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FINAL

Birthday Trash by Cayla Pearson

Mixed Media

This piece is a statement on consumerism and the environmental, namely our reliance on birthday/holiday related decor and its short life span.

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My individual understanding of Pollock’s transition into creating the famous “drip” paintings is his need to depict the nature of experience as opposed to literal depictions of things that everyone sees all the time. Pollock’s painting August Rhythm is a prime example of this. When viewing August Rhythm, you can visually see the paths and movements that he took as a form of expression. This is probably a much more vulnerable artform than the usual “imagery” works. Pollock’s works show where he was, how he was moving, and, objectively, how he was feeling at the time of the creation of the individual works. Pollock poured himself out onto these canvases and successfully depicted his thoughts and feelings in a permanent way for the whole world to view. This, in itself, shows Pollocks bravery and vulnerability in a way that is unprecedented, and quite frankly, beautiful.

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JESTUSS by Cayla Pearson

Virtual Sketchbook #4 - Original abstract, non-representational artwork

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I attended the Ringling Museum of art on Monday, June 1, 2020. Ringling Museum is located in Sarasota, Florida near University Parkway and U.S. 41. The trip to the museum was less than a five-minute drive for me, I live about a mile from the museum. I met my friend, Matt, at the museum. Matt has a membership at the museum and frequents it often. I have been to Ringling Museum many times due to its close proximity to my home. Additionally, I was employed at the fine-dining restaurant inside of the main lobby, so I have spent a lot of time at Ringling Museum. We started our trip by walking through the main lobby. Since the art museum portion is free every Monday, I was only asked for my zip code and then waved through. We walked down the path towards the Ca’d’Zan, located on Sarasota Bay. We passed many of the small cherub statues, and I pointed out my favorite one: a small cherub whose face is only visible as it has been overtaken by a Banyan tree. Upon arriving at the Ca’d’Zan, I noted the Venetian Gothic style architecture discussed in Chapter 17 our textbook. Though I have seen this building a number of times, I am always overtaken by how beautiful the stained-glass windows are and how intricate the detailed ornamental cresting is on the exterior of the building. My overall experience of the museum was enjoyable. I honestly was not too excited about visiting a museum I have spent a lot of time at but was glad that I went. Viewing the art in person after looking at it on a computer screen for this course was an entirely different experience. I felt as if I was looking at art in a new light. I was also overtaken by the sheer size of some the pieces, most notably, an installation called Retainers of Anarchy by Howie Tsu. Inside of the Asian Art building, I found a small room that I wasn’t sure if it was open or not. I opened the door and walked into a room where two of the walls were some kind of projector screen. On the screen was something that would be difficult to describe briefly. Displayed on the screen was Howie Tsui’s Retainers of Anarchy, 2017, an algorithmic animation sequence, 5-channel video projection, 6-channel audio. There was a LOT going on. There was a landscape that looked to be ink in a traditional Asian style featuring bamboo, mountains, and streams, similar to Huang Gongwang’s Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountain featured in our textbook in Chapter 18.3: China and Korea. One side of the overall image was a giant apartment building with all of the rooms visible. Each room had different things happening, including men playing cards, a severed head in a bubbling cauldron, and ninjas fighting. Outside of the apartment building, there were different images that seemed to be related to war and revolt, including a man being hanged, a caged man struggling to reach a bowl of food just out of his reach, and a man on a horse shooting arrows at some sort of flying demon. Accompanying the imagery was loud, epic music. I sat in awe and silence for about fifteen minutes watching this animation play out and loop. In reference to our text, the art depicted was representative of Chapter 2.6: Art for Political Purposes. The placard in the museum explains that the piece was inspired by the artist’s experience with Rivers of Wisdom, which is a similar work that was adapted from a scroll (Along the River During the Qingming Festival) depicting the Song Dynasty. The placard goes on to explain Retainers of Anarchy “blurs fact and fiction by introducing references to present-day political tension between Hong Kong and Mainland China.” Retainers of Anarchy depicts many current-day political activists in China. In our textbook, there is a work of art by Rodney McMillian called Untitled (The Supreme Court Painting). Its purpose to protest decisions made by the Supreme Court in reference to voting rights and election districting. I believe Retainers of Anarchy has a similar purpose in that its creation is to protest the political unrest that is occurring in Hong Kong and show support to the activists who share the same sentiment.

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LOGOS

List of logos currently around me: Coca-Cola Repel Purina Apple Ryobi BIC L&M Rayovac

I know of the logos, most obviously, because of personal use. I recall finding out about these logos because of either seeing other people with items that have these logos and/or commercials depicting these logos. These logos are valuable because they not only are images that I recognize as being representative of certain companies or products, but because I believe myself to subconsciously gravitate towards logos I recognize out of trust that the products with these logos are reliable.

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Art Project - Artist’s Choice

“Untitled” by Cayla Pearson Acrylic Paint on Canvas

The subject matter is important to me because the sexual liberation of women is important to me. I used my own body as a way to exemplify this.

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Journaling

Unity and Variety: unity is the idea of consistency in art, while variety is the idea of different elements in art. The photograph depicting sushi highlights the combination of unity and variety in that though the individual pieces of sushi are all sushi, they are different.

Balance: different parts, though opposites, creating a sense of equality. The photograph depicting a house made of thin sticks above water (taken outside of the Tokyo National Museum) highlights balance by the perfect symmetry of the structure.

Emphasis and Subordination: emphasis draws attention to an area of a work of art, while subordination draws attention away from something. The picture of my boyfriend eating at a cafe in New Orleans highlights the combination of emphasis and subordination by my boyfriend eating between the two doors being the obvious focus of the picture and the doors framing him being and example of subordination.

Directional Forces: a work of art that uses lines (usually imaginary) that direct the viewer to focus on a certain aspect of the work of art. The picture of my boyfriend and dad watching the surfers in Puerto Rico highlights this by the viewer’s attention being drawn to the surfers because that is where my boyfriend and dad are looking.

Repetition and Rhythm: ordered patterns that are repeating and recognizable in works of art. The picture of the walkway at Flagler College in St. Augustine highlights repetition in both the repeating hanging light fixtures in the center of the picture as well as the pillars and archways on either side of the picture.

Scale and Proportion: scale is used to shown the size of something by including something of a different size next to it (for scale). Proportion shows the size of a small part in reference to the whole part. The picture of my dad and I standing under a waterfall in Puerto Rico shows how large the waterfall actually is. If we were not in the picture and the viewer was unable to use us for scale, the waterfall would appear much smaller.

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Connecting Art to Your World

The color that has impacted me most has been various hues of orange. Growing up in Florida, some of my most fond memories are plucking ripe oranges out of neighborhood trees and peeling back the orange skin to reveal the sweet orange fruit underneath. Fast forward, orange, once again, seemed to be the ruling color in my life when I was in the depths of alcoholism, spending every morning dry heaving and relieving small amounts of orange bile from my stomach. The lack of control spiraled, when orange, once again, took over in the form of tiny orange plastic needle caps that seemed to litter my entire life. This transitioned into the orange being what I thought to be my only way out: medication. The thin, orange strips that I placed under my tongue were supposed to save me from my self. 

Finally, orange, this time a less saturated shade, made a notable appearance as a small pamphlet covered from top to bottom in phone numbers of other people who have had experiences similar to my experiences with the color orange. These people saved my life.

My life has been a “sunset” color scheme. Started with orange and has graduated to purple. Purple is the combination of the stability of blue and the fierceness of red.

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Writing and Looking

Evelyne Axell’s Ice Cream 1 -lines created by an edge -organic shapes -combination of two-dimensional and three-dimensional -the woman’s face exists in implied space -bright, vibrant colors -high contrast: face vs. surrounding colors -balance of opposing forces: face vs. surrounding colors

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Hello! My name is Cayla Pearson. I am 27 years old and I live in Sarasota, Florida. One little known fact about me is that I am fifth generation Floridian.

The artwork I was assigned was Alice Neel's Self Portrait.

1. Alice Neel was 80 years old in Self Portrait, completely nude with nothing but her glasses, a paintbrush, and a rag.

2. Though Alice Neel was a left-handed painter, the paintbrush is in her right hand in Self Portrait because she painted herself as seen in a mirror.

3. Self Portrait was popular because women artists in that time did not commonly create self portraits - especially nude ones.

4. Prior to this self portrait, the closest Neel ever came to painting a self portrait was painting the image of an empty chair by an apartment window.

5. It took Alice Neel 5 years to complete Self Portrait.

When I first saw Self Portrait, I was, honestly, shocked. After looking at it for a moment, I was then overtaken by feelings of what I can only describe as being proud of the woman who painted it. She, regardless of her age, felt comfortable enough with her aged body to display herself nude for the world to see. That, to me, shows a great deal of confidence that I wish I could have. This, combined with the nominal amount of research that I did about the painting in order to compile the 5 facts, ended with more positive feelings about the painting. Alice Neel not only exudes confidence in this painting with her disinterested facial expression and slightly raised eyebrows, but also fights gender stereotypes about what the female body "should" look like.

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Self Portrait Art Project

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Writing a Self Portrait

I am 27 years old. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am from Bradenton, Florida, but I bought a house in Sarasota, Florida about two years ago. I grew up in poverty with a younger brother and two addict parents. I am caucasian, primarily from English and Scottish decent. My hobbies include spending time with my dog, playing video games, and long boarding. I am involved in a 12-step recovery program and have been abstinent from all drugs and alcohol for over three years. I try to be of service to those still suffering from addiction by bringing meetings into hospitals and jails. I am also part of Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, Sigma Kappa Delta English Honors Society, and SCF’s Paralegal Club. I work for Postmates part-time delivering food. I also work with local recovery support companies transporting clients to rehab facilities and answering phone calls. I dropped out of high school at 15, got a GED, spent about 9 years in active addiction, and then started college at SCF when I was 25. I have maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout my college career and have my sights set on attending law school. Fall 2020 is my last semester at SCF!

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Art and Writing

This picture, “Untitled,” by Katie Gimmer, hangs above my dining room table. It is mixed media: collage and screen printing. To me, the collage of interlocked hands reminds me of connection. Connection has been an important theme in my life the last few years, and seeing this picture everyday reminds me of the importance of connection in my life. This picture, to me, is very beautiful. Not only because of what it reminds me of, but also because it was created by a beautiful person!