intentions

Photoshop

Photoshop can be used for both artistic and editing senses due to the large amount of functions and features it possesses, such as brushes and the ability to alter the perspectives of an image, it has to capability to create and enhance images such as increasing the vibrancy of an image or even making it appear to be created in a different medium such as pencil and paint. The version of Photoshop that I have used within my work is elements 11 which is primarily used or photo editing, with this I have used Photoshop to combine elements of personal photos of a variety of subjects and art pieces to give a concept or to add a new one.

This art has been inspired by the artist Hannah Hoch who uses traditional mediums to create similar effects that typically are taken from one context and changed into a more political meaning using paper cutting to take elements of different photographs in which she cuts and sticks together to create a final piece. Personally I do not intent to use politics as a theme within my work, however I do intend to make a point of combining elements of technology and nature to create a series of images and experiments that should overall show juxtaposition to layer the various elements of my work.

A large part of this series will be the mechanical insects that will show a literal layer of technology over nature placed within different contexts and environments to which they will have a different meaning within each piece, the insects were made beforehand using personal photography in which cogs were stuck to the thoracic region of them as this is where winged insects have the most complex organic mechanism that is physically displayed using cogs using the style of mike Libby.

The lesser aspect of this series would be the more abstract experimentation of combining different aspects of photos ranging from people, to constructs, to wildlife in an attempt to construct a new image with its own context, to begin the images will consists of more compatible element but throughout will become more varied like those created by Hannah Hoch, I will also be using the available features to give different effects to images as I see appropriate such as aging and alterations to colour.

Wire sculptures

Typically used for its structural and malleable properties wire is both strong and flexible, making perfect for use within art as it can be layered and sculpted to shape into different artistic pieces, because of this I will be using the artist Elizabeth Berrien as an inspirational artist for this theme as she uses wire to sculpt wildlife. Her work sometimes features three dimensional pieces of the wildlife, often in static poses such as a fox taking a brief pause to survey its surroundings, however mostly her work consists of two dimensional pieces of animals in movement. Most of her art take a great deal of time to complete and as a result I aim to create smaller and less complex pieces in her style using mostly two dimensional shaped wire, however I do intent to create some three dimensional pieces.

Unlike the art of Elizabeth Berrien I hope to experiment past simply using wire within my art in which I aim to use different materials to cove the wire which will act as a base. I intent to use a variety of relevant materials that show a juxtaposition between the layers of wire and coat. The materials that I intent to use will most likely consist of natural materials such as leaves and wood, in addition to this I also intend to use man made products such as cogs and scrap materials like fabrics and wrappers.

In addition to this I may also use different materials to replicate the appearance of wire such as using continuous line drawing and string to display how wire loops and overlaps itself to create a solid structure.

layering

using previous art pieces that focus on line I intend to use wire to layer over these that can then be placed upon different images and textures to add additional layers and alter existing images. this allows for multiple pieces to be created using similar elements, displaying how the alterations of layers can change an image.

the style in which this fits best would be peony yip who uses layering to create two images overlaying in different colours, however I intend to use different mediums from which I can create overlapping images using wire and paper mediums.

steampunk
a large part of my work is based around mechanism and how it can be compared to nature in a way that is both harmonious and juxtaposing, and as a result of this I have found steampunk a suitable genre for portraying this as there are many examples of steampunk being used to portray a dystopian world of mechanical components replacing organisms, especially within media such as games like bioshock and graphic novels like hellboy.

within this genre I aim to create a series of drawings of animals in a steampunk style using shades of brown and other metallic tones to give the animals a robotic appearance, in addition I also intend to add small cogs to my art to add a three dimensional layer to this style.