Self Portrait
Title: Divorce
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 60.96 cm x 60.96 cm 26 September 2016 Exhibit Text: Alicia Zepeda focuses on creating a self portrait using acrylic on canvas based on style, an artist inspiration, her culture and experience. She was influenced by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo also her style of surrealism and the Mexican culture. The piece that she recreated was " Self-Portrait with a Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird". All aspects of this piece are self made. |
Process
My ideas about artists/inspirations, intentions, and experiences.
1. Artists/Inspiration: I was interested in the theme of depression and sadness, and while researching I noticed how Frida Kahlo, a Mexican surrealism artist, incorporated that theme within her most of her paintings. I began the look into the meanings behind her paintings and the one that had my attention was the thing I could relate to that that was divorce. 2. Intentions: My intention was to recreate a realistic self portrait of myself, while including the symbolism and details Kahlo used within "Self-Portrait with a Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird". Also, I wanted to show my feelings by using the same contrast of colors she used. 3. Experience: I never created a realistic self portrait before, and I wanted to widen my medium so I decided to use Frida Kahlo as a inspiration because it was a new and also because I related to the meaning of her portrait because I experienced the divorce of my parents. |
The first thing I did was stretch a 2 ft. by 2 ft. canvas.
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Meaning Behind Piece
Since I was born till high school all I was used to was my parents being together. However, at the age of 15 I had two beds, two homes, two parents who were happy with someone else and a baby brother who was on the way. It was a huge transformation, I didn't know how to handle. I noticed my personality changed drastically after they divorced, and it was negatively. I was depressed and I began to push everyone away, because nothing was important to me after that. Kahlo's portrait also represents her feeling towards divorce; however, it was her own. In both painting the butterflies symbolize being able to overcome the pain; although in my portrait they also symbolize love and a strong bond. I was once told "there's some positive in every negative situation" and my little brother is the positive.
Artist Inspiration
Frida Kahlo is a Mexican artist who is known for the style of surrealism; however, she does not identify herself as a surrealist. Kahlo has created a variety of self portraits to symbolize important and dramatic events in her life. "Self-Portrait with a Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird" symbolizes her feelings towards the divorce of her and her husband. While the cat and monkey represent bad luck, the butterflies around her head symbolize being able to overcome feeling dead. Kahlo used a contrast of dark and bright colors to emphasize the emotion within the portrait. Within her face Kahlo used darkish brown colors under the eyes, with dark peachy cheeks to show that she is sad or depressed. The great amount of bold dark colors also emphasizes how much the bad luck and divorce is affecting her.
Within my piece, I used a contrast of dark and bright colors similar to Kahlo to emphasize the focal point on the face to show my emotions. I replicate this piece to show similar feelings of divorce; however with my own experience. |
Reflection
This was the most difficult and detailed project I have completed. The hardest part was incorporating detail within the leaves and face to make it look realistic. I struggled most with my nose because I had to redo it a few times because I either made the lines to harsh or used the wrong shade making it appear as if I glued a fake nose to my face. I also had a tough time with the leaves because they consisted of multiple shades of green and it was hard blending because the acrylic paint dried really fast. Also, I found it difficult to paint the fur on the monkey and cat, because the brush I was using made the lines too thick and it didn't look as realistic. When I tried creating the same expression of sadness as Frida, on my face, the peach-red cheeks just looked like clown make-up so I decided not to do that. Some of the successes in my piece was the leaf above the monkey because it looked realistic, as well as the final nose because it looks just like mine. If I were to do this again I would probably add a base coat so that the colors went on smoother. Also, instead of continuously making a skin tone color, I would make a whole container full so that it all looks the same, because I noticed the face is a bit darker than the neck. However, overall I am satisfied with the results of my piece.
ACT Reflection
1. Frida Kahlo tends to express her feelings within her artwork to symbolize events in her life. Specifically "Self-Portrait with a Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird" represents the divorce of her and Diego Rivera. It reminded me of the depression and sadness I felt after the divorce of my parents so I wanted to recreate it; however I would use my own face.
2. The overall approach was to show expression and feelings within a realistic painting using symbolism and a contrast of light and dark colors to emphasize the event.
3. While researching Frida Kahlo, I discovered a lot of symbolism within Mexican culture. I also noticed that darker colors tend to symbolize bad things while brighter colors symbolize good things. Overall, I learned that every object has a deeper meaning.
4. The central theme around my inspirational research was depression and sadness caused by divorce or bad luck in love.
5. While reading my research I made the conclusion that Mexican culture and American culture have similar symbols and what they represent, including the cat and butterfly.
2. The overall approach was to show expression and feelings within a realistic painting using symbolism and a contrast of light and dark colors to emphasize the event.
3. While researching Frida Kahlo, I discovered a lot of symbolism within Mexican culture. I also noticed that darker colors tend to symbolize bad things while brighter colors symbolize good things. Overall, I learned that every object has a deeper meaning.
4. The central theme around my inspirational research was depression and sadness caused by divorce or bad luck in love.
5. While reading my research I made the conclusion that Mexican culture and American culture have similar symbols and what they represent, including the cat and butterfly.