The Timeless Woman
The topic and idea behind my piece of art is Feminism. The three different layers of women are meant to represent a passing of time. The achromatic women signify the past, the colored, abstract women represent the present, and the woman in the alternate universe symbolizes the future. A future which is female! This idea is important to discuss because even in today’s society there is not gender equality. It is still a persistent issue that plagues our world. I tried my best to avoid cliché images like peace signs and the female gender insignia, but I wanted to incorporate women in the piece, because after all, they are the muse and the subject. Just like women deserve to be herd, they deserve to be seen. I hope the viewer sees the time lapse I tried to incorporate into the piece and realizes that even though equality is closer, we are not nearly there. The background displays road signs to symbolize these roadblocks women face when trying to gain their power.
One of the most important elements I incorporated in my piece is the use of color. To start, the background is muted, portraying the idea that the world is still moving without always thinking about this issue. Pink was used throughput the piece to give hints of femininity. And ultimately, the neon colors of the future were used to create an idealistic view of what is to come, a sense of bright hope. Shape is another element that is emphasized. The mountains symbolize the climb and hardship women face to earn their rights. Again, the shape of these mountains is recreated with the women of the past, and the present women, giving the idea that since the beginning, women have stood strong. The principle of emphasis is used in the silhouette of the woman that encompasses the piece. Within her mind is the main idea, a colorful future and a dark past. The contrast from the background gives a sense of idealism.
When designing this piece, I decided to use the opacity tool to mute out the background layer. This allowed for a brighter emphasis on the mind going on in the silhouette. I saturated all of the colors within the mind to show the stark contrast of the ideas in her head to her surroundings. The magic wand tool and magnetic lasso were both heavily used when cutting out the shapes of the women. The eraser tool was used to cut out the space around the woman of the cuter and the spaceship. Image rotation, scale, and distortion were used to fit the pieces within the silhouette. Color channels were played with as well as brightness and contrast.
I was not present for the peer critique. But I was here for the class critique. The comments were all positive explaining that the color choices all were very pleasing. It was also noticed that the shape of the mountain was repeated throughout the shapes of the women. I was pleased that people understood and could see my ideas coming to life. One student said that he liked that the flowers and past started at the bottom and it all culminated in the futuristic, more in depth imaginary scene. Although I didn’t get much feedback on how to change or improve the piece, I liked being able to hear the feedback of what other people saw within my piece. Ultimately, I left my submission the same as it was before the critique.
Citations
http://charlestontileremodeling.com/testimonials-3/
http://www.safetysign.com/products/2643/caution-sign
http://rebloggy.com/post/art-trippy-moon-psychedelic/41027425514
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/when-feminism-meets-music-great-songs-that-sample-radical-speech/
https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-womans-building-las-feminist-mecca
https://mic.com/articles/87809/23-ways-feminists-have-made-the-world-better-for-women#.EubqjR9ri
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/371547037980803036/?lp=true
https://www.tumblr.com/search/flower%20png