divergentpracticeleona

[divergentpracticeleona]

Final display

This was my final display for my work and at the start I was struggling to display it since I had 13 pages. So I decided to add one of my blue water colour text to it. The reason why I chose that specific image is because it suits the bottom row the best since the images around it are all zoomed in. It also adds contrast and creates a focal point in the middle catching the viewers attention.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Final

These texts are apart of my final the reason why I added one of my blue text is due to display purposes. But it also adds to when I display it it the explanation is on my final display post.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Final

My final is a series of magazine pages and the reason why I wanted them to look like magazine pages is because it is a familiar object we all grew up with. Taking something familiar and turning it into something that is strange to you and at first glance will catch your eye until you notice it’s not something familiar. The concept is within these pages you don’t see them in magazines because they have been rejected. Just like the pages I feel rejected from the media since all the East Asian’s in media are “perfect” skinny, small, childlike and pale. A lot of East Asian women want to fit this standard which I think is due to media and the male gaze. With these art works I am questioning East Asian beauty standards and sharing my own experience with feeling like a stranger. My poetry also plays a big part with in my artwork because they help with the aesthetics with looking like a magazine. But it’s not just aesthetics, it’s my thoughts with how I feel like a stranger and how I feel like I should look a certain way. Hopefully other people can relate even if they are not East Asian since I know a lot of women feel like they have to look a certain way. And media has to do a lot with it and it influences people from a young age since girls are getting phones younger and younger.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Final (picking between text)

With these images I had to choose between the blue water colour text compared to the regular text. I chose the normal text since it seemed to blend in with my work better and the blue kind of stood out a little too much. The writing in this is Cantonese for stranger and this is exactly how I feel within media and daily life. The reason why I chose for it to be in Cantonese is so other people can’t read it (unless your Cantonese) the viewers will struggle to read the text and it’s normal human curiosity to want to know what something says. To them the text is a stranger to them and the only way they can find out is by asking me or looking it up. I like this because it involves a little viewer interaction to figure it out or maybe the viewer can figure it out themselves. With these images I used I used them for a reason and the reason behind this was because within the pictures you are not able to see my face properly. And when you are not able to see the face of the person and when you don’t know them they are a stranger. Even though you can see my face in my other art works most people who will see it wont know me.

[divergentpracticeleona]

This was a development of photo collage made from a magazine that i found in the store, it was also hard to find because there wasn’t a lot of East Asian women in magazines. With these photos in the magazine I played around with collage and it was definitely different from collating digitally and even though i as happy with the outcome. I don’t think collaging with real photos would have suited what I wanted to do, but something I did like was the found poetry I made. The found poetry I made from these were about my place in media and how I feel like a stranger to it. I will use the poetry in my artwork in the future because I really liked them, it also helped me with my writing block when it came to poetry.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Luo Yang is a Chinese photographer who does portraits about women hood, her main subject is the role of women and femininity in Chinese society. Yang lives and works between Beijing and Shanghai and has photographed people from the 80's, 90's, and the O0's. She has photographed the changes through the decades and see's the changes of how women have become independent and open now. With her photography her aim was to capture softness and tenacity of femininity and to capture the authentic women's lives.

I really like her photography and the angles she shoots in, the whole body shots and upper body shots are well done. I'm going to make sure while editing my pictures to keep in mind about my composition. I also feel like i can relate to her work since it's about my own femininity and its place in social media. I am also questioning my place in a social construct where there is un realistic expectations of East Asian women of how they look.

[divergentpracticeleona]

ID is a magazine but I wasn’t able to find the magazine so I had to look it up online and I really liked it, some of the subjects they tackle relate to mine a little especially the ones I looked at. The ones I looked at where about identity, gender,and modern femininity. I also really liked their photography since a lot of them are quite creative and i would have never of thought of doing them

[divergentpracticeleona]

Shirin Neshat is an artist who does spanning film, photography, and more recently opera. Neshat moved to the states when she was 17 to study but then later on couldn’t move back home due to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. For the last 50 years she has made artwork that told the experiences of people living under fundamentalist regimes. She also did work on women’s reliance during a time of oppression, violence, beauty, and mysticism. Her greatest inspiration throughout her life has been women and she understands the resilience of women and how they are survivors.

I took inspiration from is her photography which is beautiful, I like the contrast of colours between the black and white picture and red text. I have taken inspiration from her close up shots of her face not just because of the aesthetics but for the intimate feeling it gives. It also is such a strong shot and it makes sense with the subject I am tackling. I also took inspiration from the text on the face because i feel like it adds to my concept.

Beauty is something we both tackle within our subjects and i felt like it was appropriate to take inspiration from her also being another Asian women.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Art gallery

This was Glasgow’s print studio and this helped me with my decision of paper, I’ve tried to print out my pictures before and the paper was a off white beige tone and i was going to leave it like that. Until I saw the print studios prints on white paper and I really liked how the colours popped and I knew after that I had to change it. I also liked how the artworks on the wall fitted into each other, it wasn’t just lined up and “perfect” which I really liked and definitely will try when it comes to the time of me having to hang up my work. I also liked the lighting of the space, it was bright enough for you to see all the details but not enough to be able to make it out from far away. I will take this into consideration when putting up my work because I’ve never really thought that dimmer lighting would change prints/ pictures that much.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (struggling to put dress on)

This is the third development of me struggling to put on the dress but this time its from the back of me and I quite liked this because you can’t see my face and gives off a mysterious feeling. Since you can’t see my face I am a stranger to you but also could be that I am not wanting to face the viewer like I am ashamed with how I look.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (text on paper and covering chest)

I tried the smaller tex on a piece of white paper and I liked the contrast of not being able to read the projection contrasting with the piece of paper that you can read for Cantonese readers. Even tho most people seeing the work won’t be able to read Cantonese its still a big part of me and the viewers who can’t read it will also still experience how it feels to be a stranger.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (wire on top of me)

The wire in these pictures make me look trapped, I really liked these because it depicts how I feel trapped in my body and trapped in this endless cycle of feeling lost since I don’t see other East Asians like me in media.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (mid body struggling to put on dress)

This was a second development of me struggling to put on the dress just with the projection on top this time and i was quite happy with the outcome, to non Cantonese readers it almost looks like my body has a censor sign over it. Possibly me asking for help and that I feel lost in amongst the the “perfect” East Asians in the media.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (close up of my legs)

I quite liked these pictures since the texted showed up really nicely on my legs and with the pictures of where I am pushing it to the side it looks like I am showing you a hidden secret that I was feeling lost in my own body. The shots them selfs are very powerful looking and I am really happy with them.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (close up of face)

These ones I quite liked since it showed my “imperfections” on my face more closely and you are able to see the shadow in the back giving it more depth and tone to the pictures. And i am looking into the distance a little confused possibly me looking at other people questioning why don’t I look the same.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection (shadows)

These were just the projection and my shadow which the only one I liked was the top left hand side and the reason why I liked that one the most was because aesthetically it sat really well but also blocks the writing. It looks like I’m reaching towards the text but not knowing if I should touch it or possibly the text is merging into me. Possibly reflecting how the influence of media has had on me and me trying to unlearn unhealthy thinking towards my body.

[divergentpracticeleona]

Development of projection

These where development photographs with the I am lost in my own body text in Cantonese projected on myself with the Chinese traditional dress on, I quite liked these since this was a mixture of the pictures I already took with a layer on top. With these projection photographs I tried the big and smaller text and I liked the bigger one (later found a use for the smaller one). The reason why I wanted to use the text for projection is because it distorts the text making it hard to read for people who can read Cantonese but for the average non Cantonese speaker/ reader its still unreadable. It also adds shadows covering my face or places on my body possibly pointing at what I want to hide and feel self conscious about or those parts are what don’t fit into the normal “perfect” East Asian. I wanted this projected to show how I feel and to also just to experiment and I was really happy with how they came out.