The Masks of Mother Nature
Concept: beauty and destruction of nature
Medium: mixed media: Plaster Cast, paper, plastic, wood
Dimensions: 10”x8”, 10”x6”, 10”x20” respectively
About: Embracing the beauty of nature, but destroying it and not preserving it. Paper, plastic, and wood are 3 forms of man manipulated nature. The left is paper, center is plastic, and right is wood. I also used the mediums to give personality to all of them. More info on individual pieces if you look at other pics.
There's a progression through the pieces. Like a play reflecting on mankind and nature.
Mask 1: Paper. When I think of paper, I think of blank whiteness. No personality until you art on it. When creating this mask I kept an expressionless face. I leave her white for the blankness of paper. The colors splashing on the white surface give her personality. The blue trailing down her eye gives her emotion. The paper flowers help connect her with the nature theme. This mask's emotion reminds us of how we are hurting nature and that it can do nothing about it. A brave blank face.
Mask 2: Plastic When I think of plastic, I think of falseness and verisimilitude. Seeming one thing, but being another. I painted the face to look like wood. Looks like wood, but isn't. I used plastic orchids for the decor. Specifically chose a pale pink to contrast against both dark wood and white hands. The hands are growing plastic. Man growing man manipulated nature.
Mask 3: Wood When I think of wood I think of animals. Little woodland creatures frolicking in the woods. This is a deer human. Using branches as the antlers. I originally wanted the hands to sprout as the antlers extending the antlers, but it looked too hilarious in my concept drawings. This works better. The hands gently caress the dead branches. The final stage of the progression. Where we realize our destruction and try to reunite with nature.
Fun Fact: When you draw your eyelashes on your skin they are called twiggies. Although they are named after the fashion model Twiggy, I thought it'd be pretty and cute to add them since twigs are like branches.
Medium: mixed media: Plaster Cast, paper, plastic, wood
Dimensions: 10”x8”, 10”x6”, 10”x20” respectively
About: Embracing the beauty of nature, but destroying it and not preserving it. Paper, plastic, and wood are 3 forms of man manipulated nature. The left is paper, center is plastic, and right is wood. I also used the mediums to give personality to all of them. More info on individual pieces if you look at other pics.
There's a progression through the pieces. Like a play reflecting on mankind and nature.
Mask 1: Paper. When I think of paper, I think of blank whiteness. No personality until you art on it. When creating this mask I kept an expressionless face. I leave her white for the blankness of paper. The colors splashing on the white surface give her personality. The blue trailing down her eye gives her emotion. The paper flowers help connect her with the nature theme. This mask's emotion reminds us of how we are hurting nature and that it can do nothing about it. A brave blank face.
Mask 2: Plastic When I think of plastic, I think of falseness and verisimilitude. Seeming one thing, but being another. I painted the face to look like wood. Looks like wood, but isn't. I used plastic orchids for the decor. Specifically chose a pale pink to contrast against both dark wood and white hands. The hands are growing plastic. Man growing man manipulated nature.
Mask 3: Wood When I think of wood I think of animals. Little woodland creatures frolicking in the woods. This is a deer human. Using branches as the antlers. I originally wanted the hands to sprout as the antlers extending the antlers, but it looked too hilarious in my concept drawings. This works better. The hands gently caress the dead branches. The final stage of the progression. Where we realize our destruction and try to reunite with nature.
Fun Fact: When you draw your eyelashes on your skin they are called twiggies. Although they are named after the fashion model Twiggy, I thought it'd be pretty and cute to add them since twigs are like branches.
Paper Swan
CONCEPT: GOLDEN VENTURE FOLDING
MEDIUM: PAPER
DIMENSIONS: 4 X 6 INCHES
About: The Golden Venture was a cargo ship that attempted to smuggle 286 undocumented Chinese immigrants to America. The immigrants had paid $40,000 each to board the ship, but unfortunately for them they were taken into custody by immigration services (they were sent to prison basically). Inmates are not given much in prisons, in this case the immigrants were only given paper to amuse themselves. During their incarceration the immigrants developed the paper folding technique Golden Venture Folding. They would take small pieces of paper, fold them into triangles, and stack them to form sculptures like dragons, owls, and swans. The history of Golden Venture Folding reminded me of a workshop based on the Prison Industrial Complex I participated in where we were given paper and tape to create a work of art. My experience was very upsetting as my work resembled a pile of crumpled trash and it reminded me of the limited resources inmates are left with. Seeing the works of the incarcerated immigrants was shocking. Who knew that paper could create such elegant and beautiful sculptures? Golden Venture Folding inspired me to try again. The history of Golden Venture Folding also interested me greatly because growing up Chinese in America, I was not taught much about my culture in school. Which is understandable, but I knew absolutely nothing other than the few traditions and language. It also did not help that my parents would never talk about their home country or their journey to America. Learning about this technique gave me an opportunity to connect with my roots by creating a piece using a practice that my culture invented.
MEDIUM: PAPER
DIMENSIONS: 4 X 6 INCHES
About: The Golden Venture was a cargo ship that attempted to smuggle 286 undocumented Chinese immigrants to America. The immigrants had paid $40,000 each to board the ship, but unfortunately for them they were taken into custody by immigration services (they were sent to prison basically). Inmates are not given much in prisons, in this case the immigrants were only given paper to amuse themselves. During their incarceration the immigrants developed the paper folding technique Golden Venture Folding. They would take small pieces of paper, fold them into triangles, and stack them to form sculptures like dragons, owls, and swans. The history of Golden Venture Folding reminded me of a workshop based on the Prison Industrial Complex I participated in where we were given paper and tape to create a work of art. My experience was very upsetting as my work resembled a pile of crumpled trash and it reminded me of the limited resources inmates are left with. Seeing the works of the incarcerated immigrants was shocking. Who knew that paper could create such elegant and beautiful sculptures? Golden Venture Folding inspired me to try again. The history of Golden Venture Folding also interested me greatly because growing up Chinese in America, I was not taught much about my culture in school. Which is understandable, but I knew absolutely nothing other than the few traditions and language. It also did not help that my parents would never talk about their home country or their journey to America. Learning about this technique gave me an opportunity to connect with my roots by creating a piece using a practice that my culture invented.
Tip Box
CONCEPT: A FUNCTIONAL AND ATTRACTIVE BOX
MEDIUM: WOOD
DIMENSIONS: 7 X 7 X 7 INCHES
MEDIUM: WOOD
DIMENSIONS: 7 X 7 X 7 INCHES