Exhibition Text
Tomorrow is Here is a surreal collage inspired by the work of Ayham Jabr. The piece is meant to critique the constant surveillance that people are under in modern society.
Tomorrow is Here is a surreal collage inspired by the work of Ayham Jabr. The piece is meant to critique the constant surveillance that people are under in modern society.
Inspiration
The inspiration for this piece came from the work of Syrian artist Ayham Jabr. He is a Surreal Collage Artist, a Video Editor, a Videographer and a Graphic Designer currently working out of Damascus Syria. His work generally revolves around surrealist interstellar themes, taking the viewer to another world. He is heavily influenced by science fiction and outer space, he said in a recent interview "I’m a huge fan of science-fiction films, and have always been fascinated by the beauty of an outer space world around us, which we hardly know anything about". He usually displays this by mixing landscapes with images of outer space. He also often uses gigantic figures in his work which is something that I tried to emulate in the diptych. This was done by juxtaposing an image of people that appear very small and an image of a person that appears far larger. |
Process
Planning
Before creating the piece I didn't really have a final image in mind, I simply took images and manipulated them in a way that fit my intended theme. To create this piece I first cut looked through several old magazines/books to find images. I was mainly searching for abstract images or landscapes for the background and large and small figure for the foreground. When I had a sizable amount of images for the foreground and background (about 10 background images and 6 foreground images) I began experimenting with them and attempting to create a piece that had a great sense of scale and was aesthetically pleasing. I first used the image of a street with people on it in several different situations. I found that pairing it with the image of a sitting woman I could create a great sense of scale and create the appearance that the woman is watching them. To create the background of that collage I experimented with abstract images. Initially the background was going to be only one black and white image but I found that the piece became much more visually interesting by breaking up the composition through several abstract images. For the next collage I wanted to continue the visual of an ethereal figure watching over people and the image of an sculpture did that perfectly. It was able to simultaneously display a grand sense of scale and appear as though it's some sort of god. I wanted to continue the use of abstract background images so I first placed some black and white images behind the figure. I found that the black and white images just blender together with the already b&w sculpture so I decided to use colored images. When I finished
Planning
Before creating the piece I didn't really have a final image in mind, I simply took images and manipulated them in a way that fit my intended theme. To create this piece I first cut looked through several old magazines/books to find images. I was mainly searching for abstract images or landscapes for the background and large and small figure for the foreground. When I had a sizable amount of images for the foreground and background (about 10 background images and 6 foreground images) I began experimenting with them and attempting to create a piece that had a great sense of scale and was aesthetically pleasing. I first used the image of a street with people on it in several different situations. I found that pairing it with the image of a sitting woman I could create a great sense of scale and create the appearance that the woman is watching them. To create the background of that collage I experimented with abstract images. Initially the background was going to be only one black and white image but I found that the piece became much more visually interesting by breaking up the composition through several abstract images. For the next collage I wanted to continue the visual of an ethereal figure watching over people and the image of an sculpture did that perfectly. It was able to simultaneously display a grand sense of scale and appear as though it's some sort of god. I wanted to continue the use of abstract background images so I first placed some black and white images behind the figure. I found that the black and white images just blender together with the already b&w sculpture so I decided to use colored images. When I finished
Reflection
Overall I think that this piece was successful although there are many issues that I still have with it. I believe that the visuals are appealing and interesting and were able to show the grand sense of scale that I was hoping to show. I also believe that the meaning of the piece was well displayed and is fairly simple to understand. My biggest issue with the piece is that although they are visually appealing I question whether the two images work well together. I wanted the images to be more visually similar than they are in the end. In my opinion this visual disconnect comes most from the use of the green abstract image in the second collage. The green hue completely throws off the connection between the pieces and if I were to go back and work on them I would change the green image to something blue to match the first collage.
Overall I think that this piece was successful although there are many issues that I still have with it. I believe that the visuals are appealing and interesting and were able to show the grand sense of scale that I was hoping to show. I also believe that the meaning of the piece was well displayed and is fairly simple to understand. My biggest issue with the piece is that although they are visually appealing I question whether the two images work well together. I wanted the images to be more visually similar than they are in the end. In my opinion this visual disconnect comes most from the use of the green abstract image in the second collage. The green hue completely throws off the connection between the pieces and if I were to go back and work on them I would change the green image to something blue to match the first collage.
Act Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration creates collages with a great sense of scale and this is something that I attempted to do in my work.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My inspiration creates collages with a great sense of scale and this is something that I attempted to do in my work.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.