing itwithin the ranks of Times and Helvetica as options on my toolbar; it catapultedmy forth grade doodles into the twenty-first century through the pixels of ascreen. I could now write words, paragraphs, stories, even entire books,efficiently in a language no one else could understand.
I thought again oftypography as an art form. With foreign language we are blind to connotation; all we see is thebeauty of a character itself. Once we are given a Rosetta Stone, once we aretaught to read, there is no going back. “Ignorance is bliss,” I thought tomyself. I would type something I felt. I would type something I felt, and Iwouldn’t tell the viewer what it said. Maybe I would reveal the meaning in it’stitle; or maybe I would just elude to it, I didn’t know, but I liked the ideaof putting a universally unreadable language up on the wall; having somethingthat people of all nations would be mutually ignorant to. It would highlightthe feeling of being a foreigner, it would make people realize we are all foreigners;we are all aliens.
I typed up a statementthat represented what I was thinking when I made the first painting, then Iprinted out the type on large paper and in a large font size. The statement representsa notion that as I have grown older, I have thought about on severaloccasions. Think it ties the twopieces together somewhat on a conceptual basis although they are starklydifferent visually. I wanted the text to retain a certain simplicity in idea,much like Jenny Holzer’s truisms commanded, even though I was writing inanother language. I think the textpiece is more successful conceptually than is the ink piece, although I am muchmore fond of the ink piece aesthetically. The text piece’s success lies in the fact that it pushed me out of mycomfort zone and allowed me to become a lot more conceptual than I am normallycomfortable with.
Though I think my workoften intrinsically references my own stream of consciousness (or subconsciousness),for this project I wanted to make a piece with a more deliberate conceptualfoundation. So, I thought about what issues and elements I was most interestedin and then formulated a step-by-step plan to execute a visual culmination.
I started with the idea of childhood andretrospection and when I went home for thanksgiving break I visited the house Iused to live in and dug out some old boxes from the attic. The boxes containedart projects and drawings I had made in my childhood. I decided to focus on imagesI had made between the ages of six and eleven; during that age range I hadcreated an imaginary world called “Noton” with it’s own language, solar system,and creatures. I narrowed down the pictures and scribblings I collected andmade color photocopies of what I liked most. From these photocopies, I made acollage that I would base the majority of my painting off of.
I think it is importantto note that, if speaking conceptually, the process of revisiting images andmemories I had not thought of in many years, in a way constitutes part of thepiece. I engaged my little sister and in doing so created nostalgicinteraction- I created a particular moment, just by going through my childhooddrawings. In the process I also came to realize that place, particularly animaginary place, and language would become an integral part of my finishedpiece. More in motivation, than in the actual aesthetic, I thought a lot about MatthewRichie and how he dealt with the universe within his own mind.
After making the collageI conjectured as to how I would add another dimension to the painting thatwould follow. Though making a painting based on a collage would automaticallyadd the element of mental translation and flattening of the image, I wanted toadd something more. I decided to add some iconography that would make the piecerecognizable as retrospection.
I painted the collage asif it lay beneath a puddle. I hoped the disposition of the water would hint ata mental reflection and that the surrounding dirt would suggest an uncoveringof the past. I added a forgotten timepiece and a tube of lipstick to further romanticizetime and exaggerate my own recollection of the magic I used to believe in andtake for granted. The lipstick references my own maturity as a now adult woman-a permanent departure from my childhood. Upon later review I realized the happyaccident that the pocket watch caused an Alicein Wonderland kind of association for some people, and in doing so addedanother dimension of childhood awe and imaginary place.
The piece isapproximately 72”x48” and is done exclusively in India ink. I chose awater-based medium not only because its what I’ve been using recently, but alsobecause of the psychological inferences that transparency provides. I chose Indiaink as opposed to watercolor because of its lightfast nature and timeless,archival quality, which complimented my subject. I decided to make a large-scalepiece because of my desire to expand out of the typical watercolor scale andbecome more involved on a material level- this was somewhat motivated by RobertAmesbury’s large works in gouache; the large scale also makes more of an impacton the viewer and is appropriate for referencing an imaginary macrocosm. Inthese ways I think my choice of materials reinforced my subject matter.
I thought the piece, whenfinished, was relatively successful in representing my intent. I liked thecomposition and colors and thought the childlike context was represented withoutmaking it look as though a child had made it. I think a lot about Amesbury’swork, and his ability to add fantasy through his color choices and visualperspective; though this piece was much less graphic and a lot more fluid thanAmesbury’s work, I look to him often when trying to channel magic in theeveryday.
I was glad I had added anenvironment, and other symbolic references to separate the original collagefrom the finished painting. The purplish outlines that interconnect the entireimage also seem to add an almost filtered effect and add another layer ofmysticism. While I was relatively contented with the piece, I think it maybetter serve as a launching pad for a body of work that is more simplistic andrefined on an individual piece-by-piece basis, though more complex as acumulative body. As I write this I envision Vico Fabbris’ Floralies; His work is much more scientific, each picturecontaining a more dramatically solitary subject, but I enjoy how it makes for ahandsome aggregation; as a compilation his work makes one believe in anonexistent place.
Whenthe piece was finished I felt the need to more thoroughly explore the languagecomponent of what I had done. I looked at the alphabet I had made as a child.Each character stood for an English letter; it was a shallow and childlikeunderstanding of linguistics and foreign language, but because of this thelanguage I had made subliminally retained its English nature; it was trying tobe something it could never fully become. As a child I was trying to be thisalien, I was trying to renounce my connection to reality by creating my ownworld- a world that revolved around me.
Ilooked at the characters only I had the power to decode. It was a selfishlanguage; the point of language is to enable communication, the language I hadcreated was intended to keep secrets. Still, I had an emotional connection toit; I could remember tediously drawing each letter in the back of my black andwhite English compositions book in fourth grade. I wanted to do something morewith it; I wanted to give it a new life.
Ifound a website where you can create text (ttf) files for free using a printout template. To my surprise it was a relatively easy process and within a halfhour I had transcribed all of the letters with some additional punctuation ontoa template and scanned it into my computer. Immediately after, a ttf file wasgenerated and I downloaded it onto my desktop. To my amazement, I could thentype out my personal language instantaneously in Word or Photoshop.
This revolution changedmy language; My language evolved; It’s existence was affirmed in listing itwithin the ranks of Times and Helvetica as options on my toolbar; it catapultedmy forth grade doodles into the twenty-first century through the pixels of ascreen. I could now write words, paragraphs, stories, even entire books,efficiently in a language no one else could understand.
I thought again oftypography as an art form. With foreign language we are blind to connotation; all we see is thebeauty of a character itself. Once we are given a Rosetta Stone, once we aretaught to read, there is no going back. “Ignorance is bliss,” I thought tomyself. I would type something I felt. I would type something I felt, and Iwouldn’t tell the viewer what it said. Maybe I would reveal the meaning in it’stitle; or maybe I would just elude to it, I didn’t know, but I liked the ideaof putting a universally unreadable language up on the wall; having somethingthat people of all nations would be mutually ignorant to. It would highlightthe feeling of being a foreigner, it would make people realize we are all foreigners;we are all aliens.
I typed up a statementthat represented what I was thinking when I made the first painting, then Iprinted out the type on large paper and in a large font size. The statement representsa notion that as I have grown older, I have thought about on severaloccasions. Think it ties the twopieces together somewhat on a conceptual basis although they are starklydifferent visually. I wanted the text to retain a certain simplicity in idea,much like Jenny Holzer’s truisms commanded, even though I was writing inanother language. I think the textpiece is more successful conceptually than is the ink piece, although I am muchmore fond of the ink piece aesthetically. The text piece’s success lies in the fact that it pushed me out of mycomfort zone and allowed me to become a lot more conceptual than I am normallycomfortable with.
