Exhibition Text
Title: Hidden Peace
Medium: Ink on paper Size:16cm x 23cm October 30, 2015 This is a piece I created using ink on paper. The dry point and block print are related themes. My intention with this piece is to also to send a massage about my religion as I did with the block print. The different between the two is that my dry point focus on a controversial topic about Islam, where as the block print wasn't so controversial. I was inspired by German expressionism again and german expressionist were known for having dark meaning behind their work. So I decided to do the piece sign with a crescent moon and star but the hand is in skeleton form because the skeleton is the hidden part of our hand. |
Process
Overall the dry point was a simple project, however coming up with an idea of what to do was the difficult part. I had many ideas about what I wanted to do but known of them was satisfying, so it took me a while to come up with an idea that I really liked. Also the transferring part was difficult for me because my hand kept shaking so I messed up a couple of curves on the print. The transferring was nothing compared to how many times I messed up the print, I tried multiple times and it still looked weird. Even my perfect print isn't so perfect after all.
Planning Sketch#1This was the first planning sketch that I did after I got inspired. As you can tell I was trying to have a meaning and send a massage. However I felt that it was too simple and plain. It didn't capture my attention and it was just ugly to me.
|
Planning sketch#2This was a planning sketch that I really enjoyed doing because it was beautiful. I also thought that it sent my massage perfectly. However I felt that it was too much going on all at once and that would take away from the meaning of the work.
|
Planning sketch#3As you can tell this was the planning sketch that I went with. I liked that it was meaningful and beautiful. It was also simple but not too simple and I just really like how it looks.
|
Two of many trials
This was by far my worst print because the
visibility was horrible. It didn't come out the way I wanted it. It's really hard to see and some parts are much darker than other parts. This was my 4th trial and at this point I wanted to give up but of course I had to keep going. |
I did this one after the 4th one and as you can see its just as bad, if not worse. This one though was much darker and more visible compared to the 4th print. Sadly the background was messed up because the ink smeared on the back. some parts were not very visible and some parts were too dark.
|
Meaning of Piece
Like I've mentioned before the meaning of my dry point is similar to that of the block print because they are related themes. Even though their similar with their symbols, the two pieces have some difference as well. My dry point focuses on how the media betrays Islam. Most people see Islam as a religion that promotes violence but in reality, if people took the time to learn about the religion they'll learn that it's actually a religion of piece and love. The people who are committing the crimes are not considered Muslims in the eyes of other Muslims, we see them as enemies of Islam because they brought violence into our religion. So I made the peace sign hand a skeleton because the bones are hidden under the skin and I wanted to show that underneath all the media's and terror groups portrayal of Islam, Islams teaching are very different. I also wanted to educate people about Islam because they don't know much about it. I know that there are a lot of open minded people who are willing to educate themselves about Islam and I want to be there for those people who want to learn before they judge. So I thought if I teach people a few things about Islam maybe their idea of the religion will change.
Artistic Inspiration
Picking an inspiration for my dry point was fairly easy because of the block print. Since I wanted to keep the same theme, I decided that German expressionism was going to be my artistic inspiration for the dry point as well. In my block print I chose to do German expressionism because of the technique it uses but I picked German expressionism for my dry point for a different reason. I wanted my dry point to focus on the meaning instead of it's visuals. German expressionism is known for having a dark meaning and the art mainly represents a controversial time in Germany, so I wanted to also send a message that was sensitive to talk about. The sensitive topic I'm talking about Islam and violence. Do to groups like ISIS and other small terrorist acts Muslims are now known as violent group of people. In reality though its completely different. If people get to learn more about Islam and it's teachings, I don't think they would have the same idea about my religion. German expressionist expressed their feelings towards war during WWI and they showed the sadness they felt through there color selection and shapes. I tried to do that with my piece. I was especially inspired by the Die brucke era in German expressionism.
|
DIE BRUCKE." Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.unaislaclubrecords.com.ar/die-brucke-die-brucke/>.
"Post-WWI German Expressionism:." Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.mariabuszek.com/kcai/Expressionism/Postwar_Expressionism.htm>.
|