A jar of ink

After an in depth discussion of the reference artists, i took to understanding that emotions are mainly the vessels at which artists sought out in art, such as Jackson Pollock who painted his feelings directly from his mind (through his kinetic motions) into drips of paint.

Artists also used spontaneity to create a dynamic composition, like how Cai Guo Qiang does, crafting works that are almost impossible to recreate due to the unlikely probability of repeated action.

There are also artists who weigh the balance between emotions and spirituality, such as Hilma Klint, who expressed her worship while paralleling to her own emotions in her work.

With reference to these artists, of course with a pinch of salt, i embarked on a journey of exploration with ink. In my perspective, humanity’s spirituality or mysticism from early ages have always been greatly linked to the emotions of a deitified being (God from whichever religion). For example, a forest fire or lightning storm has always been associated with anger while a river of clear water or light gale by the sea has been an insignia of peace and tranquility. I would want to use this mystic school of thought to experiment with the lines, since the primordial aspect of collecting naturally textured items and spontaneity of paint splatters brings art back to its raw form- i would want to associate my 6 emotions with 6 different elements of mysticism elements.

Ice/Sadness

In this task of investigating Sadness, i am trying to convey the idea of withdrawn isolation as a literal and poetic cold shoulder, forming the artwork’s characteristics as traits i see in Ice. I am trying to portray the sharpness of ice, as well as the glacier’s infinite facades that are very diamond-esque. The first photograph shows a spontaneous attempt using a 30 cm ruler to mark out strong sharp lines congregating in the centre, like a  snowflake. The 2nd photograph is slight more controlled, with a smaller number of long lines flaked with smaller cuts around.  In both attempts, the paper is folded prior to create a background of receding lines. I would also experiment with more paper quality to bring out the sharpness, e.g. sandpaper.

Fire/Fear

In the task of investigating Fear, I wanted to explore the idea of fearing the unknown, thus i drew inspiration from the idea of smoke created by fire- elements greatly inspired by Cai Guo Qiang. I layered patches of ink made by fluffs of tissue, attempting to layer it into a cloud of smoke, concentrating in the middle. However due to time limitations, i was not able to bring out the depth of the smoke.

Electricity/Love

The last of this post, i am trying to convey the idea of Love. In my understanding, it would be intense and paralyzing, supposedly electrifying- as literal as it sounds. I took a wire brush and dipped it in paint, attempting to create a few spirals of magnetic waves undulating around the corners, forming a  dynamic composition of short lines travelling together. The top photograph was an attempt for stronger and heavier strokes, while the bottom photograph was tasked to be more clean cut and curvier.