Project 2 -Self-visualization

For this project I will use a figure of myself in each of three panels, exploring each environment in some way. Each panel will have elements of either personal history and influences, present life situation, or elements of my personality, respectively. Running through all three, there will be certain interests/influences that have not changed(music, art, dancing, writing) and important physical characteristics that have had a lasting effect on my self-image or self-esteem. However, I will focus on simplifying, combining, and deleting images and ideas to create a simpler, more powerful overall impact.

Frida Kahlo, Cindy Sherman, and Cui Xuiwen

While these three women artists used different media (paint, photographs, digital imaging), they expressed some similar themes regarding women in their work.
First, in Cindy Sherman’s work, in her untitled film series, we see glamorous women exposed in their private moments. The use of black and white film and sharp contrasts lends drama to otherwise everyday scenes. The expressions on the women’s faces are either carefully emotionless, fearful(as if they are being pursued), or despairing. The are crowded into the frame of the picture if the scene is set indoors, as if they are trapped in a situation or role that they did not choose, and are not happy with. In the scenes set outdoors, there is an element of danger, as the space around them seems large and empty, yet a threat seems to lurk nearby. This feeling comes from emptiness of the space and dark shadows in some picture, and fearful eyes of the model gazing around in others.
In Cindy Sherman’s fairytale series, she works in color, but instead of beautiful women, we see Beauty turn into The Beast. The colors are garish, the lighting full of contrast and shadows, giving them a feeling of horror movie stills. In her historical portrait series, Cindy Sherman uses traditional demure poses, colors, and at least a century-old period era clothing, yet injects partial nudity of the female figures calmly staring at us. Lastly, in her centerfold series, Cindy Sherman unexpectedly shows us cropped figures, dressed in rumpled clothes hastily put on, sleeping , or looking fearful, but definitely not sexy.
Cindy Sherman takes commonly-held expectations and stereotypes, and shows us another, less attractive side. For example, women are expected to dress fashionable, wear make-up, and always look their best, fit into a role that they are expected to fill, and to be brave and hide pain behind a mask of calm. In her portraits, we see women whose elegant masks sometimes slip to show their vulnerability and unhappiness with their role or situation, whose idea of sexy might be a good night’s sleep, or whose fairytales turn into horror stories. Also, in the historical portraits, I see the objectification of a popularly ogled women’s body parts, a feeling of being visually stripped bare that many women have encountered. In her portraits women are alone, isolated, and vulnerable. Cindy Sherman uses herself as the only model in her work, yet these do not feel like self-portraits, they seem to represent women as a group. Through her disguises she represents many different types of women, but also exposes feelings that all women share. So, in that way, perhaps she is also exposing herself to us, as well.

When we look at Cui Xuiwen’s digital images, we see some similarities to Cindy Sherman. In Xuiwen’s Angel Series, we see young women who are lonely, isolated, and fearful, as they are in Sherman’s work, though here it is probably due to their being young, alone, and pregnant. Again focusing on their appearances, as modern young women have been taught, they wear bright garish make-up, to emphasize their attributes, and are dressed in a fashionably modern, revealing white dresses. Xuiwen also uses herself, and possibly one other young girl as a model, making many copies of the one girl in her images. As with Cindy Sherman, it seems to me that Xuiwen uses herself not to give insight into her own feelings alone, but to also give voice to the feelings of all women. There is a sense of large, open, outdoor spaces around the figures, again showing their isolation, and their faces are often mask-like, except in one where they look fearful. Like Cindy Sherman’s work the contrasts are sharp, and the colors are bright, and there is a feeling of vulnerability in the poses. The girls also seem trapped both in the situation they find themselves in (pregnant and alone), and the role of a young, modern women. I find it interesting that in most of the portraits where there are many girls together, they seem lonely in a crowd, as if they do not know how to reach out to each other for strength and support. Yet in one portrait alone, they are leaning against each other, as if to support one another, and stand stronger together.
The use of color in Xuiwen’s images suggests contrasts. The inclusion of red in some images brings to mind strong emotion, the blood of childbirth, and the color brides wear for luck in China. Since these girls are young and alone, this contrasts with their status. The red color also seems reserved for traditional architectural elements, which contrasts with their modern dress and situation. The blue sets a calm mood, yet the girls
are not calm, they are exhausted, fearful, and dejected. The white dresses suggest purity and angels, yet the girls are hardly pure or angelic, in their state. And finally, though this presents no contrast, Xuiwen uses red and blue, primary colors, which are used in children’s toys, and to decorate baby’s rooms, which seems very apropos.
There is an element of hope in Xuiwen’s images, that is lacking in Cindy Sherman’s. In Angel #1, the girl is standing in water, under dark clouds, but there are bright white clouds on the horizon, on the way. Furthermore, in a couple of the images, the women are on a roadway or street that they continue to travel though they are frightened of the journey, showing their strength and determination.

In the work of Frida Kahlo, again we see some of the same themes. Frida uses herself very often as a model, yet in her paintings, she is not expressing an everywoman view, but exploring deeply her own self. Yet, like Sherman, and Xuiwen, Kahlo’s self-portraits show her with a calm, impassive expression. If you want insight into her personality, you look at her vibrant use of color and symbolism. Like Xuiwen and Sherman, Kahlo is always painted alone, seeming isolated, and perhaps trapped inside her own painful emotions. She exposes her vulnerability in those portraits that graphically strip bare the sources of her pain, such as her miscarriage. The graphic nature of some of Kahlo’s work recalls the horror-movie quality of Cindy Sherman’s Fairytale series. Frida Kahlo was also concerned with her physical appearance, as she is mostly dressed in elaborate Mexican clothing and hairstyles, with bright red lips, but for her, this is an expression of her heritage.
Like a couple of Cindy Sherman’s portraits, Frida Kahlo used devices like tears on her calm face to show her pain and hurt. In her portrait of herself and her husband, Frida shows how she feels about her place in the world as a women. Though she herself is a painter also, and has the support of her husband in her endeavors, she paints him holding a palette and brushes, and her with none. Perhaps she sees her efforts as less worthy than his, or she feels that to be a proper wife, at that time, she should not put herself forward. She is in a submissive, meek pose. She loved her husband, yet painted mostly herself alone, not many portraits of him. Is this because she had other love interests as well? Or that he was busy, and left her alone often, so she had no choice? Perhaps this is why she looks so stoic, and yet from her use of symbols, and her occasional gory revelation paintings, she shows us all the hurt and fear inside.

PS>Illustrator Project

Finished Photoshop Project 1

Photoshop Project 1- Original