- Affection
a feeling of fondness or tenderness for a person or thing; attachment.
Smoke painting which showcases two faint and soft lines caressing each other in a display of concern; A silent question “are you alright?”, or a comforting “It will be okay.” can be conveyed fondly through a single touch.
Smoke painting by burning hemp string in an aluminium holder.
Tried burning two twine at once but it is terribly hard to control and marks the paper really excessively.
Tried burning yarn instead but it burns out after 2 seconds, oops.
Tried using twine instead but it does not produce much smoke, only resulting in such brown dots.
Alas, my attempt using ribbon only caused it to shrivel at the end pathetically.
So I stuck to hemp and tried out on a bunch before finally deciding on one.
2. Lust
a strong and intense desire or drive; often sexual.
This is created using black paint dripped onto white glue and swirled using a needle before it dries. The intense desire of lust can be seen through the graceful lines coming out from the large dark mark on the left and flowing to the right, as though the black patch on the right is seducing that of the left. The black “debris” around that makes the print murky represents the dirtiness of the morally dubious sin, lust.
3. Longing
to have an earnest or strong desire or craving; yearn.
Long, white pen lines stretching across the paper to branch out as fingers trying to grab the object of desire. On the left, steep curves towards the middle horizontal line shows the forcefulness of yearning, as exaggerated by the scrunch near the middle of the strip. In this context, the background is black to show the intense desire for light/hope(white orb) among the darkness.
4. Cheerfulness
hearty; pleasant; bright.
Bubble painting is used for the background to represent joy. In the foreground, circle vectors drawn in pen with varying sizes simulate movement from left to right, as well as a “pounding” motion within the circles itself. This creates a lively and happy outlook.
Bubble painting using soap, black acrylic paint, water and a straw.
However, excessive soap water overflowing from cup wets the paper and diminishes the painting, resulting in the above after drying. In the second attempt, spillage of liquid is avoided and less water is added to the solution.
5. Zest
liveliness or energy; animating spirit.
Marks etched from the back of the brush and rolled over with ink creates the look of bright sparks in darkness, giving joy and life to the work. Bold white triangles are painted outwards from a point to mimic explosions of fireworks, further expressing big movements and enthusiasm.
Etching and rolling of ink. In the actual piece, harder etches were made for a bolder mark.
6. Contentment
satisfaction; ease of mind.
Gentle water colour hills fading into the horizon represents calmness and peace. The added negative semi-circle on the left(sun) indicates fulfillment through “a day of work is completed”, adding a sense of warmth and satisfaction.
7. Enthrallment
to captivate or charm.
Black paint is swirled in small circles repetitively using a needle amongst white paint to create a piece that captivates the audience with its details. Tonal difference in black also adds depth to the graceful marbling.
The difference between marbling black paint among white paint and glue is that that of white paint stays at its position during drying whereas that of glue changes on its own, resulting in a different product from its wet version.
8. Surprise
to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness.
Ink is blown with a straw to create explosions, amplified with the growing sizes of circle encompassing it, to represent a sudden and unexpected blow.
Explosion marks are best uniformly distributed when the straw used to blow is perpendicular to the plane.
9. Irritation
to impatience or anger; annoy.
Ink printed using corn husks, making straight, parallel marks that imitates nail scratches, as how one would deal with an itch. The dis-coordinated placement of the scratches and the excessive layers shows the impatience and annoyance of the creator.
10. Exasperation
the feeling of being annoyed, especially because you can do nothing to solve a problem
Snap painting with rubber band wrapped around the canvas, painting water colour on it, pulling it taut and letting go onto the strip. The forceful snapping action demonstrates the frustrations of the creator onto paper, as emphasised by its repetition. Further sprinkling of water onto several places to bleed the paint reveal a tinge of hopelessness, re-enacting the result if tears were to fall on it instead.
Snap painting was a lot more messier and noisier than it seems. If I weren’t exasperated before doing this, I definitely am during this creation.
11. Rage
violence of feeling, angry fury.
Ink marks made by using corn husk to whack the paper mercilessly, displaying anger through curved lines which are mostly made by the end of whips. The suggestion of this violent action hints the aggressive emotional state of its creator.
100% would recommend for anger relief.
12. Disgust
a strong distaste; nausea; loathing.
Glue gun recreates excessively dripping slime overflowing the strip. As goo has a unnaturally sticky and smooth texture, it is often seen as gross. More connecting strings and holes are made by pushing the hot end of the glue gun into dried glue to further repulse the viewer via odd textures.
Other styles of glue gun I have tried:
- Streched goo
- Stringy goo, painted in black
Ultimately, dripping slime triumphs due to the dribbling motion, which is more revolting than stagnancy. Moreover, the trapped air bubbles in the final work also threatens to explode in your face, making it a strong aversion.
13. Torment
to afflict with great bodily or mental suffering; pain
Dripping water colour background imitates blood, which is produced during physical torture, as indicated by sharp cuts with an art knife. Faces of agony are painted in the background to express the immense pain inflicted.
14. Sadness
affected by unhappiness or grief; sorrowful or mournful.
A painted silhouette of a single person in the rain, as hinted through wet water colour shadows, among the other passerbys creates a feeling of loneliness. Since the rain is directed onto only oneself, it deepens the sense of misery because one is to bear all the grief alone.
15. Shame
the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable,improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.
The feeling of guilt upon breaking something by accident, as shown by the cracked shards monoprint using eggshells. Alternatively, it can also show the perception of one seeing oneself as broken or incomplete, and hence should be ashamed for it.
16. Neglect
to pay no attention or too little attention to; disregard or slight.
Vertical pen lines of varying proximity and angles to show something forgotten at a unnoticeable corner. The thick marker lines on the left guides the viewers’ eyes away from the object, of which replicates the act of ignoring and disregarding the insignificant void. No greys are introduced in order for the orb to blend into the background of black and whites.
17. Horror
an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear.
A dark patchy background using a roller, over scratches etched by a palette knife gives a sense of foreboding. The scratches, accompanied by vignetted edges, imitates that of olden black and white videos, which is usually associated with terror. Vertical marks using a palette knife and paint exudes a feeling of dread, while splotchy patches imitates blood splatter, making the viewers feel uneasy and hence, afraid.
18. Nervousness
highly excitable; unnaturally or acutely uneasy or apprehensive.
Corn rolled in ink imitates the uneasy rhythmic tapping of fingers of an anxious person waiting. The bottom stub of the corn is stamped haphazardly to further disturb the equilibrium, making the viewer unsettled and jittery.
All in all, this project have really taught me the difference between reality and expectations. I have switched several methods I have researched and planned on using among the emotions, as they are more suited for something else. Hence, I have learnt to be more flexible and adapt to different situations. I have also explored many techniques, as well as variation of a single techniques, which widened my knowledge bank and experiences for future use. It is quite fun to try out different expressions of an emotions through trial and error of compositions and space. This project really have stretched my creativity and I have learnt to better appreciate abstract art.
P.S. Corn husks are surprisingly useful in mark makings.
