ART

This is probably the most odd post I feel like I have to write. I am writing this from my second (?) week of isolation. I have lost track of time, motivation, sanity.

Yet here I am with a short video to show my current research on the theme I am working on. My theme is entitled ‘Animal Connecting’. For those who have no clue, it is a humorous nod at the game Animal Crossing, which is the only thing I have been checking daily to escape reality. If you know me, then you know I am a big animal lover. I advocate for animal rights left and right, try my absolute best to avoid supporting exploitation and cruelty. Since I was a kid, I was known for feeding all of the strays and crying when I had to let them be. I rescued my two pets from the streets of Romania as babies- they are currently living with us in Wales. It has not been easy, but they are my best friends. In this isolation, I am extremely grateful for my little dog that snores next to me in bed. I am a crazy cat lady and I love my cat more than anything.

I think the point I am trying to make is pretty clear: I would take a bullet for my pets and they warm up my heart in ways nothing else can. Therefore, I don’t value them any less than I do a human being. They deserve love, respect, just as humans do. In my theme, I want us and animals to be equal.

I have so much art that inspires me for this. It starts from paintings from the 1800s where animals are included in the picture- it just always makes me happy when I notice them in museums. I watched most of the movies produced by Studio Ghibli, which have a heavy influence on animals as characters. For example, Totoro is a massive animal who is a combination of animals that was created by Miyazaki. His style of animation is truly beautiful and it makes me want to make my work very realistic yet filled with fantasy elements. I want my paintings to be filled with detail just like Lauren’s illustrations.

I wish to create 3 medium sized canvases with an acrylic undercoat and oil painting as the main material. I want to create one model/sculpture, on a similar basis of my Air World but with way more detail. I wish to combine all three paintings into one sculpture.

I attended a lecture talk in Pontio with Annie Atkins as the artist. It was truly hyped up by everyone around me, especially graphic designers and film fanatics. Of course it is because she is graphic designer for film. Her talk was captivating and it did not feel like I was there for two hours.

She talked a lot about The Grand Budapest Hotel and her involvement in it, which was so incredible. She made me realise the finesse of filmmaking that people don’t really talk about. It goes beyond the acting and makeup and costume making.. it is all about the details. She is one of the people that believes in detail- once it is all brought together, it really makes the artwork precious and very original. This is great, because I have always been a detail lover. I struggle with simplicity and minimalism, I love to approach projects with tons of detail in them! I wish to work in Interior Design and I feel as if detail is very important there. Not only from a practical point of view, but also from a professional and artistic point of view. It shows how careful she is about her work and how she makes sure it turns out just perfect. Funnily enough, she made a spelling mistake on many boxes she had made for the set. It showed how important it is to have a good team and good communication with it too. The post-edit really helped her and I hope to experience a team as helpful as hers. The Mendl’s box is actually my favourite object she had made! I am not sure why. Is it because I am obssessive about caligraphy and typography ? In my country, this is vital in school work, so I grew up trying to have the best writing. Is it the colour palette, as it is my two favourite colours together?

No.

Ronan Devlin is a contemporary, modern artist who now combines fine art with graphics and creates beautiful installations that really bring the audience in.

We had a brief that was entitled The Four Elements- we had to represents this through art. We had to choose the elements: all of them, pair them, only one of them. I chose to work with the Air element! I am heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli animation, especially their beautiful art style and story lines. Afterwards, I took that inspiration and I drew a design for the Air World.

I made a world where the humans are small sized (inspired by Arrietty, animation movie) and they live in the hot air balloons. The other elements don’t exist within this universe. The purple balloons represent the little houses they live in, the middle one is the ‘Town Hall’, or Balloon Hall. It is where they all meet and socialise! The dragons are not always visible, as they are the Air spirits and they protect the world from evil and pollution. They maintain the harmony and balance between air and humanity. The main blue dragon is inspired by Haku from Spirited Away. He is the big protector and has the most power over the Air World. Spirits seem to be a common element in Japanese animation as people tend to ask for their guidance and protection at times. The smaller dragons are inspired by Pokemon, they represent the rest of the air spirits that do the rest of the work by protecting whatever needed.

Exhibition for Empathy was a very important event in the month of February/March, the year of 2020. This year was welcomed with many sad news, one of them including devastating fires in Australia. I am an advocate for animal rights and my love for them is infinite. I had to do something to help , even if I am on the other side of the planet. Me and other three students went from a simple chat to a fully developed PROJECT. Therefore, we contacted many different people or companies and CARN CELF and Galeri Caernarfon were the people who were right for us and were ready to help. They helped us find a place and we have managed to fill it with local art, baked goods, music and lights. It was a three day long pop-up exhibition in Caernarfon, Wales, by Doc Victoria.

I will truly admit that this was one of the most difficult, challenging events. Mainly due to the fact that we are simply students and there really is so much we can do. So much we did was raise £360 and manage to raise awareness as well as some well-deserved publicity for the artists. It has taught me a lot about working non-profit and local- not easy, but possible. It has taught me that art can bring peace and kindness to this world.

I attended a talk given by the International artist Junko Mori- who specialises as a blacksmith but also as a silversmith. Her passion for her work travels all the way from Japan to London, to Liverpool and finally, to North Wales. She had talked extensively about her life until the present time which gave insightful context to her work. I was fascinated by this artist because of her passion and the depth she explored metal work. The current brief I am working on is entitled ‘Layers’- her work is all about layered metal in repetitive, yet exquisite patterns. She finds her passion in the ‘odd’ in nature, she believes the odd nature co-exists with beauty.

Following the Turner Prize this year, the shortlist was announced and I was very pleased to see highly political work highlighting this year’s competition. I, myself, can consider myself a political artist in a way: I have been touching on feminism, women’s right mainly, gender, sexuality, climate change, veganism, human rights. I focus on women’s rights as I feel close to the topic; females have always been the inferior group in society and that is starting to change with so many women speaking out loud about issues that we have to face simply because we identify as females.

Helen Cammock is an artist who is on the shortlist because she gives voice to the women who had experienced the Civil Rights Movement in Northen Ireland in 1968; she expresses her opinions through photography and text, print, video, performance art. I already strongly relate to Helen Cammock because of the way she expressed herself- I myself like to make use of photography and impactful text to create a fluid language for expression. I admire how she does not want to simply forget history, as it is something that will for ever shape the present in some way. The Civil Rights Movement is a strong conflict to speak about, it is emotional and very powerful- I am glad to see women working as artists that touch on topics such as this one.

Tai Shani is the second female artist on the shortlist this year, who uses performance, film, photography and sculptural installations as a way of presenting her work. Her on-going project ‘Dark Continent’ is an expanded adaptation of the book ‘City of Ladies’ ( Christine de Pizan, 1405) as she asks herself questions about feminism in an utopian city created by the bodies of women. What interests me is her use of literature to create characters that have monologue- I often use musical lyrics and book phrases in my work. More so, the city she creates is a city for anyone who wants to define themselves as feminine. I think society should think more about femininity and less about the biological gender of female, therefore her work resonates with me the most. She inspires me to be thoughtful and meaningful about my work!

Lawrence Abu Hamdan is a male artist and audio investigator, who, interestingly, explored the ‘politics of listening’ and the role of sound and voice within the law of human rights. Abu Hamdan creates spatial experiences through performances, audio archives, photography and text. His main inspiration for his exhibition is a prison called Saydnaya, in Syria, where detainees never see the prison; therefore, they associate sounds with visuals and the artist is communicating this idea through multiple devices. Violent experiences are associated with simple objects such as tea cups, eggs, popcorn. I feel very emotional towards his work as he exposes acoustic memory in a way no one every tried to do, telling the truth of hundreds of prisoners who all they know of is the walls surrounding them.

Oscar Murillo is a male artist who is on the shortlist for his great work of drawings, who he describes as ‘discharge of energy’. First of all, before I saw his work, I appreciated how much thought and emotion he poures into it and makes it obvious he does so. I think it is important that every artist works from the soul and sometimes mind. He uses drawing, video, painting, bookmaking to express how he emigrated from Colombia- he placed his focus on his biography. This I can strongly relate to as I have produced a timeline of my life and I did migrate from Romania- there is familiarity in his work.

Antony Gormley is a British sculptor now recognised worldwide, whose work is mainly exhibited at the Royal Academy. Whilst clicking away on the website as I research Gormley, I came across a piece named ‘Mother’s Pride’ ( it was a brand of white bread in the ’80s) and I found the process very unique and original. I have not heard of waxed bread used in sculpture to showcase human life, matter through the process of eating. It really had an impact on my way of thinking about 3D making- anything could be used and nothing is unconventional when it comes to creating. I tend to prefer to have ‘deep’ or at least some sort of meaning behind my work, just as Gormley as. As much as I appreciate any type of art, I feel as if a story or a meaning brings the art closer to us.