Analysis of a Paint Called Memorialized by Tyanna Buie

“This is where you can find your soul, if you dare.” (Anderson, pg 10) This belief comes from the mind of the Melinda, the progantists, art teacher, Mr. Freeman. Art is truly a door to the mind of an individual, showing things that people aren’t able to say. It shows through images and colors what many people aren’t able to express in words, events and thoughts speaking through the medium. Art is growing as a use of therapy to heal and tell. Psychologists analyze their patients art at a psychological level, interpreting the image into words. One of the theories in art therapy, which is seen throughout “Speak”, is the idea that unconscious thoughts are expressed in an image. (Irvings)These images then can be explained rationally. Melinda’s three major art images, the half dead trees, turkey bone, and cubism represent this theory.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but maybe they are worth far more than that. Pictures, although seemingly simple in nature, are extremely complex. Far too often, people overlook what a picture truly is. When a person looks at an image, they most likely see only the image, nothing else. Many people do not look deep enough into an image to fully comprehend the true meaning of it. However, when an individual begins to truly study an image in an attempt to understand the true complexity of it, they will be surprised at what they overlooked before. As stated by French Realist Painter, Gustave Courbet, “Fine art is knowledge made visible.”

This painting is a portrait of an old woman who is sitting on a chair while facing to the left. She is wearing a yellow flower dress with a beige jacket while sitting in an empty room. Her beauty is illustrated by her curly, gray hair and also her wrinkled face, neck, and hands. These details is what makes her look real and pure. I like how detailed it is because it reminds me of my grandmothers.

This Summer, I had the opportunity to spend my entire break attending conferences and interning at a lab at UCSD so I thought to myself I would never have the time to visit any art museum or do my summer assignments for that matter. That was until I realized I was living at a campus who had an art piece practically on every corner of their six colleges. I then began my journey, on scooter, to discover the hidden and the not so hidden gems The Stuart Collection at UCSD had to offer. It was then that I fell in love with 2 specific art pieces throughout the campus, those being Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star, which depicts an immigrant’s transition into American culture, and Kiki Smith’s Standing, which depicts a seemingly tortured woman.

I went to the Art Walk event in Newberg and stopped by the Art Elements Gallery. I wanted to find a work that calls to me. At first I didn’t find much. The art was nice, but I didn’t get any special feelings on them. Finally, I spotted an oil painting on a wrapped canvas. It was called Full Moon. The work was created by Oregon citizen, Marilyn Higginson. It’s still hard to express what I felt when I saw this painting, but I felt a sense of peace when I saw the tranquil setting of the painting. My aesthetic scanning will give a description of the work, analyze the craftsmanship, the art elements, the art principles, and give my interpretation on the work.

     Art, in each and every form that it comes in, shows us who we are. Our

The painting has some bright colors on the clothes of the people. The colors of the clothes are mostly pink, blue or red. The background of the entire piece is gold as well as the frame it is in. The frame is very detailed in the spirals and branching off decorative pieces, it looks like the opening to a cathedral. The people are drawn out very well, 22 people in the entire painting. The painting is a 2D painting as well. The lines on the clothing make it look realistic as well as the facial expressions of those in the paintings. The lighting is very bright making it look almost regal. The entire background of the painting is entirely gold. There are also gold highlights in the shape of circles circling everyone's heads in the painting. The painting itself is not too big, not more than 1-2 feet in length and 3 feet in height with the frame included. In the picture there are a lot of objects, there are two musicians with a violin and a harp. Other objects include books, most likely Bibles, a cross, a crown, a huge cathedral like stage that Mary and Jesus sit upon, and possibly a sword.

The two works of art that I have chosen to analyze are 1) Jordan Casteel. Miles and JoJo. 2014. Oil on canvas, 54” x 72” and 2) Aaron Fowler. He Was. 2015. Mixed media, 134” x 165” x 108”. The themes that these works of art represent in regards to the exhibit are love, family, and pain. However, they also fall into other thematic categories. The main theme that seems to apply to both “Miles and JoJo” and “He Was” is Human Experience. Additionally, these arts differ in some ways.

When you go to an art show do you understand the symbolic interpretation of the pieces? Don’t feel bad, most people don’t. What’s so upsetting about that is that you really miss out on the experience. When I think about interpretation of art I think of Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol’s use of iconography changed not only the art world but the people who came into contact with his art. Once you understand his life and art, you will understand his art as a symbolic representation.

Intrinsically intriguing as the artworks and themes are for many viewers, what lies with greater uniqueness is the visual context of art, as emphasized by Helena. Artworks, despite the era or time period, are always initially distinguished based on the surface; for example, what’s present and what’s going on. As I tour the Grohmann Museum with Helena, I was taught to look at the furthest distance in the portrait rather than the surface.

The artwork I chose from the Year 12 Body of Art Exhibition was from the collection titled Human Nature, created by Kelly Robinson. The assortment of pieces explored many different art forms as well as an array of different techniques. I thought the whole collection showed a wonderful connection between people and nature and how much they work alongside each other in our world. The piece I chose to draw was in the form of a sculpture, using black perspects and the laser cutter in the technology department Kelly was able to make a fascinating and intriguing piece. The sculpture is a silhouette of the side of a girls face, we know this because she has her hair in a bun, over the top and in the foreground leaves are printed onto the face and in

This oil painting was painted by Vincent Van Gogh in the late 1880’s. At the time, Van Gogh lived in the South of France. The room in this painting is where he would take his meals to eat. Van Gogh thought the room was a clash and contrast of reds and greens. In his painting, these clashing colors were meant to express the “terrible passions of humanity”. Van Gogh also wanted to show how the painted glow of a light could change whites to yellows and pale luminous greens. This painting reminds me of the clay project because this picture appears to be older and ceramics was one of the oldest types of artwork.I choose this artwork by Van Gogh because I thought it was different from most of his paintings he had done. I wanted to know what

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

"A picture can paint a thousand words." I found the one picture in my mind that does paint a thousand words and more. It was a couple of weeks ago when I saw this picture in the writing center; the writing center is part of State College. The beautiful colors caught my eye. I was so enchanted by the painting, I lost the group I was with. When I heard about the observation essay, where we have to write about a person or thing in the city that catches your eye. I knew right away that I wanted to write about the painting. I don’t know why, but I felt that the painting was describing the way I felt at that moment.

“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.