MAY 1, 2010 : Critique

ELLEN
She brought the painting “ whore house” from last month. Though she had originally gotten feedback that everyone liked the house in black and white she choose to color it. The house became pea green (or pee green) with hot pink legs and baby blue structural accents. There was paper “plywood boards” that were attached to the painting to add a derelict feel to the house. Rain and water were also added to give a flooded feeling and a feeling of impending disaster. There was some conversation about adding text to the lower part of the painting in the style of the Mexican Ex- Voto paintings. Ex voto paintings (similar retablos) recall dangerous or threatening events that actually occurred and which the person survived, thanks to the intercession of a sacred person- God, Mary or a saint. They are made as a way of thanking the sacred person for their protection in precarious situations such as surviving an illness or earthquake. The text in Ellen’s paintings is proposed to commemorate the floods of 1993 and the inhabitants of the house being washed clean by its waters-“saved” or purged from their evil ways… we will see if that is a successful addition to the painting or not. We also discussed the use of “stickers” – paper or vellum that has been drawn on and then is stuck onto the painting to see if the addition is something that needs to be permanently painted on. Just a tool for trying new things while not having to commit to them.
Ellen also brought inspiration boards for her next series of works. These board were a collage of images and text that were spring boards for new drawings leading to paintings. They included Tomas Heart Benton images, nude ladies, Japanese waves, tattoo imagery and song lyrics. She was able to use these to organize her thoughts on a series of works loosely inspired by murder ballads, revenge and resurrection.


LAVONE
This was Lavone’s first time to the critique group. She is currently in law school so she is balancing art and a very heavy school schedule. We discussed some options for “on the go” art that she could always have a journal, small watercolor palette and some pens with her so while on break she can sketch and relax during class breaks. She brought a photograph of an abstract painting and two nude drawings for the palette and chisel figure class. (1012 N Dearborn Chicago IL 60610-see schedule of classes and open studio time at paletteandchisel.org) We all were very excited to learn about this local inexpensive resource. The two nude drawings were examples of a long pose and a shorter pose and we discussed the qualities that can be captured quickly vs. over laboring a longer pose. We talked about how we liked what we saw on the digital camera—a painting with lush colors and form. They reminded me of Richard Diebenkorn paintings. Lavone revealed that there are often human forms within the abstraction and that either are taken over by the abstraction or are carved out of it. She spoke about some past work that was more figurative and personal in its narrative and that she wanted to move past such a personal place. Her narrative comes from her Iranian heritage and her family’s cultural persecution under Saddam Hussein. Lavone’s grandmother was no longer allowed to wear the clothing that was a signifier of her Christian heritage. In her painting and she juxtaposed herself against a traditional doll wearing the clothing that her grandmother was no longer allowed to wear. There were issues with dress within the world of being a lawyer (pantsuit vs. pant skirt!) that she was experiencing that drew some interesting parallels to the dress constraints her relatives felt. We also spoke about Detroit and Iran as both her homes and that both are devastated and in ruins. This was all great fodder for art making the group agreed and that she didn’t have to make abstract art for it to be accessible or transcendent. There is a saying “personal is political” or “ work with what you know”. When we get down to speaking our own truths it’s amazing what others can connect to and it actually becomes a bigger statement by its intimacy.

CHRISTINA
Working still on the original oil painting-figure kneeling with figure in the shadows. We all agreed that the subject as it stood was strong- there was nothing that would be added to the painting and all that was needed was the technical finishing. The figure in the back (the watching figure) would be shrouded in a silhouette, darker and less intensity and backlit. There was some discussion about the “back” wall behind the kneeling figure and how that was in transition. There were some new colors and mark making that helped it be less solid green but there was still a need for depth or space behind the figure. We looked at paintings by Lucian Freud and how he used color and brush stroke differences (Short and fast for hair, slow and wide for walls) to help his figures have depth in their environments. Often times it was as subtle as having cooler colors more greens and blue in the hair in the shadows rather than more brown, which can be warm and then have a bright or light edge of color between the hair and the wall color. So many small tricks that facilitate illusions of space!
Christina talked about her desire to have a more fantastical element to her work. The little mermaid (folk tale not Disney!)) had been a subject she wanted to explore as well as other folk tales of female animal transformation. We encouraged Christina to take some of the environments of voyeurism into the folk tales. We both thought of the bathtub scene from the movie Splash as an example!