Arthur Rackham

Self Portrait

"Imagination is always the ruling and divine power, and the rest of man is only the instrument which it sounds, or the tablet on which it writes"-John Ruskin
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/adc/10100742A~Feeling-Very-Undancey-Posters.jpg

Ernst Neizvestny

CRYING PRISON

series: FROM TREE OF LIFE #6

HOLOCAUST

I dont particularly like Neizvestny's work. His colors are abrupt and seem archaic. His work is violent. His shapes are not sophisticated: or maybe they are too sophisticated. It just seems his paintings are hideous, and they are too big, they are too imposing- his concept sculptures do not strike me as friendly, the work on the whole is offensive. I mean that in the sense that it attempts to battle others. Particularly myself.
I need to qualify all this: every artist tends to grow on me. Even as I searched for more images to post here, I realized I did not dislike his work nearly as much as it sounds. Instead, he wins me over with the thick lines and bold colors... Though the style of From Tree of Life #6, it still does not sit well with me. I think it is an overload for me, as far as details go. There is just too much, and it doesn't seem harmonious for some reason.

New Container

I lost my container: I had pictures, and leaves. Leaves, they don’t directly inform my print work, but I use them in sculptural papermaking. The photos provide inspiration for my images; I took many of them myself. I sort of have this thing, where I want to be making everything that I make. I don’t like using other people’s stuff. Though sometimes, I do. It depends.
I’m not sure how much I believe in using big words or specialized vocabulary. It sounds stilted, and since I don’t have many friends within the art department, it inhibits communication. And makes me feel pretentious. If the people I care most about can’t understand what I am saying, then I feel sort of silly. I don't want to be pretentious, and I don't want to be misunderstood.
It can be frustrating sometimes, when I show my work to friends, and they see things that aren't there. It is frustrating to know that people are always trying to make sense of things, when sometimes there is no sense to things. I am to blame also- I search for meanings too, when maybe there is no meaning.
I guess people can only see what is in front of them, can only use what they have been given to interpret 'art'.
All these definitions, what is art, why does it matter...does it matter?
All I know is, when other things bore me after a while, making things that are physical and beautiful: this is a language I dont mind speaking indefinitely (though I do go into slumps, but those are general life slumps, and making stuff can usually bring me out of it). The written language begins to grate after a while, since it is imprecise when it ought to be clear-cut, being made of symbols with specified meanings.

Shuji Takami

I like looking at Shuji Takami’s book. Reading about him makes me feel better. I think his pictures are informed and straightforward. They come from inside him. They are gentle and happy. The photos of him in the back, he looks so cool. It makes me want to be him, almost. He only lived a short time, but I think he was able to pursue something good. There is movement and color that does not falter. I don't think I paint or make images very much like he does. Perhaps we have similar palettes, but beyond that, my images don't shimmer like his do.

Photo inspiration

These are some photos I've used in pieces this semester.