Final drawings and Thoughts

I totally was caught in the moment of summer break, the thick of it really and forgot to update. I definitely plan to keep updating with my summer adventures in Chicago, San Francisco, L.A and wherever else I end up (who knows anymore!). This is one of my drawings from my final project. I worked endlessly on it, and I didn't get a chance to really express this in my final critique. It's just like me to work really hard on something and yet not give myself credit for it, even if no one else does. The drawing above is special because it reminds me of Lily's painting of Mrs. Ramsay in the novel To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Like Lily, I too was lost and confused by the beginnings of the drawing and believed it would not come together as I had envisioned. I was equally confused about why I had come to SVA and what I was doing with my life. By the end of my final project, everything has been clarified and I feel enlightened in a way. Sure, there are things that I hate about SVA but there are also things that I really love. I have learned so much about myself, being a young aspiring artist. I still am not sure if SVA is really for me, but I have really enjoyed some of the classes I have taken in my foundation year and that in itself is a lot. Drawing class, in particular, has really challenged me to explore, experiment and be inventive; the foundation of any successful artist. I did not come into class with that frame of mind but now this is something that I always think about when I begin a drawing. I can look at any surface now and not feel threatened to draw on it and call it a drawing. I have also become more excited about creating and have a newfound urge to create all the time. When I got back to Chicago the other day I wanted to, not catch up on sleep, but actually draw! It's a weird but liberating feeling. I now plan to begin a stop motion animation project for the summer. I am really excited about it and I think it will wrap up where I began and ended this year. The piece will begin as a bare room that slowly begins to develop furniture, patterns and architectural details. In a way, it will be metaphorical for how I have developed within my first year of college as a young artist. And as Spongebob says, I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready......

There was a whole collection of the Louis Vuitton handbags and luggage at the show. There was this one very large, duffel like purse that stood out. It had really small side handles that didn't look like they reached to the top of the bag and I wondered if the bag could even be held by the handles. So I asked one of the security guards (although I was not really sure what he was due to his white suit and Luis Vuitton bow tie). He said that the handles did reach to the top and that you couldn't tell from looking at it behind the glass case. I desperately wanted him to open up the case and show me, then I would run off with the bag and sell it for a ton of money. Then I would buy Da Vinci art supply and make amazing art and have an even bigger and better show than Murakami. But....I didn't. Darn!

Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum

So I recently went to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Murakami show. I liked it surprisingly. It must have been the bright modern colors that did it. I have never been a fan of anime or of Louis Vuitton either. It's my own personal taste. I could put that aside though and really appreciate some of the pieces. Walking into the first room with a large installation of an anime figure suspended from the ceiling and louis vuitton monograms on large panals, I instantly thought of pop art and Andy Warhol. But everything was so pristinely executed that I also felt a particular fine art aesthetic. There was a point of view that was more than commercialism. Certain rooms made me feel like a child and others were anything but childlike. Everything was executed carefully and considerably. I liked that, the care and attention to detail. Then I thought of Elsworth Kelly and how there is a painstaking attention to detail in his solid color panels. I also really enjoyed the wallpaper patterns. The show went on forever covering, if I can remeber correctly, three floors! It was really overall a must-see in my opinion. 

Karen at the Whitney Biennial

So I went to the Whitney Biennial this weekend and was thoroughly disappointed. I certainly expected to be, considering all of the bad things I have heard from hearsay. I wanted to see for myself. I have no idea where the future for art is going. There were a few pieces that I liked, but the rest were lackluster for me unfortunately. If I had any doubts about being an artist before, this is just the icing on the cake. I did see a few paintings by my newly found favorite artist Karen Kilimnik. This was one of the paintings which I nearly drooled over. I wanted so badly to take pictures but the guard just eyed me with disapproval, so I didn't. I had to find this picture online which doesn't do the painting justice at all but it'll have to do for now.

A drawing I did over spring break. A bit obsessive... I know.