Artwork: MIAD Imag(e)ine Community Piece #2 |
Title: Through the Eye Size: 91.44cm x 91.44cm Medium: Silk Screen Completion: October 2018 Exhibition Text Milwaukee's community is extremely diverse and we are very accepting of differences, therefore I feel that these differences bring us together as a community. We create a new meaning of "community" when outsiders look at us, and it's what sets us apart from other communities. I created my piece, Through the Eye, using acrylic on cardboard and screen printing. I based this piece off of Reynaldo Hernandez's Milwaukee murals, Mural of Peace and Celebrate the Arts. |
Inspiration
Throughout my whole life, I have been surrounded by Milwaukee's incredible street art; whether it be graffiti, street posters, or murals they all had their quirks. Aside from visiting Black Cat Alley on occasion, the most memorable mural that I would see was a large mural consisting of an eagle and a dove on the side of a random building off of !-43. I was so curious about the meaning of the piece and why it was on a building. As I grew up, the mural continued to intrigue me, but I didn't take the action to learn about it until last year. Mural of Peace unifies all the nations as one, in a peaceful way as the eagle and the dove share an olive branch. The hues in this piece are extremely vibrant, which is what I wanted to convey through my piece. The dramatic boldness of the rainbow in the background catches my eyes every time. Although small, the intensity of the color makes up for the size.
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Reynaldo Hernandez. Mural of Peace, 1994. Mural paint
on vinyl. 611 W. National Ave. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
on vinyl. 611 W. National Ave. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Celebrate the Arts is another mural created by Reynaldo Hernandez. This was one of the murals that had the most effect on me when searching for inspiration. It reminded me that Milwaukee consists of many forms of art, which could also be represented by culture. This piece is what inspired me to paint my background, rather than using a digital medium like many people used. Seeing the palette at first glance made me realize that painting is my favorite art form as well. As the mural flowed, my eyes also got caught on the vibrant rainbow, which is an obvious aspect of my piece. I feel that the mural represents the celebration of our differences through the arts, in which this city holds an abundant amount of artwork. |
Reynaldo Hernandez. Celebrate the Arts, 1984. Mural Paint
on brick.North Avenue and 7th St. Milwaukee. Wisconsin.
on brick.North Avenue and 7th St. Milwaukee. Wisconsin.
Planning
To begin brainstorming, I took specific notes about the process and the ideas that were provided to us. Looking over the notes and considering possible ideas led to my small thoughts at the bottom of the page. Although there was not a big explanation for my ideas, I felt that they were self-explanatory at the time. Overtime, my ideas expanded, and I kept them to myself until I put them down on paper, mainly as visuals.
Since I wrote the major details down, I was then able to begin research. In my research, I found that rainbows intrigued me, therefore the theme of rainbows were going to be constant in both of my designs. The image below shows my experimentation with paints.
Once I had my solid ideas down, I started using my acrylic paints; mixing colors to see what would suit my backgrounds the most. I then did small sketches and applied paint to get a better idea of how I wanted my final backgrounds to look.
After sketching out the backgrounds, I started brain storming ideas for my stencils, shown below. I ended up using my more simple designs, as they have a deeper meaning and connection to what I wanted to convey.
(Stencil below was not used.)
Process
Once the gesso had completely dried, it was time for me to paint the rainbow for my background. I started off using a medium mop brush to put my base colors down. Using Winsor & Newton Galleria Acrylics, I started off by brushing a curved streak of cadmium red around corners of the board. Then I put a streak of cadmium orange directly under the red. I applied an extra layer of the paint so that I could blend them with my large filbert brush. If I needed a lighter blend, I would use my medium filbert brush. I continued the same blending processes in between the rest of my colors which consisted of cadmium yellow, sap green, winsor blue, and winsor violet. Once it came to the "eye" of the rainbow, I used my medium round brush to stipple in swirls of titanium white clouds. I let this overlap with the purple in the rainbow. Like I had difficulty in my first piece with the red and orange paint, I struggled again to get a smooth blend. |
Before going to MIAD, I created my stencils on a piece of parchment paper by sketching the designs, and then cutting them out with an Xacto knife. At MIAD, I attached the stencil to a silk screen with tape, and then placed it on top of my Tyvek print. After I was ready to print, I applied water-based acrylic screen printing ink onto the screen with a plastic spoon, above the cutouts. With a small plastic squeegee, I dragged the ink across the cutouts with hard pressure. I flooded the screen to make sure the ink had completely printed onto my background. Once I was done pulling, I would carefully lift the screen and flood it away from my piece to get the excess paint off. I reused my stencils a few times, so I didn't always throw my stencils away. However, if I was done using my stencils, I would throw them away.
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After doing one stencil, I would have to wait about 30 minutes for my piece to dry, therefore, I would set that piece off to the side, and begin working on my other piece. To change my stencils, I would take the cutouts off, and scrub the screen with soapy water. Once the screen was 100% clean, I would dry it off with a towel and a hair dryer. I did this printing process four times for this piece. |
ain
In the end, I ended up using two stencils for this piece, but I pulled one of the stencils three times. I feel like my experience using screen-printing went very well, as the pigment of my background wasn't drowned out. I was able to apply the right amount of ink to my stencil, therefore, my images were not splotchy. I had a good experience with this, and I would definitely do it again. |
Experimentation
This whole project was kind of an experiment for me, as it was a new experience. But the only noted experiment was when I was playing with the paints. This was the stage in which I was trying to decide what I wanted my backgrounds to look like. As you can see, my final backgrounds look fairly similar to my experimental sketches. There were very few changes that I made, but it was still experimental. Another example of my experimentation would be my stencil designs. I was going to use my MKE stencil, but I felt that it was too simplistic, and didn't have much meaning behind it (aside from it's meaning of Milwaukee). |
Reflecting & Critiquing
Reynaldo Hernandez. Mural of Peace, 1994. Mural paint
on vinyl. 611 W. National Ave. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Reynaldo Hernandez. Celebrate the Arts, 1984. Mural Paint
on brick.North Avenue and 7th St. Milwaukee. Wisconsin. Reflecting
In all honesty, I believe that this project was a large experiment, in which my artistic abilities were challenged. The final outcomes didn't turn out as bad as I thought they would, as I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. It truly expanded my horizons. However, I feel like my piece was overly simple, speaking on behalf of my background and my stencils. Looking back, I could've had the ability to try something different that had more difficulty. Next time, I will try something else outside of my comfort zone. It's all about trying new things, and learning from your mistakes. This project helped me learn the artistic skill of screen printing, and I feel it was a success for what I made it worth, as I didn't have a hard time creating the piece after I had everything planned out. The biggest success was probably my stenciling, as the prints on the Tyvek turned out very clear, which is what I was going for. I also felt like this piece was better than my first piece, because it had a bigger dynamic in the background; meaning that there was an actual flow. Overall, I would definitely do this project again, and expand my understanding of this art type. |
There are many differences and similarities between my piece and the other works that I have chosen as inspiration. It makes a lot of sense for my piece to have it's own differences, because it's an original piece. But like I said, these pieces do hold some similarity.
Similarities:
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ACT Connections
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork:
My only inspiration consisted of multiple murals by Reynaldo Hernandez, Mural of Peace and Celebrate the Arts. The meanings of the murals are fairly similar, as they both acknowledge the differences in our community, which was my main inspiration in creating my pieces. The use of peace and unity was what pushed me to create my rainbow inspired background, as well as the eagles that were placed around the "eye" of my piece. The eagles originated from Mural of Peace, also giving a sense of freedom. However, the meanings of the murals were my main inspiration in creating my peace.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author took his chance to express how he felt the diversity in Milwaukee should be handled, in which the mixing of our cultures should be done with peace. This helped me to understand the meaning of the pieces, and also create my own understanding of how our community runs.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Before beginning my research. I already knew about how diverse Milwaukee was, as I've lived there for my whole life. I also knew that many people in the city are very active within the at community. However, during this process I recognized that not every place in the U.S. has a multitude of cultures; not every city is as diverse as Milwaukee is. It's upsetting that people find it unusual how diverse our city is, because I feel like everyone should have the ability to experience different cultures. Some individuals just miss out on good learning opportunities. I love the diversity of Milwaukee, but I wish that everyone was equal, because there are still equality problems.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My theme was the diversity of cultures within Milwaukee.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Reynaldo Hernandez wanted to show the best parts of our community, to show a more positive light on Milwaukee. Looking at other murals also proved that they try to block the negativity out. Muralists just want to represent their communities as fit as possible.
My only inspiration consisted of multiple murals by Reynaldo Hernandez, Mural of Peace and Celebrate the Arts. The meanings of the murals are fairly similar, as they both acknowledge the differences in our community, which was my main inspiration in creating my pieces. The use of peace and unity was what pushed me to create my rainbow inspired background, as well as the eagles that were placed around the "eye" of my piece. The eagles originated from Mural of Peace, also giving a sense of freedom. However, the meanings of the murals were my main inspiration in creating my peace.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author took his chance to express how he felt the diversity in Milwaukee should be handled, in which the mixing of our cultures should be done with peace. This helped me to understand the meaning of the pieces, and also create my own understanding of how our community runs.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Before beginning my research. I already knew about how diverse Milwaukee was, as I've lived there for my whole life. I also knew that many people in the city are very active within the at community. However, during this process I recognized that not every place in the U.S. has a multitude of cultures; not every city is as diverse as Milwaukee is. It's upsetting that people find it unusual how diverse our city is, because I feel like everyone should have the ability to experience different cultures. Some individuals just miss out on good learning opportunities. I love the diversity of Milwaukee, but I wish that everyone was equal, because there are still equality problems.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My theme was the diversity of cultures within Milwaukee.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Reynaldo Hernandez wanted to show the best parts of our community, to show a more positive light on Milwaukee. Looking at other murals also proved that they try to block the negativity out. Muralists just want to represent their communities as fit as possible.
Bibliography
Art, Museum of Wisconsin. “Reynaldo Hernandez (1950 - ).” Museum of Wisconsin Art, MOWA, www.wisconsinart.org/archives/artist/reynaldo-hernandez/profile-6701.aspx.
Carr, Adam. “IMPACT STORY >>> INNER CITY ARTS MURAL.” Impact Seven, NNS, 17 Apr. 2018, www.impactseven.org/portfolio-items/impact-story-inner-city-arts-mural/.
Editor. “How the Murals of Reynaldo Hernandez Transcend Generations.” The Milwaukee Independent, Milwaukee Independent, 19 June 2017, www.milwaukeeindependent.com/articles/how-the-murals-of-reynaldo-hernandez-transcend-generations/.
Quigley, Kelly. “Esperanza Unida Hopes to Raise $75,000 to Restore Landmark `Mural of Peace'.” Bizjournals.com, The Business Journals, 28 Nov. 1999, www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/1999/11/29/story5.html.
“Reynaldo Hernandez.” Milwaukee Mural Map, MKE Mural Map, 19 Dec. 2017, mkemuralmap.com/reynaldo-hernandez/.
Carr, Adam. “IMPACT STORY >>> INNER CITY ARTS MURAL.” Impact Seven, NNS, 17 Apr. 2018, www.impactseven.org/portfolio-items/impact-story-inner-city-arts-mural/.
Editor. “How the Murals of Reynaldo Hernandez Transcend Generations.” The Milwaukee Independent, Milwaukee Independent, 19 June 2017, www.milwaukeeindependent.com/articles/how-the-murals-of-reynaldo-hernandez-transcend-generations/.
Quigley, Kelly. “Esperanza Unida Hopes to Raise $75,000 to Restore Landmark `Mural of Peace'.” Bizjournals.com, The Business Journals, 28 Nov. 1999, www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/1999/11/29/story5.html.
“Reynaldo Hernandez.” Milwaukee Mural Map, MKE Mural Map, 19 Dec. 2017, mkemuralmap.com/reynaldo-hernandez/.