1.    How has your perspective about art changed throughout the process of organizing your own exhibition?

Creating Organic Rhythm was an absolutely wonderful experience for me; while it stressed me out a lot it was so much fun. My show made me realize that no matter what art you create, to have a successful show you must have structure. Your art might be very in the moment and random, but when you put it into a gallery setting it must have unity in the way it is hung on the walls or set up to create structure. Taylor and I had to create a unity in our show, normally two very different styled artist would be scared by this challenge to create unity, but Taylor and I ran with it.

2.    What would you do differently if you had the opportunity to do it over?

I would have asked more people for help with hanging Taylor and I’s collaboration installation piece—it was surprisingly difficult for the two of us. I would have liked more light to have been shining on it as well to really define the cast shadows.

3.    If you had unlimited time and resources, what else would you have done to complete your show?

Unlimited time—wow what a wonderful thought; I would have spent all my extra time and resources making those walls look amazing. Taylor and I spent hours sanding the walls and painting them; it was exhausting. But if given the opportunity I would have done more to it; while usually that is the job for the previous show Taylor and I did it ourselves because we really wanted to be as independent with this as possible. So we took a lot of pride in them, if we were able to spend a week or two doing everything that would be necessary to make the walls look brand new I would have jumped on that opportunity. I don’t know why, something about perfect white walls in a gallery is just so sophisticated and gorgeous to me. I’d like to have had more glue and tie dye pieces in the show, but it’s just so expensive—if I had more of those resources I would have created more structures with them.

4.    What was the value of this experience for you?

I loved every second of this process, not only did I get to show off my work that I’ve been pouring so much energy into for years, but I got to do it with one of my best friends. Art class brought Taylor and I together and created a lasting friendship. I wouldn’t have wanted to do this with anyone else. We worked so well together that I barely stressed about it, I knew we would figure all the issues out before the show. Setting up the gallery was by far my favorite part, Mr. Guyer showed me the way to figure out exactly how far apart everything should be and I had my friends help me figure out the best order for my art. The fun part was the beginning of the hallway—you walked in and saw my sister’s boyfriend, Brian, playing classical guitar and him and I specifically picked out selections together to fit the feel of the show. You saw our title Organic Rhythm followed by our collaboration piece, across from that was the two individual pieces that inspired the collaboration and that lead the viewer too the remaining walls. We each had our own wall that was specific for us. Our show felt completely unified and I loved that we created unity in such differing styles. I don’t perform in plays or do sports so this was really the first time I had a bunch of people there to support me and that was really cool because Taylor and I slaved over this show and having people come and take it all in was amazing.  When it was all said and done everything was worth it; the turnout was amazing and it went better than I had thought it would. 

5.    How could this process be enhanced for future Art 5 students?

I think the key to a successful show is good chemistry with the people you’re doing it with; it’s hard to come to compromises with someone who you don’t get along with or barely know. But I also think that being in the same art class with the same kids since freshman year really helps with chemistry. I remember towards the middle of Art IV my class’ critiques were amazing and everyone was bouncing ideas off each other and we had an awesome dynamic going because everyone knew each other’s style and how they worked. Keeping the classes close is important to a successful show because the kids will also be more willing to help one another in the process. Maybe create a document with the Do’s and Don’ts of art shows—showing the mistakes and triumphs of past shows. It would be really cool if we created a page on the DRHSart website that was specific to each art show that had pictures from the shows and the kids artist statements—so when it comes around they could say “Oh I really liked the way ___ did their labels,” or “____ hung up their work really nice” and they would have visuals to go along with it. Especially for older shows because some kids might not remember what the show looked like. I think students should also be reminded that this is their show and it's all on them and they need to work super hard if they wand it to be successful. 

When I see my art on a wall, all I want is people to question it. Question the textures, question the meaning, question my sanity. 

Self Reflection

Reflecting on my summer work I realize that most of it was just trial and error; nothing went according to plan, but I like the end result. I made one painting that was very much “my style” at the beginning of summer and then I got bored so decided to go in a completely opposite direction. I challenged myself to combine painting and tie dye-glue mixture into a piece that did not have too much going on at once. 


My general theme was heads; I created a blind contour painting of a person’s face, a silhouette and a skull. My work was idea driven, I got a general idea that one cannot judge a book by its cover and that it was all three of my pieces represent. I also challenged myself to work more realistically with this piece rather than abstract which is my comfort zone.

I spent a majority of my summer brainstorming in my sketchbook about this, I did not want to disappoint. Since this was summer work and not a normal classroom assignment I had to get all the materials myself and had my father help me build a frame and cut the plexiglass down to the proper size.  It was very important to me to get all of this done so I would not be stressing the weekend before school started.

Painting on plexiglass was challenging, the paint did not want to stick to the surface so I had to sand the surface so it would be easier for the paint to stick. After I completed the painting of the skull and brain it was very important to me to put the glue and tie dye mixture on it; I taped off the brain so that no color would get anywhere else. The color kept overflowing and going off the tap onto the glass surface and I had to constantly keep cleaning it off. When it dried it went all over the tape so some parts I had to use an exact-o knife to cut it away, which was a difficult and annoying process.

This project provided me with a few ideas for a new series on plexiglass, but I still plan on painting my blind contour painting.  I think with the series on plexiglass I want to paint more realistically and challenge myself to always somehow incorporate tie dye and glue into them. I also want to find a better way to hang my work because of how thick the plexiglass is.

 I would give myself a high B with this project, I feel like I could have done more with the silhouette to create a more interesting piece. I did challenge myself with this so I do take into consideration that this was a hit or miss situation because I did not know how any of the materials would react with one another. The meaning behind my work “don’t judge a book by its cover,”  I think I create many other paintings with this general theme.

 



 




 

When I graduate high school, I will have forgotten almost everything I’ve learned in Spanish or geometry, but art has taught me so much more then all those pointless classes combined. The question is: what has art taught me? The mere question sparks a million ideas and even more questions. Art has taught me to look at the world differently, that it is okay to be wrong, and never second guess a gut feeling. Art has not only allowed me to express myself, it actually changed my life.

            One of the most important things art has taught me is to try new things. Try to new mediums, and most importantly ask “What if?” You can never get comfortable with one idea or you will never grow. The key to growth as an artist is simply trying new things; changing one measly thing could change your entire style as an artist. But you will never know unless you try. No one is going to sit there and tell you how to work or what is right or wrong, only you can decide that.

            Also, art has taught me that it’s okay to be wrong. It doesn’t matter if I mess up because I could make that mistake into something beautiful. That is the beauty of art, no one can tell you what you have created is bad because it is your expression not theirs. Never second guess myself. Once I get a new idea I run with it, I do not stop to think, “Maybe I shouldn’t…” Second guessing an idea basically puts the breaks on my creative process. I look at the world differently now because of art.

            You could ask me what Earth Science taught me in five years and I would end up hurting my brain trying to remember, but you could ask what art has taught me and I would be able to give you a bunch of different and unique ideas on the spot .Taking art has given me many life lessons and skills for my future. This class has shaped my life. 

Untitled

8”x6”

2010

Chris is a twenty-first century abstract artist. His artwork makes you think, probably one of the main reasons I studied him. Abstract art really interests me because there is so much more room for interpretation. In this particular untitled piece, you can see how he uses sky blues in contrast with browns and tan colored shapes. He uses many of the same colors throughout all his paintings and mixed media art; they all are light and easy on the eye.

All his works have a mellow and calming feel to them. All the shapes are placed together with harmony. Most of his works has repetition shown with similar shapes and soft color schemes. There are numerous pieces with rectangular shapes. His art really spoke to me, and that is why I choice him to study and found him memorable, because he made me think about what techniques and styles I could borrow from him.

Wave

2010

Oil on Canvas

27 x 37 inches

http://mattlively.com/home.html

“Young, stupid, broke,” -Matt Lively.

 Lively is a twenty-first century artist local artist who lives in Richmond, VA, and who teaches at VCU. I actually had a unique opportunity to see and listen to him talk when he came to Deep Run earlier this year. This gave me a unique insight into his life and his brain. He said, “Do a lot of what you’re good at.” Which brings me to his infamous beecyles he always paints, they are just so random and don’t make sense, but beautiful at the same time. He challenges himself to make ordinary things beautiful.

Wave by Matt Lively shows an ordinary town basically infested by beecycles. This really embodies his belief in making ordinary beautiful. The clouds have a layered look and are all different shades of blue, which is one of his trademarks. There is one small child in the lower right corner looking up in the sky as if in amazement from the beecycles in the sky. All the houses are uniform, but in various bright colors. Lively was definitely one of my most favorite artists to study, mostly because of his art and just a little bit because he was so funny. Listening to him talk made me want to study him more than I already did.