"Marigold" Mosiac 8in by 8in September 2019 EXHIBITION TEXT: My intention with this piece was to portray the love one receives when they pass. I do this by using a wood board, multiple colors of glass, tacky glue, and grout. I was inspired by Frida Kahlo and Jim Bachor. I was originally inspired by my workplace to create a mosiac. |
Critical investigation
originals (available/sold). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bachor.com/originals-for-sale
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Fox, R. L. (2015, October 16). The hidden meanings behind Frida Kahlo's use of plants in her art. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/e432a2cc-6dc5-11e5-8171-ba1968cf791a
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Knowing that I wanted to make a mosaic, I started searching for famous mosaics I could go off of. Sadly many were a little too advanced for my current level of glass cutting skill. Additionally my work does not possess multiple shades of skin tone tinted glass or tiles. After this failed attempted, I looked for more modern artists and I found Jim Bachor through his pot hole mosaics. I particularly liked his ice cream pieces. I went to his website and found the Memento Mori series and knew I wanted to do something similar. It really resonated with me due to the battles with death I had been recently dealt.
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I wanted to add a warmer feeling towards the dead so I added flowers to resemble a calavera. I was inspired to do this because of the famous Frida Kahlo. She also had many flowers in her paintings and each would have its own meaning. I wanted to have the same type of attention to detail as her. I added marigolds to my own work. The marigold is also called the “herb of the sun” It blooms in the sun. Marigolds represent passion but it can also represent grief. This was fitting for my piece because that is essentially the point to this work. While you grieve the dead, You also bring about love and passion.
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Planning Drawings
When I first discovered Jim Bachor I really wanted to do something similar to his Flower pot hole mosaics. While I loved this idea, it was too unoriginal. I didnt want to risk plagiarism and had to keep brainstorming the next idea. I did end up using the plain white background in my final work though.
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This was my second sketch which was more focused on Memento mori by Bachor. I liked his use of common items in his mosaics but I couldnt come up with anything I wouldve liked to pair with my own skeleton. I also felt like just making a skeleton with a silly pose would be boring.
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Process, Ideas and Intentions
Process
To make a mosaic, you can either just go for it or sketch it out like I did before hand. Begin sketching on whatever surface you are using.
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The way I cut glass is by putting the glass in between the cutters first and then putting the front of the cutter in a plastic bag. Be sure to cut all glass before starting to glue
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This is me cutting the glass in the bag. An alternative method would be to place the glass in the bag and just apply pressure from the outside of the bag.
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Once all glass is cut, Use tacky glue and spread over the area you are working on. You can use the tip of the glue or your finger spread.
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Continue to place glass in large areas in large sections. My background was all a single color so I worked in large sections. You need to be sure that the glass has a decent amount of space in between for grout to fill. Not to big, not to small. Continue using the same spacing for the entirety of the work.
Begin placing glass area by area
. After having all the details glued, I outlined my skeleton in white.
Scoop a generous amount of grout from desired container.
Continue and fill entire piece. Pay close attention to edges and small crevices
I like to use windex on my mosaics. I really dont know if it helps but it makes me feel better.
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If you had a detailed sketch like me, you simply follow that sketch and fill with the desired color of glass. Its the same concept but a smaller area to work with. In the image above I laid out my glass to start.
Once finished wait to dry before working around the area to avoid shifting
I filled in the rest with white rows.Let dry overnight at least.
Start filling one section
Squeeze sponge out in bucket of water and wipe off excess grout
Switch to paper towel and get more gunk off the top of the glass
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Next I applied glue to the entire area. It is important for smaller areas that you do not use too much glue. Doing this will result in the glue drying too thick and the grout being unable to fill the space between the glass.
for my flowers it really accentuates the fact that one needs to cut many pieces before starting to glue. .
To begin grouting, Wet sponge.
Rub the grout in between the crevices
Pay close attention to detailed areas.
Clean each glass individually.
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Experimentation
I experimented with my skeletons hand a lot. I guess being bad at drawing hands translates into mosaic hands as well. I had a few ideas like a fist, a peace sign and like the image shows, A heart sign. Once I got to actually putting the hand on I decided to go for another pose without sketching. I had previously cut some great finger shaped glass on accident when making the ribs and I had the urge to use them. The open throwing hand was the result of this willy nilly change of heart I had in the process. |
I experimented with colors of the glass and the colors of grout. I was not sure if i really wanted to leave the background white because there were so many other options for me to do. I decided to focus on my main elements and leave it blank. The grout color is always a question I get from guests at my work ¨now that i have this piece, what grout do I choose?¨ I´ll tell them the usual that warmer colors go well with linen and browns. Bone usually goes well with blues or anything that doesnt have a lot of white. Black usually goes well with colorful pieces. I decided to go with the earth grout because it goes well with the warmer marigolds, it wont outshine the black and it wouldnt overtake my white background.
I experimented with the application of grout because I hadnt grouted at work for quite some time. I know we used to not grout the edges but to give my work a better more refined finish I grouted the sides as well. |
Reflection
I am very proud of the outcome. I've seen so many peoples mosaics at work and I can say that mine is one of the best. I had never actually made a mosaic before this, I only taught people how to make them. After all that time of problem solving and figuring out how to make the process quicker and easier for the guest, I guess I really knew what I was doing. It was really easy to make after teaching it so many times. Now I really understand hands on the issues of the mosaic making process and some challenges guests can be facing. For example, the glue is really hard to use, it doesnt come out easy enough for it to be a relaxing art experience. I am very glad I decided to create this piece for IB. I gained lots of knowledge from this.
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Critique
If I were to create this piece again, I would do a few things differently. One main one would be to study the anatomy of the human skeleton some more. I really dont know if my skeleton is even close to being anotomoically correct. I would love to learn more. Sadly, I do not take anatomy, nor is it IB anatomy. Maybe in the future if I have enough money I could take a class to learn more. Secondly, I would cut more detailed pieces of glass for the background. I feel like the rectangles didnt hit it for me.
Compare and Contrast
Similarities between my piece and Memento Mori :
Similarities between my piece and Frida Kalho:
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Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and it's effect upon your artwork?
Each of my inspirational pieces had a effect on my work in one way or another. For example, Since i had been inspired by odees collages it had effect on my work by giving me the idea of and ocean for my foreground and background
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
So Odee was describing himself and how he describes his art.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas,culture,etc. While you researched your inspiration?
One generalization from Odee was that he didnt want to be associated with the typical artsy people and their sterotypes.
What is the central idea and theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea and theme around my research was to put feelings in my piece, from Salvador Dali and don't think about it too much, from Odee
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Odee wanted to visually express himself instead of making art.
Each of my inspirational pieces had a effect on my work in one way or another. For example, Since i had been inspired by odees collages it had effect on my work by giving me the idea of and ocean for my foreground and background
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
So Odee was describing himself and how he describes his art.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas,culture,etc. While you researched your inspiration?
One generalization from Odee was that he didnt want to be associated with the typical artsy people and their sterotypes.
What is the central idea and theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea and theme around my research was to put feelings in my piece, from Salvador Dali and don't think about it too much, from Odee
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Odee wanted to visually express himself instead of making art.
Bibliography
1.“I Create Digital Colleges To Express Myself Visually.” Bored Panda,www.boredpanda.com/digital-collage-art-from-iceland/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic.
2. “15 Things You Didn't Know About The Persistence Of Memory.” Mental Floss, 21 May 2018, mentalfloss.com/article/62725/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-persistence-memory.
2. “15 Things You Didn't Know About The Persistence Of Memory.” Mental Floss, 21 May 2018, mentalfloss.com/article/62725/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-persistence-memory.