Exhibition Text
Title: Hair not Brain
Size:61x91cm
Medium: Photography/ Digital manipulation
This picture is a combination of photography and Digital manipulation. I used photoshop to edit the picture into black and white plus I added the words using photoshop. I was heavily inspired by Barbara Kruger, who was famous for using her art to speak of female issues. I was inspired by her style and messag of her artwork. The reason I chose the to write " I cover my hair not my brain" was to mainly convey the message that muslim women are not dull. We choose how we dress and we are not stupid because we decided to follow our faith. We do not do this for anyone excpet for god.
Size:61x91cm
Medium: Photography/ Digital manipulation
This picture is a combination of photography and Digital manipulation. I used photoshop to edit the picture into black and white plus I added the words using photoshop. I was heavily inspired by Barbara Kruger, who was famous for using her art to speak of female issues. I was inspired by her style and messag of her artwork. The reason I chose the to write " I cover my hair not my brain" was to mainly convey the message that muslim women are not dull. We choose how we dress and we are not stupid because we decided to follow our faith. We do not do this for anyone excpet for god.
Process
When this year started I knew I wanted to do a Barbara Kruger inspired piece. I really love modern art and her artwork is unique. Ever since I learned about Kruger, I always wanted to make a piece that emulated her artwork. So from the begining I knew that I was going to do a photography/digital manipulation piece because those two mediums were commonly used by Krugar. We haven't really learned about photography in art class, so I asked my sister's friend to give me some lesson. My sister's friends Viki let me barrow her camera and she thought me about the basics of photography. She was really helpfull and I wouldn't have been able to do this proejct without her help. At first, my shots were crappy and blurry, but as I practiced I progressived. Of course viki was there to help but the picture I used was taken by me. I used a Canon Rebel EOS T1i with 50mm 1.8 lens to take this picture. The girl in the picture is my sister. After I got the shots I wanted, I went straight to photohop. I edited the pcitures to make them black and white then I add the letters. I edited more than one photo, and I made sure to put quotes that had a signficance to me.
I told my sister to pose to with a paryer pose because I wanted to make the project about reilgion, like all of my other proejcts. I have a theme and a purpose for my artwork and I wanted to continue this trend. I didn't pick this one because I don't like the quote that much. My mom always says this and I don't agree with the saying entirely.
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This is another one about prayer that I considered using for the project as a whole but again I didn't agree with it entirely and only used to it to show how much I disagree with this quote. The message didn't resanate with me and I wanted a quote or a saying that related to me as a person.
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As I was editing this photo on photoshop, I decided to make the hijab have a galexy like effect because I wanted the hijab to be the focus of the picture. I used the saying " my universe" because the hijab is my world. It's my identity and I wanted to let people know how much respect I have for women that aren't affraid to wear the hijab and be different.
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This is the picture and saying that I picked but I made a few changes before commiting to the photo. I looked up more of Kruger's work and I realized her font was slightly different than mine so I changed the font and made slight slant on the top of the font.
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Artist Inspiration
Barbara Kruger is best known for her silkscreen prints where she placed a direct and concise caption across the surface of a found photograph. Kruger's artwork captured my eyes as soon as I was introduced to her in sophmore year, and I wanted to do at least one of my project on her. Her artwork's witty captions and classic style is what truly inspired me to create this piece. Kruger attempts to sell an idea to her viewers insteda of a product, which makes her different and interesting. Kruger captures viewers idea by using bold letter and bright bakcgrounds of red/white/ and black. I want my viewers to look at my artwork and get an idea of what I'm trying to say. That's exaclty what Kruger does, she makes her viewer question and try to understand what she writes on her photos. Despite the fact that Kruger's style of artwork inspired me, the biggest thing that hooked me to her is her art's message. Her artwork " Your body is a battleground" is an art piece that was meant for a movement. She was protesting for women's rights to have the choice to do whatever they like with their bodies. I was truly inspiredd by this piece's message. Artistcly I was inspired by her font on " Your comfort is my silence". I liked how she used black and white on some of the font to make it pop.
Meaning
The meaning of my piece is pretty obviouse. People who aren't muslim or even ignorant muslims always have something to say about muslim women that wear the hijab. I understand I've talked about this issue multiple times before but it's a really important issue to me. People always think that I'm submissive and naive because I decided to wear the hijab. That is not true, I wear this on my head for only god and no one else. I'm not wearing this because my brother or father forced me to wear it but rather it is my own identity and freedom. Kruger's artwork "yoour body is a battleground" does really reflect on how people always have something to comment about how women should handle their bodies. I'm not gonna tell a girl that's wearing booty shorts and crop to put some cloth on because that's first rude and she can do whatever she wants to do with her body, It's not yours last time I checked. Muslim women feel the same way too, it's like we are constantly getting dress coded from the world. Tellings us we are stupid and that we should libarate oursleves from men. When in reality, men have no say in the way I dress. There are a lot of muslim girl who decide not to wear the hijab and they have every right to do that. However, as soon as I wear a hijab people suddenly think I'm commiting a sin. I created this piece to say that I'm not stupid, I'm covering my hair and not my brain. I know what I'm doing and I don't need anyone to tell me how to feel or think. I'm glad that Hijabs are becoming more acceptable and people are seeking to understand muslim women.
ACT Questions
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Kruger's style of artwork and messages have inspired me to create a piece that was focused on feminisim. She brought the idea to me.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My artist inspiration is very fond of feminist movement, she trys to fight for women equality through her artwork.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I learned that society is obsessed with women's body no matter if she is covered or naked. Either way women can't seem to wear whatever they want without being critized.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my research was feminism and women rights in general.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made while reading my research was that I have a passion for speaking out of issues that affect my life and others close to me.
Kruger's style of artwork and messages have inspired me to create a piece that was focused on feminisim. She brought the idea to me.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My artist inspiration is very fond of feminist movement, she trys to fight for women equality through her artwork.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I learned that society is obsessed with women's body no matter if she is covered or naked. Either way women can't seem to wear whatever they want without being critized.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my research was feminism and women rights in general.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made while reading my research was that I have a passion for speaking out of issues that affect my life and others close to me.
Reflection
Overall this project was fun and exciting to do, but of course there were some ups and downs. At first I had a hard time because I wasn't familiar with photoshop. However, as time went on, my photoshop skills got better and I used those skill to make my piece. When I first started though, I was stuck because I didn't know what I wanted to do.This project was not easy to do. I needed to use photography and I wasn't familiar with that medium. I got some help from my sister's friend but I was mostly on my own. I tried to do everything I could to perfect the photo but my photoshop skills are still lacking. I also had a hard time finding the font that Kruger uses in her photos. Of course I ended about not finding it but I tried to get as close as possible to it.