Reference Artists :

Surrealism was a major inspiration in this project as I wanted to incorporate aspects of Rene Magritte’s surrealistic works. He played heavily with scale and isolation of subjects and the use of backgrounds to convey a sense of ‘silence’ within the work and I felt that Magritte was able to use warm and cool colours effectively to bring out the mood in his paintings.

 

 

Amy Williams was my inspiration for paper cutting since my paper cuts focused on intricate details of nature and animals. Her work shows great attention to detail and allows the colour of the paper itself to create the shape of the subject. I thought paper cutting would effectively bring out colour theory in this project as the background colour of the paper cuts and the colour of the paper cut itself would be able to work together for colour harmony.

 

 

 

Medium

I wanted to use traditional mediums in every composition as I really feel like since this project was about me I wanted to showcase my hand-made styles as I felt it would contribute to the flow of the simple narrative each equation had.

Techniques

Paper cutting allowed me convey the ideas behind each composition more effectively as having an entirely different plane allowed me to bring in other subjects into the concept and to allow the 2D plane to interact with the 3D dimension.

 

Overall Concept

I really wanted to incorporate nature and the use of papercuts as a representation of ‘nature’ since paper comes from tree and I feel like being vegetarian with an appreciation for nature I could take different aspects of nature to portray who I am ( Like that of a horoscope). I also wanted to utilise colours of nature (Cool colours exuding serenity while warm colours exude a sense of tension and danger). I wanted to also step out of the usual 2D and experiment with different mediums to strengthen the idea I wanted to convey using interactive media and also shadows. I also wanted the colours to start out vibrant at the top and as it approaches the bottom it becomes more muted to show how the vibrancy is only a façade and that I want to be able to appreciate my reality behind the colours.

 

 

Confident + Vulnerable = Me

 

Concept

I feel that I am a confident person but sometimes it is not natural but it comes from a place of hurt. Sometimes I hide my true firestorm of emotions underneath my exterior so as to portray an emotionally strong character. As a result of the walls I have built, I selectively show different facets of me and I could appear vibrant and open but on the other hand I could also be emotionless and closed off.

 

 

Confident

I chose to use the peacock as a symbol of confidence as the saying goes ‘As proud as a peacock’. I also realised that the peacock feathers resembled eyes and I was so excited I wanted to show duality in emotions by using 2 planes. Peacocks also have naturally cool colours and I wanted to enhance the idea of serenity and calmness by lightening the cool colours. I used papercutting in this as I wanted to show a plane within a plane. Where within the peacock feather held a different plane of my emotions which is not apparent but when viewed up close and when physically interacted with(Representation of when people interact with me I tend to open up and show my true emotions). I used warm colours below the cool colours with my eyes in warm colours to create a contrast between the exterior and the interior, showing that confidence to me may not be a sign of strength but instead, a projection of weakness. The use of papercuts coming out of the 20cmx20cm dimensions was to show how stronger/intense emotions tend to be harder to cover-up and that the larger(more intense) the emotions I feel inside me, the more confidence I have to exude to cover up.

 

Vulnerable

I wanted to show vulnerability of me as I feel like harsh words may not get to me now, but this strength was built up through years of insecurities that I’ve managed to overcome. I am vulnerable in the sense that I tend to sacrifice myself for the people I care about but they are the exact people who would hurt me the most. I used a warm red colour to create a sense of danger and being that it is the colour of blood, also a symbol of critical condition. The lamb (a sacrificial animal) is used to show how I sacrifice but the vultures(a representation of demons around me) jusst picking off at the meat tillI lose sight of myself and that is when I could differentiate between good and bad(Like the story of Adam and Eve when their eyes opened to good and evil) and thus I wanted to show the loss of my innocence and ‘beauty’( the sense of beauty within me) through the use of white floral papercuts. I used the vulture papercut reliefs to show that they are actually on a different plane than I am and the only way they can penetrate me is if I allow them to break down my walls and actually enter into my mind (into the plane).

 

Me (Multi-Faceted)

Because of the walls I have built up to cover up my vulnerability and the confidence I exude to protect my true emotions, I have many facades to me which I may or may not choose to reveal to people. The use of angular paintings where the left shows a vibrant face while the right shows a monochrome (Black and White) exterior depends on interaction with me. Once again I wanted to create an interactive piece that allowed the viewers to be a part of the work as their interaction with the work causes it to change (Showing how I change when different people interact with me). Although I may show a confident front (Represented by the lion), upon closer inspection you coul see that the confident exterior is actually made out of holes (Holes within me) and that looking beyond the holes shows meat. (I did a grayscale meat texture as the background for the papercut) to show that my confidence is created by holes and underneath I am vulnerable upon closer inspection. I used all colours of the colour wheel on the vibrant side as the colours combine form white which to me conveys a sense of openness and purity (Being real) while the other side shows an emotionless B&W façade that is almost unapproachable.

 

Optimistic – Insecure = Me (Getting out of limbo)

 

Concept :

I feel like I am a very optimistic yet insecure person who could really excel if I lacked insecurities. Being optimistic, I tend to look out for the best and the positive aspects of everything but yet if I felt insecure it would only stop me from achieving the best results I could achieve. Therefore I wish to eliminate insecurities so as to be able to break down the barrier that seems to prevent me from achieving my goals and being stuck in limbo.

 

Optimistic

I used the rose to show my optimism as I really see life as a bed of roses eventhough there are hardships, why worry about what you can’t change but worry about what you can. I wanted to use scale to blow up the rose to engulf most of the composition to show the magnitude of positivy. The black papercuts around the rose show the thorns and holes within life (representing the hardships that we all go through) but even beyond that I see cool colours of the sky (representing peace and serenity) as the saying goes ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. By using the complementary colour scheme I chose red and cyan to complement each other as their vibrant contrast against the negative thorns overshadow the dark negative aspects of life.

 

Insecure

I once again used roses to show how sometimes I feel others around me have a more vibrant life while I am stuck in a shell, insecure and unwilling to open up and reveal my colours. Every rose was given a split complimentary colour scheme and done in colour pencil to show the harmony of the lives of others and I used papercut butterflies to represent how I see some people as beautiful and evolved while I am still stuck in a cacoon stage. However, if one were to actually interact with me and try to bring me out of my shell, then I may actually have a chance of being like the rest of the butterflies and to embrace the colours I hide underneath. Once again I used the colours of the colour wheel to create a vibrant exterior to the cacoon -> Butterfly.

 

 

A Better Me (Getting out of Limbo)

I feel I could only be better if I am able to break down the barriers which prevent me from achieving my goals. Because of my insecurities I have built up a wall which prevents me to get to ‘the other side’ and it is only when someone is able to shine a light on me then I am be able to project my paradise. I used a transparent acrylic sheet to etch out floral patterns so that when light is shone on it, it would cast a shadow which also brings out the shadows of the ‘stuck’ butterflies and weeds that cannot go past the barrier. The light represents an enlightenment of self and that can be achieved through external help (Light source). I used a black and white colour scheme as I see ‘A Better Me’ as a projection and I wanted to keep it simple and I felt that leaving the paper and papercuts white with the black shadows conveyed this idea the best.

 

 

Introvert x Exrovert (Aggression) = An Ideal Me

 

Concept

I feel like the multiplication sign actually symbolises a balance between two entities and that one has to compliment the other. Thus, I decided to choose two characteristics which I am trying to balance in my life which is to balance my introversion and aggressiveness. I feel like I need to be more aggressive to fight for what I really want but at the same time I would also want to be able to appreciate the traits of an introvert of being able to observe and listen and not just charge ahead like a brainless zombie. I decided to apply strong colour theory contrast in this work and I felt like this equation best utilised the colour theory for me in terms of flow in the equation and this equation focued mainly on complementary colours. I also wanted to show how different colours (opposite colours) when applied would allow the viewer’s eyes to create a whole new perception of the same subject(papercut) that they see.

 

Introvert

I used the mouse as a symbolic representation of the quiet side of me where I would just want to stay behind the warm winds(Orange papercut). The mouse is also placed in a fishbowl as I feel like sometimes I am in my own world and I would rather drown in my thoughts than participate in what is going on outside of my mind. I used cool light blue colours for the mouse hiding behindthe warm winds and I wanted the bright orange to dominate the entire composition and used the complementary colour theory of blue and orange to show how the warm colour (representing heaviness and hardships) overwhelms the introvert (the cool blue mouse in the fishbowl).

 

Extrovert(Aggressive)

I would like to be more aggressive in what I want to achieve in whatever I do and I thought the shark best represented this. I wanted to show the shark breaking out of the flow (literally) and actually coming out of the currents and not actually just going with the crowd(represented by the fishes swimming in the same direction underneath the blue papercuts). In this composition the cool blue colour dominates the entire composition as the orange aggressive shark attempts to break free from the flow. The flow represents my unwillingness to change and to just go with the flow of life while the shark represents the side of me that feels I should actually fight harder for better results. The lack of fins for the shark also represents how my attempts to break out of the water is futile as I haven’t gained the ability to break out yet. Using the cool blue colours on the same papercuts as that in ‘Introvert’, I wanted to show how it transforms the papercuts from a strong warm wind to a cool blue tide, both opposing elements in nature.

 

 

An Ideal Me

The ideal me would see the balance of both introversion and aggressiveness and I used the toned down shades of the lion to represent the aggressive side of me. Now not as contrasting, I wanted to give varous shades of warm and cool colours to show a diffusion of contrast and how both characteristics actually reach a consensus. I used blue tinted flowers drawn with colour pencils to show that there is beauty in both remaining cool and calm and yet also be able to hear and observe and to think before I speak or act impulsively (shown by the covering of the lion’s mouth and only showing the ear and the eye). I wanted to show a sense of harmony with both the warm and cool colours balancing and not actually have one of either to dominate the entire composition.

 

 

Maturity + Embracing Flaws = Me in 5 Years

Concept

I would like to both mature in terms of knowledge and age and also embrace my flaws and to see that not all of my so-called flaws are actually flaws but are just perception in my own mind. If I am able to combine my maturity and to embrace my flaws and see them as beautiful, I would really be able to reach a ‘Me’ where I could truly appreciate me for me and I feel that once a person is able to love themselves, there is really no stopping them at achieving the best results in whatever they do.

 

Maturity

I used the sea turtle as a representation of maturity as it is an animal which could live to 150years and combined it with the sillouette of a tree (tree of knowledge). I decide to keep it monochromatic in grayscale to show how maturity in me is able to find a balance between light and darkness. The contrast of white (purity) against the black (darkness) and shades of gray(tainted innocence) show how I am able to block out the darkness yet still maintain shades of grey and be aware of its presence.

 

Embracing Flaws

 

I wanted to show how I am abe to embrace my flaws through a halftone composition of my face with overlaying papercuts of split complementary colours to show harmony. I chose to use red,blue and orange as the split complementary colours throughout to depict myself as a blooming flower and the black and white (showing the fading of identity and being trapped in black and white) contrasted against the harmonious vibrant colours show how I want to be able to see colours (beauty) even in my black&white(flaws). The floral papercut was really hard to do because I wanted to cut many small details and I used cloth for the floral collar and inked it with copic markers to give a sort of blooming effect that reall jumps out of the frame.

 

 

Me in 5 Years

This coposition is basically a summary of the rest of the equations and I wanted to overarching topic to be embracing myself and to learn and grw. I see the me in 5 years as someone who would be able to get past his fears and embrace himself fully. I wanted to show duality in the current me compared to the me in 5 years as one side showed a butterfly with split complementary colours of blue,red and green to show harmony but when I am putting up a harmonious exterior when if it’s not genuine, it would slowly melt away and create holes within me. I used wax to create a melting effect( wax being a medium which is easily destroyed by small heat) to show how fragile is the façade that I put up. The holes in the butterflies were created by burning using matchsticks to create the burnt hole effect. On the other side, the monochromatic papercut butterfly has different elements of the entire presentation such as the peacock feathers and the lion head to show how I don’t want people to see all the facades that I put up and the monochromatic colours placed upon the ‘vibrant’ coloured holes within the papercut actually draws the viewers eyes towards the holes instead of the facades that I put up. I want people to see me as a whole, flaws and all, and to actually see vibrancy in my flaws.

 

 

 

 

 

Other Ideas

Some ideas which did not come to fruition include the more elaborate use of shadows. Time was a problem as I kept piling up concepts on top of concepts and did not consider the time required to execute it. I wanted to play with shadows more to create apparitions from mundane objects.

 

 

 

What I enjoyed the most

Being able to indulge in papercutting is one of the most calming processes as it allows me to listen to music while just going about with my work. Almost like a dance actually. Although it’s really annoying sometimes when a thin line breaks unexpectedly or when I accidentally cut myself or when I cut a wrong hole, I feel like producing these intricate details really help with training my eyes. Compared to the other mods I feel like this is the most conceptual and it really pushes me to combine aesthetics and concept which I feel goes hand in hand in every artwork.

 

Problems I have faced

The biggest problems in 2D or actually anything art related is that I always feel like I require a strong concept before I start executing. My problem is that I don’t want to waste time working on something which I feel is weak aesthetically or conceptually since what actually drives me to work is to reach a final product that I can actually love. So time management was an issue for me as I’m always like thinking of how to improve a concept but not executing it and in the end I might have a strong idea but with lack of time to execute (Such as playing with shadows as I wanted to incorporate more shadows and light into the work.

 

 

Advice

Joy said that in future projects I should also dwelve deeper into the medium I use such as not just using paper but consider natural papers vs synthetic papers and the textures and how I can manipulate that to convey what I intend to convey.

 

 

Overall I really really enjoyed 2D so much this semester. Thank you Joy for pushing all of us with our own styles and allowing us to develop and grow as individuals!