DAAPworks 2012

School is over, thesis is finished, and DAAPworks had their exhibit... Here are some images from the show including my final thesis paintings of homelessness and Over the Rhine!

painting

Both panels are 4'x4'. This is how the panels will viewed. 

you see what you want to see.

Progress on my new painting....

 Starting with the study I decided to make another larger one..

 This is 11 x 14 on paper. This is my first drawing done in graphite. I wanted to make it look a little confusing not like the study where parts are colored in.

 This is after I added drips and erased the parts that were not affected by the polyurethane. I am not sure if I should go in and make the lines darker on top of the polyurethane. 

A closer view.

I think this one is busier than the study, which I like because in the study I was giving too much away, so now I have to make you work for it hah!

little pieces

At the end of last quarter and beginning of my spring quart (sniff, sniff, my last quarter as an undergrad) I was/am working on different little studies.. Here's the work!

I started with this drawing I made using sharpie markers.. my studio smelled good after a little while.

 Then I added it to one of my studies that's on an 8x10 canvas. The background is the same as my large otr painting. The black is sharpie again.

This is the same painting but the buildings are cut out (which shows the wall of my studio ha). This is not finished I want to do something to the wood that is exposed from the canvas, possibly stain it. 

Working from this picture I took at Streetvibes Christmas party, I painted the picture below. I used photoshop to manipulate this picture so that there were shapes. 

For this painting, first I drew the man using a regular pencil, then used some black oil paint and polyurethane to drip onto the canvas. I used polyurethane to keep the pencil markings on the canvas, then where the polyurethane didn't drip on I erased the markings. I am really happy how this turned out! So it might not be the last time you see this technique!

finally finished!

For awhile of staring at this...

I have finally finished it...

This piece is much better viewed in person because there are layers that the camera does not do justice.. But it works!

OTR painting continued

So after my final senior thesis critique, I have decided to keep this painting of just the map of OTR, not using the similar style I did before of painting the faces of the homeless. I added another layer.. I'm going to add more layers of course, but I'm not exactly sure how yet or what technique... One girl suggested that I fill balloons up with paint and shoot them with a gun! That would be awesome except it scares me ha. But I think this would be interesting aesthetically and conceptually.

Over the Rhine is a feared neighborhood in Cincinnati after having a lot of bad publicity. For awhile police also feared it so the community got "ghettoized". It has become this shut out part of town, until recently. They are trying to renovate some of the buildings to make the area become more inviting but that just erases the affordable housing that was once available.

I applied polyurethane selectively, and I was surprised how it turned out.

 I was happy to see how it dried!

Here's a close up of how the polyurethane dried.

new painting...

Sticking to my thesis idea, I am on my next painting.. finally! My idea for this one is more constructed than the last one.. I think. I am first doing a layer of a map of Cincinnati, mainly Over the Rhine. Most of Cincinnati's homeless are concentrated to Over the Rhine because its within walking distance to jobs, transportation, and other services that they need.

Here's my progress to date...

Map of area I selected.

Finished painted on map

Closer view, the blue tape are the street names when I got confused what was what.

disappeared but now I'm back!

So I kinda disappeared for awhile but now I have new work to share!

This year is a really big deal for me.. its my Senior year. So after changing my thesis a couple times I landed on to what my teacher says is a "solid topic.." I am interpreting the way society makes homeless people invisible. I have always been drawn to homeless people, maybe it was their mystery or my sympathy, but I felt it was a topic that I wanted to shake.

So I started taking pictures of Streetvibes distributors in Cincinnati. Its a newspaper that is sold by people who have or currently are homeless. I have talked and listened to some of the distributors. Others are more eager to share some of their stories, but all of them are very interesting to me.

I do need to say that I am not trying to save the world, I just was to help bring awareness of how society often shuts these people out and makes them invisible. I am also not saying that I am a saint because I have tried to ignore the problem as well. Here is my progress of first homeless awareness painting...

 My starting point.. wooden panel 4' x 4' with black acrylic paint scraped on

 Continuing my dripping paintings with new technique of scraping

James Brown, my first Streetvibes distributor, done in oil paint

 Closer view of James Brown

 

 Close up of my second Streetvibes distributor, Raeshawn Gibson

The last Streetvibes distributor on this panel, Ronnie Phillips. This is also my completed (for now) painting. I am going to add more layers to make these men more invisible.