Paper Project

Poetry Paper Response 

R O M U L U S by Seth McCormick

I was not made for this world. 

Too much the animal,

Too much the human for it.

Feral, like the pig. Hungry.

My hands, dirty from rooting at the ground

Searching for truffles, tremble.

But like the suckling human child: mouth raw, 

Sore from biting at mother crone’s empty breast, 

And bleeding now, it grows slack.

My aging head heavy 

With antlers 

Inching higher hangs low.

My eyes, strained from staring skyward 

In search of god, exhausted, close.

Work #1: The Feral Man 

Upon first reading the poem, I had a vision of a man with a wolf's body, torn between two worlds. This sight comes directly from the imagery of the poem: "feral", "too much the animal, too much the human for it". I also incorporated the sight of exhaustion on his expression from the last few lines, as well as the hands dirty from rooting at the ground. I wanted a subtle contrast yet a lot of rough, chaotic, wild texture. I also wanted to be sure to keep the colors neutral, yet to distinguish between the animalistic and human parts of the piece. While the thinness and length of the legs created a bit of instability to the project, I actually think in doing so it reflects the nature of my interpretation. 

Work #2: The Antler

The second project's inspiration came from the line, "My aging head heavy With antlers Inching higher hangs low". While that line directly gave me the idea for this piece, I also made sure to draw other elements out from the rest of the text. I again remained with neutral colors, but this time chose more of a smooth, solid, wrinkled texture. The contrast is even subtler, and blends kind of effortlessly, contrary to the last one which distinguished between animal and human. This project rather gives off a more grounded, dark tone of feral nature. The dark black and captivating gold in cooperation with the reaching curved shape and finger-like outstretches resembles an inescapable, grasping hand. 

Memento Project

Memento Project: Weeping Willow 

For my memento, I chose a memory from my early childhood when I lived at my old house in New Jersey. While I moved out of this house when I was almost 5, I have vague memories of playing in the background underneath this old weeping willow tree. However, after moving, it got cut down. Therefore, for my project, I wanted to make something tangible that held on to the vision of that tree. The box I carved out is small enough to fit in your hand, and has holes in it so that only the person holding it could see the memory, relating to the tree's current absence. The box is uneven and rough around the edges, resembling how my memory is kind of scattered and incomplete. The inside is filled with green streamers, displaying the long strands of paper-esque leaves, and glitter, as my memory of it was sunny and somewhat mystical. The project was made of wood, green streamers, blue glitter, and wood glue (not visible). 

Happenings: Shrouded Bell Crown

HAPPENINGS: Shrouded Bell Crown

I drew inspiration for this project from Hijabs worn by Muslim women. While my format is a bit different than the typical cultural and religious accessory, I tried to include the covering of the hair and shoulders, additionally including the meshed face mask often seen in Niqabs or Burqas, other forms of Muslim covering. I incorporated sound from the bells, as well as their dangling dimension, which ultimately gave a lot of movement to the piece. This movement paired very well with the movement from the red covering, and the mesh veil added a lot of character, making myself be more so a part of the art than the person wearing it. Finally, the golden marks and the coiled wire at the top of the piece gave a nice aesthetic touch, creating a feel of modest royalty. 

3D to 2D

3D to 2D

For my conversion project, I used a still image from my soap alteration. The color and varying texture made me fascinated at what I could do to change it. I started by taking a wide close-up image of the soap and highlighter blended together.

I then split them into 4 sections and layered them on top of one another in photoshop. I drastically adjusted brightness, contrast, and saturation for each independent layer, rotating them and mixing it up to allow variety. 

Next, I created an outline layer with a white background by drawing black lines to create triangles. All lines attach to other lines so that the entire page is filled with geometric outlines. 

After that, I erased some of the white within a few scattered shapes to allow the layer immediately underneath to show through. After I was satisfied, I merged it down to join the two layers and allow the process to be completed over again. 

I repeated this 4 times, with each layer. Ultimately, the totally merged and completed image came out like this: 

Soap Carving & Alterations

SOAP CARVINGS 

 modeled after deer sculpture

 

This was a very challenging project, and I had a lot of difficulty getting accurate shape and proportion. The texture, however, was much easier and more fun. Above is a close-up of my better sculpture. 

SOAP ALTERATIONS

Step 1: Pound deer with mallet to release all aggravation this project caused

Step 2: Use exact-o knife to cut up the mushed soap into slivers

Step 3: Pound with mallet- again, because you still had some pent up aggression

Step 4: Separate into 2 categories and add ink

Step 5: Take apart highlighter

                                    Step 6: Extract cottony center and strip into a mass of strands

                                                

Step 7: Combine all and mix together

Step 8: Add acrylic for more color and mix

Step 9: Cut wooden post 

Step 10: Cover post with wood glue

Step 11: Glue colorful mass to wooden post

Step 12: Cut out seaweed shapes from foam board

Step 13: Dye with green ink; removing first layer helps add texture and absorb paint

Step 14: Glue seaweed to post; you may need to use needles temporarily to hold in place

Step 15: Cut fish shape out of wooden, preferably softer wood

Step 16: Paint fish with acrylic and attach to post 

**Step 17: Remove fish 

Step 18: Ink the wooden panel with green ink 

Step 19: Take a strip of masking tape and fold into a ring shape. Repeat this several times while leaving a little bit of the tape exposed on one side, making it easy to attach to other pieces. Find a central focal point and attach 'petals' to each other. 

Step 20: Ink the tape figure, but not entirely. You may use any color; I chose green. 

Step 21: Attach petal to any area on the panel with negative space. If this is not done easily, fold over another piece of tape or glue it into place. 

Masking Tape Shoes

MASKING TAPE SHOES

I was very interested in this project, as it was the first time I replicated something 3-dimensional. In doing so, I learned a lot in that I am much more capable of tearing apart something, in this case shoes, and finding the most efficient way to reconstruct than I had thought. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to physically create a piece that could be interacted with, and with more practice and other materials, even used. Additionally, I really enjoyed this project because simply put, it was fun, and it helped me ultimately pay more attention to detail when analyzing the depth and dimension of 3-D objects.

Architectural Relief Inspirations & Final Project

Ancient Greek

One of the most fascinating elements of Ancient Greek architecture, aside from their mythological components and timeless character, is the combination with sculptures. The pillars often are sculpted into the shape of Greek religious characters, while the trimmings are of an intricate pattern. I thought I would use both of these elements in my project. 

Ancient Indian

Along with Ancient Greek, Indian architecture is renowned for its pillars. But more so, and what I want to focus on, are the interesting shapes of the arches. Ancient Indian architecture is very embellished, and it is seen in every aspect from stone carving to gold plating. The detail is another aspect I would like to recognize, and a common theme throughout all my selections. 

Victorian

The gingerbread trim and pastel colors are both components of Victorian that I adore. I also admire the cone shape of the room and the circular bay cutout that protrudes from the building. When I think Victoria, I think ornamental, which definitely adds to its character. 

Surrealist

Surrealist is easily the most unique architectural styles out of the ones I have chosen. I decided to add this to the list because doing so allows me to exercise complete creativity on my project, as surrealist architecture does not follow the basic construct of historically sound architecture, and allows one to play with their imagination in relation to real stability. 

FINAL PROJECT

Using a combination of primarily Ancient Greek and Ancient Indian architecture, with accents from the Victorian era and a bit of surrealist inspiration, I created the project below. I stuck with a color them of white, black, and pastel, as an ivory white was the primary color in my Greek examples. The white allowed a marble feel, and helped to foster in some bits of Victorian. 

Additionally, to incorporate Indian architecture, I designed an intricate backdrop and created symmetrical archways that echoed the style of Ancient Indian archways, especially with the curved shape to them. 

To complete, I added an accent to the bottom of the archways. I tried to assimilate the Indian culture with a Victorian style gingerbread cutout. This was done with clear tape, gesso, and paper. 

 

Finally, I had a cutout dyed purple and attached with string to add balance and symmetry, creating a dangling element in an otherwise structural platform.