FINAL PROJECT
watercolor and ink on paper
Detail 1
Detail 2
Lydia Gosling
“8766”
"Personal identity seems like it's just such an American archetype, from Holly Golightly
reinventing herself in 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' to Jay Gatsby in 'The Great Gatsby.' It seems like
the sort of archetypal American issue. If you're given the freedom to be anything, or be anyone,
what do you do with it?" ~Chuck Palahniuk
Who are you? Why do we wear the faces of others, hiding behind clothes and false identities?Is it to hide our true natures or to become something that everyone else can easily accept? Are you
broken down into subgenres of race, music tastes, clothing brands, cars you drive, cigarette brandsyou smoke, the size of your televisions, and the flavor of water in your refrigerator? In today’s society
we can’t seem to shake all of these comparisons of material qualities; constantly being degraded for
personal choices such as tattoos, piercings, and the shoes on your feet. This piece shows the trueself,
escaping from the workings of an outershell, seeming to identify the feeling of knowing that your true
self is or has to be kept away from the public, making the viewer feel uneasiness, and reflect this subject
onto themselves; being forced to identify that the true self has to live under the skin for all of the 8,766
hours spent in a year. I chose to represent my true self as one that can be commonly seen in today’s
culture, showing tattoos that are relevant to nature, death, and spirituality, similar to my own tattoos that
are hidden for myself. The left arm illustrates the Virgin Mary as painted with Dia De Los Muertos
makeup, contrasting everlasting life with death. On the right hand I chose to use symbols that are very
relevant to my life: the index finger shows the Japanese sign for water (significant in meditation, being
able to take the shape of anything, and being the essence of life), the Zia symbol on the middle finger
showing where I’ve come from, the last two fingers make up one symbol in Sanskrit which means
“Namaste” (roughly meaning “I bow to the God within you”), and lastly the semi colon on the side of the
hand which is for a collective called The Semicolon Project based on helping people who battle with
depression, suicidal thoughts, selfinflicted wounds, or just need help. “Semicolons represent a sentence
the author chose not to end. You're the author, the sentence is your life.” This is my true self.
It's interesting that you turned this painting into a self portrait. I like all of the tiny intricate detail you've included in your painting. I think its the iris- that part of the eye is so beautiful! I love the texture. I enjoyed reading about the symbolism and what it means to you.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous of your talent and how realistic you can create things to appear. The iris is absolutely enticing as it's so well done and stunning to look at. I'm really glad that you darkened the skin tone so it wasn't so light in color and the tattoo was the main focus. Now, the image is seen as a whole instead of focusing on one aspect and I really think the final product turned out really well. The detail and close eye is quite remarkable. I as well really love the symbolism behind this and I can even relate a bit to it as well. This is such a beautiful piece, well done.
ReplyDeleteI found this piece to create a prospect that few think about but all live within. The detail shows the archytype you mentioned....detail within most aesthetic purpose can be very pleasing for most. The strong point for me is the detail but the piece itself is quite hard to read what you are writing. Now after the artist statement ... as always it makes complete sense. One thing that may have made this piece stronger for me was if it was a bit smaller and if there was more variation within the skin tone of the eye.
ReplyDeleteI love how real the eyes look on the tat! Most importantly I love your concept. I especially love the Virgin Mary, the never ending circle of life and death. its awesome, because even though i can only see one eye, I get a sense on uneasiness from that eye. This is a very meaningful painting I love it. I think the Virgin Mary eyes show how wonderfully you can handle watercolors. Those eyes are so life like, it would be nice to see that detail on the lower hand with the finger tats.
ReplyDeleteI did not expect this painting to turn into a self portrait, but it turned out really well and seems like a interesting contrast to your first self portrait. I think your meaning behind it is great and this is an idea that everyone can relate to, overall I think you were successful. The only thing that bothers me is that the top eye lashes are the same size/length as the bottom lashes, so it feels odd. I also wish there was just a bit more variation in the skin tone because it feels just a little flat. Great painting. :)
ReplyDeleteOverall I like this painting and the concept behind it. Technically I think the painting falls a bit flat, especially around the eye/the shadows of the eye. I think it would have also really helped your concept to show the" inner self" underneath the skin, at least partially. It would have really strengthened the dimensionality of the piece a lot. I do like how the detail focuses around the iris and the arms though. I think that developing the background more would help to really strengthen the inside coming out though. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI think this painting was effective in conveying the idea that self can be a surface concept based on physical features. Haha funny pun identity in an eye. In terms of technique the eyelashes should be longer and the shiny part of the eye seems a little flat. You might want to look at references of shiny eyes to see how that would technically look. There usually isn't just a completely white part without any other colors. Other than that though, I really like the way you hands and the pink part of the eyelids.
ReplyDeletePS: This is gouache not watercolor. :)
ReplyDeleteYour control of gouache is very good with it being a temperamental paint that requires some finagling. This painting shows off either your improvement on, or hidden ability to, render depth in frame that I haven't seen done so well all semester. Your color choice and perspective are both working towards that end. The content of the image shows a great deal about you as an artist and became more of a self portrait rather than a figure study.
ReplyDeleteWow your use of this medium blows me away. I love surrealism and you did a great job at embodying the ideas and your concepts come across strong. I want to say your shadows ate very strong and belivelable and you make something so un natural and uncomfortable look so normal. This, to me, is the coolest thing about surrealism and I think you nailed it. I think you made a strong statement and your idea was really brilliant
ReplyDeleteI think the concept was ok and execution was nice. I wish you would have used the figure more in the piece even though it turned out nice. color and detail add dimension overall good piece
ReplyDeletethis painting looks awesome! i know that you love eyes and tattoos and that totally comes across in this! seeing from where you were halfway to the finish of it it improved so much in contrast and believability!
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