time paintings.

this semester for painting II there was an assignment that was completely open ended, the only stipulations were that it be worked on throughout the semester and it was due the final class meeting. i decided to work in a series of three and on a very large scale. i built three stretcher bars that are each eight by four feet. the overriding concept of the pieces is past, present, and future. the first canvas i treated with various techniques to get a rich, dark background. then i used a recording i had taken of my grandmother's life story and transcribed it onto the surface using a white chalk pencil. i then went back over her words to create a more aesthetic image by highlighting and repeating certain words or phrases. the second piece in the series is based on the present. it is the first one that i started and i have been working on, almost obsessively since february. in some places, now, there are up to 9 or 10 layers of different media. i approached this canvas only with the image of the figure in my mind. i wasn't sure what else i was going to do with it so whenever i worked on it, what came out was whatever i was feeling at the time. much of the piece is composed of writing, most of it by me, but there is a poem and some song lyrics embedded within it. so days, something felt more important so i would emphasize that, but then a week later that issue was no longer prominent so it became hidden or changed by a new issue. this piece contains the most media, everything from oil and acrylic to chalk and spray paint. with all its layers and complexities, it is truly representative of my life over the past few months. the third piece is meant to represent the future. it was created by sewing and weaving together scraps of raw canvas. i had originally intended to just weave the canvas, then paint loose images of what i hope to be in my future, but when i began piecing the canvas together, i began to appreciate the image that the subtle shift in shape and color of thread was creating. it also began to make more sense that the future would be blank because i can only hope and predict my future, i can't make any firm statements about it. i think it is also important, considering it's context in the series. the past piece is only comprised of words because that is the most enduring evidence of the past, just the stories we can tell. the present piece is the most busy because it is what is happening now {or at least when i was working it}. the future is blank and subtle because it is the unknown. i had also thought about sewing pockets onto the future piece and then inserting objects that represent what i hope to do with my life, but again i can only hope and have dreams. they may dictate what i do in the present but they have no say on what will happen. during our class critique someone commented that the future piece reminded them of a bed. maybe that is what the future is, just a bed to hold our hopes and dreams. so learn from the past. live in the present. and dream in the future.
{my apologies for bad lighting and poor picture quality}
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