Unit 1: What is beauty?

Beauty, Women and Nature

Self-made Oil Paint on Canvas, 14 x 11 ½ inches

Our perception of beauty is determined by how we view the world. Our personal and cultural upbringing as well as our experiences shape who we are and in turn what we find beautiful. This piece shows a glimpse into my perception of beauty: women and nature. A portrait of Alexa Demie, an actress, who represents confidence and strength, contrasting with the fragility of nature, and where they converge, the snake.

Reference Image: Alexa Demie by Ileana Aleyda

Unit reflection

In this unit, I learned about what beauty is for myself and what it means. Beauty comes from our personal experiences, cultural, and influences. The saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder is not wrong in that sense. During the art-making process, I was able to design a couple of artworks that I wanted to create. While doing so, I was able to use my creative thinking skills to know what might be the best artwork to create in order to represent a glimpse of what I find beautiful. I chose the design I thought fit my perspective best. When creating the final artwork I explored my final design, creating changes and improvements along the way. Including the change of my background to fit the artistic style better and applying the methods of impressionism style. I encountered many challenges which all where learning experiences to create, what I see as a successful piece. I faced quite a couple issues regarding the proportions of the face, which I later realized was my poor sketch in the beginning of the process. But, I was also successful when using the technique to create the impressionism style. Using different shades of color, a lot of paint, and thick strokes, I achieved the look I desired. In the end, I overcame the challenges I faced by experimenting, re-painting, using grids, or even by taking a step back from my painting. I always reflected on how my artwork looked and asked myself if there were things I needed to improve for the next time I paint. Overall, I am happy with my final artwork and the experience of creating it. I learned many valuable lessons and experimented with a medium I wasn't so familiar with.

Selly Park

Unit 2: Self Discovery

Under the Skin

Self drying clay, 9 x 8, 9 x 6 inches

My overall intention for this artwork was to be able to physically represent how I was/am feeling. I think that being able to share one’s feelings can help others who are struggling or those who can also relate. Art is a way that I’ve always used to express myself and most of my artworks represent a part of my identity. During this quarantine and online learning, I’ve learned a lot about myself, my weaknesses and my strengths. I think this semester has been one of the most tolling on my own self-perception and the big impact this change has taken on me. By creating this artwork, I wanted to represent the two sides of myself, a happy one, and one that feels out of control and frustrated. Speaking with other friends, I realized that it wasn't only me that was feeling this way. Ultimately, I want my artwork to be a way of connecting people and helping others feel less alone. I hope that when they see the artwork it shows them that everything is a journey but they aren't alone. I think that everyone is scared and confused at the moment; therefore, using my art, I can raise awareness to that fact and provide some comfort. Furthermore, it's also important to break stigmas surrounding mental health and talking about our feelings.

Unit 3: Art In Trying Times

Unit 4: Community Art

For my art form, I will be using oil paints, inspired by the opening shot in Midsommar, a psychological horror movie created by Ari Aster. The movie opens with this mural created by Mu Pan, inspired by the swedish folk art style as the movie sets in this country. What really intrigued me by the mural was its ability to foreshadow everything that will happen in the movie. The viewers only get a couple of seconds to view the artwork, however looking at the detail and symbols scattered throughout the painting, one can find this in the movie as well. The painting begins like the story of the movie, the skeleton, a symbol of death, is connected to Dani’s (the main character) family. Dani’s figure is drawn upright, however her sister is laying down, positioned below her and her parents are above, upside down. This particular pane is darker and blue, depicting the loss and sorrow created. Shifting on to the very right side, it depicts the May Queen dance ritual held at the Midsommar festival. With the girls dancing around the plant statue are skeletons, portraying the loss that had occurred at the festival (a few characters die before this scene in the movie) and also the death that is to come (yes, more die later). This, to me, is extremely appealing for an artwork that will engage a community through the small details and narrative portrayed in the painting. The large wood pane creating a story with a beginning, middle, and end allows the audience to get a glimpse of what's to come.

Another artist that will inspire my artwork is Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”. From this research, the process I will be taking is using acrylic on wood. I want to use acrylics as they can create both soft and vibrant hues that Mu Pan’s artworks possess. Through using the acrylics on a wood panel, the paints can be watered down without worry of paper ripping or seeping through a canvas. Furthermore, the ability to mix colors allows me to create the values I want to depict in my artwork and achieve the heaven-like atmosphere created by the light and soft colors. Lastly, using acrylics will be a challenge for me as I haven’t used them in a long time and I can explore the techniques using this medium. The style I would be taking inspiration from is of Mu Pan’s work, especially the mural in Midsommar. I want to draw influences from naive art, characterized by a childlike simplicity, ignoring the rules of art such as balance, proportions, and perspective. I think that the innocent appearance of this style will be able to showcase much more dark subjects in a community setting. Furthermore, the style is inspired a lot by children’s book illustrations which correlates to the storytelling aspect that I want my artwork to accomplish.

For this project, I wanted to focus on the effects of COVID in my country. Usually, I feel disconnected from my culture, however, coming back here during COVID has helped me see the direct impact of this pandemic to my home. This pandemic has shown me the flaws of the South Korean government and the people who were directly affected. Through the research, I wanted to showcase the two groups that have been severely affected by COVID, although there is no doubt that COVID has affected everyone. Using my personal observations, I have seen many delivery workers wearing ordinary clothing or “business attire”. Another majorly affected group are the elderly, who are not only vulnerable against COVID, but also make up a big portion of the South Korean population, including the poverty population. These concepts had made an impact on me because it highlighted many issues in my home country. Thus, it is the inspiration for my artwork, as I want to share my knowledge/research and commemorate the elders and frontline workers in our society.