Mixed Media
Walk on me
Medium: glue, copper nails, faux fur, boots Date: April, 2017 "Walk on Me" is inspired by the work of Meret Oppenheim. This piece was created in order to evoke feeling through the unwearable shoes, and through the contrast in texture between the nails and the soft, white fur. The shoes are meant to look "pure" and warm on the outside, and then shock a viewer whom sees the inside. I wanted to create the feeling that you get when you step on a sharp object. This feeling is universal, an almost everyone has been in this situation. My piece symbolizes how twisted the world can be when something you hold on for comfort and support can turn its back on you, or "stab" you. |
Plans for Mixed Media
My critique went pretty good overall. I have my website updated with my progress, and I got to share my ideas and artistic inspiration. My artistic inspiration is Meret Oppenheim. She liked to make mixed media art in which she would make ordinary objects impractical for use. I liked this because I think that it makes objects take on an interesting meaning. I wanted to use this idea in my own mixed media piece. For my own piece, I plan to use an old pair of boots and some other findings. I want to give the message that even the things that you depend on the most can hurt you. To display this message, I am recreating a pair of boots. I will be covering the soles and outsides in white fur. This white fur will symbolize being pure and safe. I wanted to put the fur on the soles because soles get dirty easily and white fur is literally the fabric that will get most dirty the fastest. I thought this was funny because no one would ever do this. I also never buy white shoes because I don't trust myself not to ruin them, so having shoes completely covered in white fur on the outside is like, extra risky.
I will be covering the inside of the shoes in sharp nails and pins/ objects that your shoes protect you from. I think I many also place some bees in the inside because I remember when I was little and my mom would tell me to wear shoes so that I didn't step on bumble bees and get stung. I will be just basically filling the inside with everything that you wear shoes to protect yourself from to show how opposite things can turn in a matter of a short amount of time.
I will be covering the inside of the shoes in sharp nails and pins/ objects that your shoes protect you from. I think I many also place some bees in the inside because I remember when I was little and my mom would tell me to wear shoes so that I didn't step on bumble bees and get stung. I will be just basically filling the inside with everything that you wear shoes to protect yourself from to show how opposite things can turn in a matter of a short amount of time.
Artistic Inspiration
My inspirational artist is Meret Oppenheim. Oppenheim was a 20th century surrealist artist who apparently got “overnight fame” with her most popular piece, Lunch in Fur. Lunch in Fur is a mixed media sculpture of a teacup and spoon covered in fur. This piece caused viewers to try to imagine the sensation of drinking out of a fur-lined cup.
Oppenheim had made the bulk of her work in and before her early 20s. Not only did she produce sculpture, but she also created jewelry, paintings, drawings, artists books, and mixed media pieces. She focused her work on many themes of duality including reality and imagination, and nature and culture.
I liked her work because it inspired me to look at the meaning of an object made unusable. I also really likes the contrast she often makes between fur and other smooth surfaces. I wanted to evoke a feeling in my piece, much like Meret Oppenheim has caused those that view her work to imagine drinking out of a fur cup.
Oppenheim had made the bulk of her work in and before her early 20s. Not only did she produce sculpture, but she also created jewelry, paintings, drawings, artists books, and mixed media pieces. She focused her work on many themes of duality including reality and imagination, and nature and culture.
I liked her work because it inspired me to look at the meaning of an object made unusable. I also really likes the contrast she often makes between fur and other smooth surfaces. I wanted to evoke a feeling in my piece, much like Meret Oppenheim has caused those that view her work to imagine drinking out of a fur cup.
Planning
Researching and learning about the different types of mixed media gave me a different perspective on art. I liked thinking about the meaning of found and ready made object pieces. I wanted to incorporate both of these types of mixed medias into my piece. I started to think about all of the different types of found object pieces I could create. At first I was going to do something with trash or movie/event tickets (Because I have saved a lot of these). My friend and I have also been compiling cool trash together to make an art piece, and so I was going to do something with that.
Then, I found the work of Meret Oppenheim extremely intriguing. I wanted to recreate an old object and change the meaning. I thought about how making an object "unusable" could be a powerful message. While emulating Meret Oppenheims style, I wanted to recycle an old object because reducing waste is important to me. Searching around for older objects that would otherwise get thrown out, I found an old and beat up pair of boots. I am planning to alter the boots in order to create my message of that growth comes with pain. I picked shoes as my object because they are an object of protection from the elements and because they can be fashion statements. In a way, shoes help you to get from place to place, and so they can be symbolic of travel and growth. They can also represent who you are in style and culture. The second sketch shows how I plan to put nails/sharp objects on the inside, and fur on the bottom and the outside. |
Process
I started off by finding an old beat up pair of boots/shoes and getting fur fabric. I wanted the fur to be white and look as soft as possible as to contrast with the sharp nails. I measured and cut the shoes down evenly so that they were shorter and could stand up easier. This process took a while because it was hard to work with the fragile fabric. Then, I measured out pieces of white fur fabric to attach to the outside of the shoes.
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I attached these pieces in sections. For example, I started with the heel, and overlapped pieces of fabric until it was all covered. I trimmed the excess fabric off of where the leather met the soles of the shoes to get clean edges. I tried to use big pieces of fabric so that the boots would look clean and orderly. Once I had covered from the toe area to the rim of the boots, I used slim pieces of fabric to clean up the transition between the white fur and the dark inside of the boots.
Once all edges had been glued down, and the outside of the boots were completely covered with white fur, I started to place the nails inside. I glued these down by placing hot glue on the head of the nail and holding the nail in place until it dried. I wanted the nails to be pointing upward as to threaten those who would wear the shoes, by the weight of the nails weighed them down and so they were more straight than pointed up. I glued the nails on the inside in layers so that it would look like they filled the whole boot. |
Experimentation
I had to experiment with how to attach the fur onto the base of the shoes. Once I tried to meet the edges of the fabric together, it didn't look very good because you could easily see the seems and cuts in the fabric. Then, because of this, I decided to overlap the fabric to get he most coverage and the cleanest transitions. Although some areas got thick with fabric, the white fur is long, and so it hid many imperfections. I also had to experiment when applying glue to my piece. I tried to find the most efficient and best looking way to attach all of the pieces, and still have craftsmanship. I started by using a large glue stick to apply the fabric to the bottom of the shoes, but this was obviously not the best idea because the fabric didn't hold its place. I ended up using a hot glue gun, but I had to be extra careful not to make it messy and have glue strings hanging all over. To avoid glue strings, I twisted the tip of the glue gun around the dots of hot glue for a few seconds after placing it where I wanted it.
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The shoes that I used for my project were super old and not well made and so the fabric was pretty flimsy. This made it really hard to attach other fabric to. I tried to think of ways I could prop the long boot leg up. I tried using a yogurt container but this ended up stretching the fabric out too much. I ended up just lying the boot down and using the flat surface of the ground to attach the fabric.
Reflection
I really like how the final piece turned out! I think that the sharp nails against the long white fur look pretty cool. I grew lots of inspiration from my inspirational artist, Meret Oppeheim, and this is shown obviously in my work. One can see this obvious connection between the inspiration and the artwork through the materials used, and purpose. I used the same idea of making an object unusable, and evoking a feeling in the viewer of the artwork. Oppenheim also used many themes of duality, and so in my piece i played with the idea of comfort vs shock.
One thing that I would like to do better is to find another way to blend the seems of the fabric together. The fabric on these boots like pretty patchy when you look at them up close, but they look fine when you take a glance from far away. I also wish that I would have found a better way to attach the nails, because they were fragile.
One thing that I would like to do better is to find another way to blend the seems of the fabric together. The fabric on these boots like pretty patchy when you look at them up close, but they look fine when you take a glance from far away. I also wish that I would have found a better way to attach the nails, because they were fragile.
ACT Questions
1) How are you able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork?
My artistic inspiration has made great impact in my work. One can see this in the contrast between materials that I used. Meret Oppenheim is also known to make everyday objects unusable. I did the same thing.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I believe that the author has an attitude that encourages experimentation in her work.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Well generally I assumed that most artists create their best work after many, many years of experience. Because of this, I assumed that art is generally not accepted in museums if done by a teenager. While researching I learned that Meret Oppenheim created most of her best work all before she was 20 years old.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
I feel that my artistic inspiration really aims to evoke a feeling or emotion in the viewer.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that this kind of sculpture was new during this time and that Oppenheim was the first to create objects with this idea.
My artistic inspiration has made great impact in my work. One can see this in the contrast between materials that I used. Meret Oppenheim is also known to make everyday objects unusable. I did the same thing.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I believe that the author has an attitude that encourages experimentation in her work.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Well generally I assumed that most artists create their best work after many, many years of experience. Because of this, I assumed that art is generally not accepted in museums if done by a teenager. While researching I learned that Meret Oppenheim created most of her best work all before she was 20 years old.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
I feel that my artistic inspiration really aims to evoke a feeling or emotion in the viewer.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that this kind of sculpture was new during this time and that Oppenheim was the first to create objects with this idea.
Ciatations
Meret Oppenheim-National Museum of Women in the Arts. (2013). Retrieved January 23, 2017, from https://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/meret-oppenheim