Social/Political Print

Artist Statement:

This is a photo I took of some flowers I have. The setting is in my backyard. I decided to create a cyanotype instead of just a regular paper print, because I like the process of them, and how they end up turning out very detailed in the end. I like creating art that poses a question, and takes thinking and knowledge to decipher. I used the elements and principles of line, because the flowers are composed of lines; shape, because the petals are all individual shapes; color, because the whole print is blue tinted; value, because there are many different shades of blue; texture, because the flowers look soft and bumpy, also the fabric I printed it on is textured; emphasis, because the print kind of emphasizes the big pretty flower in the front; and unity, because the photo is just simple and clear.

This print contains the composition rules/techniques of rule of thirds, because the flower focused on is in the required place; selective focus, because I think the photo emphasized and focuses on the flower to the right; sharp focus, because it is very clear and crisp and shows many details; leading lines, because the lines in the flowers lead around the print; and framing, because I think the other flowers frame the one focused on. For this assignment, I originally wanted to create a print based off of the political issue of animal abuse, but then decided to change to beauty standards because I wanted to create something that would be questionable to the topic, and would require background info from me for people to understand the meaning.

As said before, I wanted this image to portray beauty standards. The flower that stands out the most is the one to the right, the one that is "perfect" and prettier than those in the back. This is like society; those who are considered "beautiful" get more recognition for it than those in the background that aren't as "perfect". This project relates to my life, because I have a huge problem with society's view on beauty and how woman and people in general have to fit into a mold of what to look like. If this image could be any stronger, I would add more dead and broken flowers around the "perfect" one to emphasis more on it.