Suzanne Kwadjosse

This is my final Editorial piece as a Gift !! 

Mathew Richardson is interested in different histories, social myths, and half-hidden stories. Richardson is interested in the relationship between fact and fiction (and what might inhabit the space in between). His research develops from exploring and misusing found imagery, objects and historic and fictional instants that are re-purposed to provoke questions of ‘believability’ and reality. Richardson is looking at how imageries and thoughts develop public and made importantly.

I really like the use of colours and compositions in Richardson work which am trying to portray in my work. I like how his work makes you suggestion things and in my piece I want people to question what it’s about. I’m going to experiment with collage and explore the space and composition in my develop ideas.

Afarin Sajedi is an Iranian artist. Sajedi only portrays women. In all her works her women’s faces are highly made up be it in pain or joy to show how she visualizes women when they leave the safety of their homes to enter the world outside. She wrote “Women have often told me how much they enjoy using makeup because it allows them another face,” Sajedi exclaims in despair.

Darby's work deals with socio-political and humanitarian themes. His work depicts people in a cultural situation where the innocent and vulnerable have been impacted by forces of social, economic and political transformation. His focus is on children, as he believes they can and will conclude the future.

In this work painting on the newspaper is highly appropriate, as it suggests the child is lost in a landscape filled with litter: discarded. The beauty and innocence of the child are in stark contrast to the gritty, sorrow that surrounds him.

Throughout history, various artists have attacked mental illness, leading scientists to examine the link between creativity and mental health.

I thought it's useful to look at artists that suffer from mental illness because it shows how they think of illustrating things since they are experiencing the process of mental condition.it also gives me more ideas of portraying my work and seeing how they visualise their work differently The positive side is that although they have mental conditions their normal ,talented people that have handled their self well and give inspiration to people that have mental illness and don't think they can make it.

Edvard Munch, who died 70 years ago, suffered from anxiety which he emptied into his paintings, such as "The Scream", pictured here.

This is Edwards quote about his work 'The scream'.

"The sun began to set - suddenly the sky turned blood red," he wrote. "I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an endless scream passing through nature."

The painting is thought to represent the torment of contemporary man, which Munch experienced intensely throughout his lifetime, but saw as a crucial driver of his art.

He wrote in his diary: "My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art."

What I like about munch is quote is that he's not ashamed of his mental condition, it shows that he wants to continue with life but just finding a way to manage it.

Vincent van Gogh battled depression, and famously cut off his own ear. In spite -- or perhaps because -- of his troubles, he created fabulous artwork, such as his "Sunflowers", pictured here.

Vincent van Gogh, who cut off his ear after an argument with his friend Paul Gauguin, and later killed himself, swayed heavily between mastermind and mental illness.

In a letter to his brother Theo in 1888, he wrote: "I am unable to describe exactly what is the matter with me. Now and then there are horrible fits of anxiety, apparently without cause, or otherwise a feeling of emptiness and fatigue in the head... at times I have attacks of melancholy and of atrocious remorse."

L5 Brief - Editorial

At first, I was excited about the brief but quickly began to worry about trying to listen to people's conversations without people noticing. I also was concerned that people might get upset that I was listening in or recording their private conversations. So I wanted to make sure I was close to enough to hear the full conversation but far enough to be noticed. Sometimes I also found that when I eventually got close enough to listen to the people they were speaking in a language that I could not understand. It was difficult at times.

 I eavesdropped in public spaces; in the changing rooms of lingerie stores, Internet cafés, a phone store, the bus stop, the cinema and libraries. It is important to say that the majority of conversations I listened in on were of young teenagers. From the words that I overheard and transcribed I began to see a pattern emerging in what people were discussing in private in a public space. Young people were obsessed with wanting to look like a certain celebrity and looking in the mirror and wishing they looked different. So I began to look at articles on the web about body image, celebrities and went to chat rooms to see if what I overheard was also being discussed online. I found it to be true. I researched how women feel objectified by males. R&B singer Alicia Keys mentioned hiding her body (wearing baggy clothes) because she didn’t like attention from males. I watched a documentary about what other countries think sexy women is. It was very surprising how each country thinks different about beauty. I saw this online mail article called ‘Black women are less attractive than others’. Just instantly looking at it find it very offensive and discrimination. I just thought to myself being a black woman myself am sure black women are feeling insecure about themselves. I started to think about everyday situations and conversations are concerned with the body. This surprised me not because I also don’t think about it but because I was shocked at the level to which people compared and felt terrible about how they view themselves. From my research, I’ve decided to communicate the issues people have and try to make people body proud no matter what size they are.

 Thich Nhat Hanh is One of the best-known poets. As I am exploring body forms I was inspired by the words to look at not changing our bodies because a person feels pressure from society to look a certain size but begin to love who you are now. For my artist research, I looked at Robert Crumb and Jenny Saville; they use larger models in their work. I felt it was important to look at an artist who celebrates/represent the human form other than size zero. Martin Maloney and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s both paint particular group which are often not represented and I thought it’s important to involve different ethnicities and genders.

 This inspired me to want to illustrate and celebrate different body shapes and not just one size of beauty. I started to draw a big woman in a confident pose using vibrant colours. I layered this piece with wooden sticks to give the impression that she has broken through a beauty standard and is on display. The problems I faced was I didn’t like the effect and presentation my work presented using mix media; it looked unfinished. I decided to limit the amount of material I used for each piece of work; because I want my illustration to be sharp and precise; the images were too distracted and weren't clear to my satisfactory. As my ideas develop I began to experiment to look at different sizes of men and women. I went one step further and began to add thought bubbles and brainstorm about things that many young people were overheard discussing.in these developed ideas I used a lot of pro markers and ink because I wanted the messaged to be clear so I used bold colours to attract the audience. I tried to emulate Crumb and Saville perspective by taking photographs at angles. I was able to capture some lovely quality images; the cons were that I needed more photographs of people and they weren’t many that would volunteer. I done some large scales paintings inspired by Saville and Boakye’s. I was experimenting with textures and colour. I have developed my ideas further by communicating how people view themselves on social networks, and I tried to illustrate it in different situations. I was thinking about how much images are altered online. I illustrated beautiful big women and skinny women shown just as they are. Not needing Photoshop to enhance their beauty. For my final illustrations for my book, I decided to illustrate different body forms; and issues which may cause a lot of depression and anxiety; due to my eavesdropping from hearing many young teenagers insecure about themselves. I visited London and went to ‘Dalston Art market’; I really liked a woman’s lino prints and instantly I just thought it would work great for my illustrations. I was influenced by the intense and distorted mark making in Charlie Spear lino. Inside my book, I began to do outlines of illustrations of manipulated selfie stick, mirror, iPhones to communicate everyday things teenagers use to view themselves with. I didn’t want to stitch my work; because I wanted people to be able to frame them if they wanted to.

I didn’t want to stitch my work; because I wanted people to be able to frame them if they wanted to.

my end version of the PDF book is different from my original handmade book .

I researched ‘goodpressgallery’ and selected books-  visual art; I skimmed through some books but I really liked Jennet Thomas and Eric Wesley their typography was decent, not complicated but elegant. For my book, I want my typeface to not distract my illustrations so I’m looking for something simple but classy.

 I research 'thisiscatalogue' and skimmed through some sophisticated books which I liked the layout of most of them were from 'pick me up' and the 'Beach London'. I also looked at a book called 'Nobrow' I loved the combination of colours which were really eye-catching and reminded me of a lino with the continuous lines.