Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Class has started
I love my classes this semester! At least they seem really great right now. :D Not much energy to write about it, just wanted to say YAY.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Pomegranates ... Us & Them, Puns, & Fear
There are a few themes with the pomegranates. I don't know how coherently I will be able to write about them because I am only beginning to explore them now with these pieces.
#1: The pun of pomegranate and grenade. It turns a beautiful, even happy image into something much darker. פיגוע הרימון = pomegranate explosion/attack or grenade explosion/attack. Pomegranate #3 has that text, but it showed up in other prints I did with pomegranates that were unfinished.
#2: I started working on these pieces after the most recent war in Israel broke out, and during that time there were also many anti-semitic attacks around the world, including 4 (at least four?) attacks on synagogues in my area - one was only a few blocks from me. Graffiti with swastikas, molotov cocktails, etc. At anti-Israel rallies there were signs that said "Kill all the Jews." This is terrifying to me. Pomegranate #2 has the text that says "we are not afraid," which is a copy of the text from a sign in Sderot that my friend photographed when she went there to volunteer a couple of weeks ago. Making this was kind of therapeutic for me, having to say that We are NOT afraid not only is a way of changing my own thinking and therefore feelings, but saying "we" instead of "I" makes me part of a group. I am not alone. We are all feeling this right now.
#3: Us & Them ... the images, without knowing Hebrew or understanding the pun of the pomegranates, make no sense. They look happy or pretty or I don't know. When I explained the meaning behind the things I had made in the critique, I think people were shocked. The teachers - I think - maybe felt betrayed by my images, because they couldn't figure out what I was making until I explained it. They gave me suggestions for ways to communicate my ideas to a wider audience, but part of the way I made it (bright colors, bubble letters, etc) was to emphasize the us and them. They won't get it. They don't know what it's like to be a Jew (or a Jew like me, if you are offended by my generalization). I think they were shocked just as much at the imagery meaning something darker as they were to hear about the synagogue attacks in our city.
I think I will continue to work on this, even though there is a somewhat calming down in Israel right now.
This was like me practicing my own art therapy. For some reason, the change in scale really brought out personal artwork. I find a lot of times my work is removed from me, has nothing to do with anything I feel and do, is something funny or amusing or about some technique that I find interesting. But having to do something so large which requires so much work, I felt that I could only possibly sustain attention for something that big would be to tap into something I really care about.
#1: The pun of pomegranate and grenade. It turns a beautiful, even happy image into something much darker. פיגוע הרימון = pomegranate explosion/attack or grenade explosion/attack. Pomegranate #3 has that text, but it showed up in other prints I did with pomegranates that were unfinished.
#2: I started working on these pieces after the most recent war in Israel broke out, and during that time there were also many anti-semitic attacks around the world, including 4 (at least four?) attacks on synagogues in my area - one was only a few blocks from me. Graffiti with swastikas, molotov cocktails, etc. At anti-Israel rallies there were signs that said "Kill all the Jews." This is terrifying to me. Pomegranate #2 has the text that says "we are not afraid," which is a copy of the text from a sign in Sderot that my friend photographed when she went there to volunteer a couple of weeks ago. Making this was kind of therapeutic for me, having to say that We are NOT afraid not only is a way of changing my own thinking and therefore feelings, but saying "we" instead of "I" makes me part of a group. I am not alone. We are all feeling this right now.
#3: Us & Them ... the images, without knowing Hebrew or understanding the pun of the pomegranates, make no sense. They look happy or pretty or I don't know. When I explained the meaning behind the things I had made in the critique, I think people were shocked. The teachers - I think - maybe felt betrayed by my images, because they couldn't figure out what I was making until I explained it. They gave me suggestions for ways to communicate my ideas to a wider audience, but part of the way I made it (bright colors, bubble letters, etc) was to emphasize the us and them. They won't get it. They don't know what it's like to be a Jew (or a Jew like me, if you are offended by my generalization). I think they were shocked just as much at the imagery meaning something darker as they were to hear about the synagogue attacks in our city.
I think I will continue to work on this, even though there is a somewhat calming down in Israel right now.
This was like me practicing my own art therapy. For some reason, the change in scale really brought out personal artwork. I find a lot of times my work is removed from me, has nothing to do with anything I feel and do, is something funny or amusing or about some technique that I find interesting. But having to do something so large which requires so much work, I felt that I could only possibly sustain attention for something that big would be to tap into something I really care about.
Pomegranate Piece #5
I will post the pomegranate pieces in their separate entries and then reference them in one entry when I explain them.
Processes:
- purchased cotton fabric
- shibori tied and partial immersion dyed (let the dye creep up the shirobi overnight)
- dye printed purple pomegranate seed repeat
- monoprint with dye pomegranates
Pomegranate Piece #4
I will post the pomegranate pieces in their separate entries and then reference them in one entry when I explain them.
Processes:
- purchased white wrinkly/gauzy cotton
- monoprint with dye three large pomegranates
- dye printed yellow pomegranate seed repeat
- dye printed purple pomegranate repeat
- dye printed second color for pomegranate repeat
Pomegranate Piece #3
I will post the pomegranate pieces in their separate entries and then reference them in one entry when I explain them.
Processes:
- purchased cotton fabric
- printed purple pomegranate seed repeat
- dye printed red pomegranate paper stencil print with paper resist
- shadow printed leftover image on screen on the top of the fabric
- painted with dye to fill in images and create text
Pomegranate Piece #2
I will post the pomegranate pieces in their separate entries and then reference them in one entry when I explain them.
Processes:
- purchased pink cotton fabric
- thiox the text (thiox is like bleach but not as corrosive)
- dye printed purple pomegranate seed repeat
- dye printed yellow pomegranate explosion print
- heat pressed dispersion dye blue flame-y things
Pomegranate Piece #1
I will post the pomegranate pieces in their separate entries and then reference them in one entry when I explain them.
This piece was part of the "group book" project, and was cut into 18 squares and distributed among the class.
Processes:
- ink printed pomegranate seed repeat in yellow
- ink printed pomegranate red background
- ink printed pomegranate purple repeat (over red backgrounds)
- ink printed actual pomegranate (painted a halved pomegranate and pressed onto the fabric)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
פיגוע הרימון
For some reason I have become kind of preoccupied with the pun of "pomegranate" and "grenade" in Hebrew. I think it is because of the war and my reactions to it - not just this war, but my experience in 2006 when I was in Israel during the Second Lebanon War, the first time I have ever been in a country at war (with a front on the country's soil, I guess).
Will post pictures later.
Will post pictures later.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Shirobi - why no pics
I can't post pictures of my Shirobi tests because they aren't done yet. I didn't get a good color with the first couple of rounds of dyeing and also they look kind of plain. I'm working on it. Soon I will have some interesting things to show you I think.
This class is mauling me. I am so exhausted. Last night I didn't make it to 10:30 before I fell asleep - and usually I go to sleep around 12:30 or 1am. It's very physically and mentally demanding!
This class is mauling me. I am so exhausted. Last night I didn't make it to 10:30 before I fell asleep - and usually I go to sleep around 12:30 or 1am. It's very physically and mentally demanding!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Shirobi & My new class
Shirobi saved my new class. Saved it!
I am taking a winter class. I wouldn't do this, I would rather keep traveling and visiting and playing mariokart and watching movies and hanging out with JewishGuy. BUT. I want to have my Fridays free next semester, I want to not have as much work to do next semester, because I AM GETTING MARRIED! :D So... I am taking a winter class.
My winter class is Print on Fiber and Alternative Media. It sounds really awesome. I think it will be really awesome.
But.
#1, my train sat on the tracks for 20 minutes and I was late to class. Just in time to hear them say, "If you are late, it is an absence, and 3 absences is a no-credit." (I assume this doesn't count for the first day???)
#2, right after that, they went over the rules! Of course, no lateness, which is a drag for a class that is 9-5, Mon-Fri, where much of the time is independent work time. BUT ALSO ... no cell phones (if they are found, they are confiscated) and no ipods, because they are annoying and isolate people. What! How old are we? I was upset about that. This afternoon when we were working independently, it was silent in the room except for the sound of cutting and tearing and occasional dropping things. But that's later.
#3, our first project would be to create color swatches of every dye in the room. AUGHH!! At first I thought that meant all of us would have to do it on our own, luckily we would all do one color and then share.
Then we began our first dye. 10mL of this, 2 tsp of that, follow directions and then, the end! I was sad. I was thinking that this was how the class would be, just following directions to come to a shared conclusion.
I was very unhappy at lunch. I didn't want to take this winter class anymore. It is going to be very intense and a lot of work and I don't want to be stuck in this recipe-filling class! It's expensive, too, did I mention that?
I came back from lunch determined to participate in the afternoon section and be positive and really give it a chance.
Then we started learning about Shirobi and we will be dyeing our Shirobi creations tomorrow.
Shirobi is tie-dyeing!
Yay!
Pictures of my Shirobi experiments to come tomorrow maybe.
So I think I really will stay in the class, it does make next semester a lot easier, plus I will have some interesting fabrics at the end. If nothing else I will do huge tie-dyes and screenprint onto them. Ha!
I am taking a winter class. I wouldn't do this, I would rather keep traveling and visiting and playing mariokart and watching movies and hanging out with JewishGuy. BUT. I want to have my Fridays free next semester, I want to not have as much work to do next semester, because I AM GETTING MARRIED! :D So... I am taking a winter class.
My winter class is Print on Fiber and Alternative Media. It sounds really awesome. I think it will be really awesome.
But.
#1, my train sat on the tracks for 20 minutes and I was late to class. Just in time to hear them say, "If you are late, it is an absence, and 3 absences is a no-credit." (I assume this doesn't count for the first day???)
#2, right after that, they went over the rules! Of course, no lateness, which is a drag for a class that is 9-5, Mon-Fri, where much of the time is independent work time. BUT ALSO ... no cell phones (if they are found, they are confiscated) and no ipods, because they are annoying and isolate people. What! How old are we? I was upset about that. This afternoon when we were working independently, it was silent in the room except for the sound of cutting and tearing and occasional dropping things. But that's later.
#3, our first project would be to create color swatches of every dye in the room. AUGHH!! At first I thought that meant all of us would have to do it on our own, luckily we would all do one color and then share.
Then we began our first dye. 10mL of this, 2 tsp of that, follow directions and then, the end! I was sad. I was thinking that this was how the class would be, just following directions to come to a shared conclusion.
I was very unhappy at lunch. I didn't want to take this winter class anymore. It is going to be very intense and a lot of work and I don't want to be stuck in this recipe-filling class! It's expensive, too, did I mention that?
I came back from lunch determined to participate in the afternoon section and be positive and really give it a chance.
Then we started learning about Shirobi and we will be dyeing our Shirobi creations tomorrow.
Shirobi is tie-dyeing!
Yay!
Pictures of my Shirobi experiments to come tomorrow maybe.
So I think I really will stay in the class, it does make next semester a lot easier, plus I will have some interesting fabrics at the end. If nothing else I will do huge tie-dyes and screenprint onto them. Ha!
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