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Can portraiture explore identity in unexpected ways?
Can portraiture explore identity in unexpected ways?
Unit description:
An investigation of portraiture. Students create 3 portraits during this unit: a typographic portrait, a portrait created using a grid and charcoal, and a conceptual portrait. Students also investigate and compare various portraits from art history.
Statement of Inquiry
Representation of identity can be interpreted through different perspectives
Covid Identity by Mimi M.
Header artwork by Tae Yun
How am I not myself?
How am I not myself?
Goal:
50 things about yourself: create a mind map/brainstorm 100 words
Typographic Portrait (portrait #1)
Typographic Portrait (portrait #1)
TYPOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS SOLUTIONS:
This project is referenced from “The Process: A New Foundation in Art and Design” by Judith Wilde and Richard Wilde; Publisher: Laurence King Publishing (January 6, 2015)
Goal: create 6 designs in your Process Journal
Choose 5 from the below list, plus 1 personal idea (free choice).
My name is....
and I'm a magician
and I'm a chameleon
and I have an allergy
and I'm accident prone
and I'm a librarian
and I work on an assembly line
and I'm a crime scene investigator
and I'm a video gamer
and I need to go to bed earlier
and I'm funny
The Project
Create typographic portraits by using your whole name, part of your name, you nickname or your initials (with a minimum of two letters) to describe various subjects such as for example imaginary professions and/or affirmations. Each solution must consider: choice of typeface, style, size, weight, use of upper and lower case characters as well as space between the letter.
The Aim
The aim of this project is to use typography as an end in itself, minimizing supporting imagery. Conceptually driven solutions and letter forms are combined with literal or abstract images to express the intended message. The outcomes address either materials, the process or a result of using specific media and technique.
Suggestions
Consider various mixed media techniques, array of executions and procedures: cropping, touching, overlapping, intersecting, penetration of elements, proportion, balance and rhythm. Be creative with your use of media.
This project is to be done by hand and/or digital methods. The outcome will be in color or black and white. There will be minimum 6 X A6 (100 x 150mm) compositions corresponding to the various subjects with titles written within or below compositions. The final presentation will be six individual A6 compositions.
Student examples in this folder
Referenced from “The Process: A New Foundation in Art and Design” by Judith Wilde and Richard Wilde; Publisher: Laurence King Publishing (January 6, 2015)
UNIS Exemplars: folder 1 folder 2 folder 3 folder 4 digital examples
Portraiture Investigation
Portraiture Investigation
(L) Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia Von Harden, Otto Dix, Oil and tempera on wood, 1926
(R) Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance) by Amy Sherald, oil on canvas, 2013
Part 1:
Glue an image of each artwork into your Process Journal. Class discussion. Annotate the image:
DESCRIBE each work:
Title of the work
Artist
date
art movement
media, size
subject matter
techniques / media
focal point
visual elements ( colour, shape line etc…)
Based on your observations, tell the story of the person presented in this painting. Ai)
Part 2:
Complete the document "Art10 - Crit A - Looking In - Your name" A Deeper Look at Two Artworks (found in your art google drive folder).
Criteria A: Investigating
Why do people make portraits? A comparison.
FORM
Write about what you see and how the artist has used colour, compositions, imagery materials, painting, techniques, or other visual elements to create a mood or a feeling.
THEME
Describe the subject matter and explain what point of view is being expressed and what and identify any big ideas are explored in the work?
CONTEXT
Explain what was happening at the time the work was made and what significant historical, personal, political information the reader needs to know to understand the work?
Provide citations for this section
INTERPRET
What is the function and purpose of this work? How can work be interpreted? Why does it matter to the world at large? Be specific and provide evidence.
COMPARE
How do the artworks explored show that representations of identity can be interpreted through different perspectives?
Resources:
example of describing and analyzing an artwork:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndwOgL3ZgCQ
Portrait of Sylvia von Harden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHkZWu9tgpw
Miss Everything
A4 paper portrait
A4 paper portrait
Tuning in activity: A4 Paper Portrait
Duration: 2 classes (includes photography of final outcome)
Directions: Cut/tear a piece of A4 paper in a way that somehow represents you. In your PJ:
Toddle Portfolio. After you submit your photo to the task, click to Publish on Portfolio. In the text box respond to the following:
1. Describe what you see using art vocabulary (observation of your A4 portrait)
2. Make an interpretation with an explanation. The explanation should connect your observations to your interpretations.
3. Discuss other questions or interpretations that this A4 portrait and/or the process has provoked for you.
This portrait will be displayed in the hallway and photographed using the light box.
Past examples this folder.
Preparing for Self Portrait #3
Charcoal preparation- Value scale, grid and facial features practice
Selfies: Gathering photos of yourself for potential reference photos
4-6 photos which include symbolism of identity. Respond to the following for each:
Expressing Identity through...(objects, facial expressions, pose, clothing, etc)
Describe what you see (B&W, colour, pose, etc)
Interpretation
Gao Family, 2022
Red, 2018
Self, 2017
½ - 1 page in Process Journal Artist investigation:
Yuqing Zhu (instagram: @papriqa_)
Examples of the artist’s work:
Answer the following in your Process Journal
Who is this artist? Where is the artist from? Where does the artist live and work?
Describe the work/the style of these portraits. How is collage used in these portraits?
How are you inspired by these artworks? Include 2 drawings showing how this artist directly impacts your charcoal drawing/collage.
PJ page by Cathy D'Agnanno
PJ page by Minseo Kang
After our talk with Yuqing Zhu here is their reply to the additional questions from your Jamboard relfectons:
Thank you tremendously for inviting me to speak with your students and for passing along their reflections. I am so deeply moved reading these!!! I will treasure their words for a long time.
To answer the remaining questions:
What was the critical thought or inspiration that made you choose the pathway as an artist?
I think there wasn't a defining moment, it happened kind of gradually. Definitely I had a lot of inspiration and encouragement from people along the way - teachers, friends, online folks, etc. - which added to my belief that I could be an artist. I think of those people, one important person was my art teacher in middle and high school. I went to a very traditional studio after school, and that's where I learned to draw graphite and charcoal still lifes and portraits. This teacher believed in me very much. I'm also generally very inspired by other people pursuing creative careers, whether I know them personally or not. I get a lot of inspiration from other artists on the ground in Chicago as well as filmmakers and writers, like James Baldwin and Roberto Bolaño, and I like reading / listening to their interviews about their lives and creative processes as it often rekindles my conviction in my choice.How did you find out your passion, as not everyone is able to find out their true passion and interest when they are young? What would be an advice for them?
This is a great question and very tricky business! I think sometimes passion for something creeps up on you when you have just a little bit of interest / curiosity to begin with. I think cultivating passion can be an intensely personal / private thing, but I've found it really helps me to put my work out there so that others can have it. Positive feedback is always great! Learning about what the fruits of your passion can mean to others is always incredible and compels me to keep going. I think when you are young it's super okay (in fact, expected) to not have a defined passion - it's the time to try out a lot of different things. For example, even though I was doing art starting when I was quite young, I kind of resisted pursuing it seriously. I spent time trying out science and teaching science (which are definitely also fulfilling pursuits for me) as well as things that didn't stick, for example playing musical instruments and dancing. Now that I've come back around to visual art (starting when I was at the end of college / beginning of grad school), it just makes sense. I think another thing that is good to keep in mind is that life can have lots of chapters to it. Right now I'm a scientist and visual artist, but who knows where my passions will take me in the next decades? I'm looking forward to the future, and I am open to my circumstances and heart changing, and so can you! If something feels right in the moment, then it's right. It doesn't need to be your passion forever.What would you consider to be your most valuable piece you've ever created?
Honestly the piece I'm working on now of clouds over Lake Michigan (Two of Wands)! I'm very excited about it. Maybe commissions have been more valuable in terms of being actually more expensive, but this one is really meaningful to me and involves a good deal of detailed labor that I don't put into all my pieces.Is there a piece that you will never sell? If there is, why?
I used to be more possessive of my work, but now I think I would be okay selling all of them if the price is right! I would get very high-quality photos of the pieces so I could get large prints made if I ever miss them. Usually I have an agreement with my clients that if I want a piece back to display in a show, I could borrow them back.How much would you charge for a self portrait of a student?
Less than I charge most clients, though it would depend on the intricacy desired of the portrait. My minimum is $100 for a simple colored pencil / pastel sketch on letter-sized lokta paper, but will increase with size and collage elements.
--
Yuqing Zhu
PhD Candidate, MacLean Lab
Committee on Computational Neuroscience
The University of Chicago
Portrait Plans
Portrait Plans
A clear final plan in Process Journal including ideas for collage & symbolism should be at least 1/2 page with annotations and responses to the following questions:
What is your final plan?
What symbol(s) will you include to show a perspective of your identity?
How are you influenced by Yuqing Zhu/Q’s artwork and style?
Set up your grid
Set up your grid
Your measurements need to be accurate on the photo inorder to set up the large grid on your drawing paper. You will be enlarging the photo so the drawing paper grid will be a minimum of double (maximum four times) that of the photo grid. Use centimeters when setting up both grids. They must match in number of squares.
Create a collage inspired self portrait
Using the grid method, draw a self portrait from one of your photos using charcoal and/or graphite.
You will enlarge the photo 4 to 6 times the size. Collage can be used for any aspect, some examples include:
Background
Hair
Clothing
Accessories
Artist Statement
Write an artist’s statement for your final Looking In portrait(s). It is ok to use ideas from your reflections.
Write an artist’s statement for your final Looking In portrait(s). It is ok to use ideas from your reflections.
An artist’s statement is a piece of writing that clearly communicates your artistic intentions and connects your research to your own work. It gives the viewer insight into your influences, working process and helps them to engage in a more meaningful way with your work.
Your artist’s statement should discuss the following:
Give your work a title*
Describe your work
What were your artistic intentions
What you were influenced by (Yuqing Zhu, Amy Sherald, Otto Dix, etc)
Why you selected particular materials, techniques, subject matter
What were you exploring/attempting to challenge by doing this work
How you made your decisions through the course of your work
What does your work make audiences think about? How does it change the way audiences might think about the purpose of portraiture?
Write this as a paragraph format. Imagine the audience reading this statement at the exhibition. Allow the audience to understand your ideas and process.
*Top of your paragraph: Title of artwork, your name*
Excerpt from Amy Sherald's Artist Statement
My work began as an exploration to exclude the idea of color as race from my paintings by removing “color” but still portraying racialised bodies as objects to be viewed through portraiture. These paintings originated as a creation of a fairytale, illustrating an alternate existence in response to a dominant narrative of black history. As my ideas became more legible the use of fantasy evolved into scenes of spectacle (e.g. circuses), to make direct reference to blackness and racialisation. I stage specific scenes of social ascent, and racial descent that chart the psychology and performance of identity with a particular attention to notions of social exclusion and assimilation. All of these things configure a practised position or role played within a specific space or context. These kinds of performances blend and bleed the borders of how blackness is defined within the phenomenon of race as it relates to a specific experience of blackness in America, which has been performed in front of an audience that pretends not to exist.
Photographic Weaving (Portrait #3)
Photographic Weaving (Portrait #3)
Artists and designers experiment with forms, structures, materials, concepts, media, and art-making approaches. Using what you know about conceptual Art, self portraiture and collage, create a mixed media photo weaving self portrait.
Option 1: Combine 2-3 photos of Hanoi and another location that holds personal significance
Option 2: Combine 2 portrait photos of yourself or someone that is important to you (with their permission).
You can use photo filters from applications to manipulate the photos as you wish.
Conceptual Art
Conceptual Art
Investigate:
What is Conceptual Art? Watch this video from the Tate to get a brief introduction to Conceptual Art. It can be a tough one to wrap your mind around! Write 3 key points about conceptual art and 3 key artworks.
Example Process journal pages
2 Goals (outcomes):
2-4 pages in your Process Journal with 20 ideas , annotated
A written artist statement explaining your final conceptual artwork. This will be used as a prompt for Ai.
*note that you do not create the artwork. Your final artwork will be created by A.I.
Remember that Conceptual Art is based on an IDEA
Development tasks:
View Conceptual Art video clips (linked above)
Investigate and describe 3 key points about conceptual art ideas and at least 3 conceptual artist/artwork in your Process Journal
Look at your photographs, "how am I not myself" brainstorm (50 words) in your Process Journal
⬇
Follow the “Water bottle - 20 Ways” worksheet to create 2-4 pages in your process journal
Develop a strong idea around how you can show some aspect of identity in a non-representational way using the object provided
this can be done through
drawings,
media experiments,
writing ideas,
investigating/documenting conceptual artists
⬇
Remember the IDEA needs to be strong. Could you explain in words and drawing in your PJ why you want to use the things/media/etc. that you want to use for this artwork?
⬇
Now you have a plan. The next step is to write an artist statement for this conceptual plan. You will use this artist statement to create the artwork using an Canva Ai Magic Studio.
AI Art websites from class tuning in:
https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/
https://www.autodraw.com/
When you complete your "water bottle 20 ways" worksheet, we will review this slideshow introducing AI Art.
Your task: Create a slide with your conceptual water bottle artwork in this slideshow.
Your slide contains your sketched idea, prompts for Canva Ai (text to image), images produced
Name and class section (keep formatting same as template slide)
Add an image of your sketched conceptual artwork that you developed from water bottle 20 Ways. Include your annotation
Write your prompt that will be pasted into the AI generator on Canva.
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