WEEKLY SELFIE

Sunlight on a cloudy day

Q1: “In a world that has really been turned upside down, the true is a moment of the false.” Q2: “As a part of society it is specifically the sector which concentrates all gazing and all consciousness.”

PERFORMANCE

Friday Night Vibes

I decided to focus my performance on great vibes and the latest trends. Often, people try to spread negative vibes on social media and downplay people. There is always a negative trend that takes off and it is hard to escape. Just because people see its viral, they would attempt to do it or partake in that activity. On the other hand, there are positive trends and great vibes that are happening in certain areas, but people do not usually ride those ones out. Based on Susan Sontag, we can place the whole universe in our heads and change the narrative. Her saying has inspired me to make a dancing video with my friends. Everyone watching will sense a great vibe, a joyful moment, and see me busting the moves. “The camera does indeed capture reality.” Me and my friends decided to link up one day and as we were chilling, we watched some TikTok videos and decided that we should make a dancing video since we see it going viral. The style of dance is considered a jersey club; we have all been doing it for years and enjoy it. “The camera does indeed capture reality.” That shows what is going on in real time and how we operate in life. An enjoyable time and something we all live for. I would like my video to put people in a good mood. I want the audience to see that the good can always outweigh the bad in life. Also, that there are a lot of great people that walk the same earth as us. Just network and get cool with a group of people and have an enjoyable time. So many things you can do such as dancing, singing, working out together and much more. Let your latest trend be a good trend.

WEEKLY 4 SELFIE

Study Habits 1

Study Habits 2

Study Habits 3

Study Habits 4

“The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight.” “Every image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph. For photographs are not, as is often assumed, a mechanical record.” People take photos of special moments in their lives to later reflect on those moments. Photos have ways to change our way we see the world. Historical people are not going to have the same perspective as present people do. “I just think that (in my practice at least) the reality of Black existence needs more space right now than the imaginary.” Black artists aspire people to be able to see their work. They do not want their work tucked away. They want the representation that their works hold to not only live in their minds but to live in others as well. "In the politicized environment of the 1960s, many artists employed performance to address emerging social concerns. For feminist artists in particular, using their body in live performance proved effective in challenging historical representations of women, made mostly by male artists for male patrons." "Historically, performance art has been a medium that challenges and violates borders between disciplines and genders, between private and public, and between everyday life and art, and that follows no rules." "Up until then, though, I’d always been extremely meticulous about how that deterioration was aestheticized through the use of makeup, contact lenses and scenography. This was my first time making an artwork without the visual veneer acting as a barrier between the audience and my body."

GALLERY RESPONSE

Wellspring

The Rope

The One and Only

After visiting the art gallery, I can testify that Ashley Lyon’s handcrafted clay sculpture titled Wellspring has caught my attention. This piece of work was inspired by her grandmother’s quilt. This quilt was symbolized as maternal warmth. In 2017 when Ashley Lyon’s child was born, the piece of art was created. This blanket/quilt highlights the love that she has for child. In her family, handmade quilts were a tradition. Each quilt made told a different story throughout the family/generations whether it be a joyful time, a tough time, or a humbling experience. Ashley specific quilt was made with warmth and endless love towards her child. To see that she has used similar coloring, fabric, and additional materials, shows that she is keeping the tradition alive and displaying that same form of comfort that was passed down to her. Making the quilts in ceramic gave the quilt a stronger presence and an unbreakable bond in the relationship between her and her daughter. This symbol will keep carrying on through her family hopefully, which is why it caught my attention. In addition, Ashley Lyon also created an amazing piece called "This rope.” This might just be a simple rope formed a certain way but to me it says “connection.” I want to display an old picture “The One and Only,” with my mom that explains our bond. Throughout my journey in life, she has never once left my side. She had prepared me for the real world and supported everything I did throughout the years. I will never let go of the rope that is connected to my mother and neither will she. Now she is my best friend, and with me being in college and exploring the world, she can now learn from me as I learned things from her coming up. This piece of work automatically made me think about my mother.

PHOTO SERIES

Ehhhhh

The Glow up

The Come Up

Final Form

My photography series is called “The Glow Up” As time goes on, me and others discover that images over the years have so much power. Art and images display your history. They both hold value as they linger and pass on knowledge of events that the next generation any and allow you to relive a moment that happened lifetime's ago which is an amazing thing to experience. “To collect photos is to collect the world.” - Susan Sontag. This quote aligns with how images can show off history and life. Susan Sontag expresses my theme which is evolution. Over the years I thought I could not fit in with the crowd because I did not feel like I was the best looking, I did not have up-to-date clothing, I always felt like an old ball. I eventually Glew up and groomed myself well. This series shows how I evolved in life and how history can be captured and displayed many years later. The camera is one of the greatest inventions to humankind because anyone can relive any moment in life by just looking at an image.

Self-Portrait Final Project

 

Hey Look Ma, I Made It

    For my final portrait selfie, I decided to do a collage with a variety of pictures that are important in my life. By doing this collage I used materials and learn new things while making it, helping me use elements that I did not use before. The background of the poster board it the Dominican Republic flag, painted with blue and red paint while leaving the middle white to represent the crust in the middle of the flag. I did this to represent my identity since I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, I always been proud and would never forget where I come from. In the middle of the poster board, there is a picture of a bird with my face on it. That bird is known as a Palmchat, which if there was one animal that represented the country of Dominican Republic it would be that bird. The reason I picked that bird was to show the connection between the flag and the bird to my culture, but the bird has a twist to it that it was inspired by Frida Kahlo. I decided to cut the face off the bird and paste a picture of my head in it, the reason why I did this was to show the connection between the bird and me. This idea was inspired by Frida Kahlo who often in her paintings would use animals right next to her or combined with her body. The upper left side of the board is a series of pictures of my in down moments, you can see I'm reading, playing cards, and sitting by myself with a drink. But on top of all those pictures is a picture of my mom next to the stars, to show her coming from above to cheer me up. No matter what I'm going through and if I'm alone I know I can count on my mom to always be there for me. 

    The section right under it is also connected to the theme that Carrie Mae Weems showed in her table kitchen series, Weems told her audience that "Women no matter what their color is, the don't always get the appreciation they deserve. I agree with that statement by Weems because my mom has been in all the important moments of my life, but I don' think I told her how much of impact she has had in all my accomplishments. Sometimes we are too busy to forget the real reason on why we are who we are and in my case I'm who I'm today because all the sacrifices my mom made. In the upper right corner of the poster board, there is two pictures of me and my family eating at a table together. I picked these two pictures to continue the theme of Carrie Mae Weems "The Kitchen Table" because even though she said "Memories are made in the Kitchen", is not the fact that been in the kitchen is what make family memories is the fact that at the table is where everyone is together and sharing a moment. My mom always wants us to go out and have dinner or lunch together, so everyone can have fun and talk to each other. We all have a lot of work and things going on, but my mom understands that by having all us together at one table it doesn't matter how often we speak or not; sharing that moment together in the table would give us memories we would never forget. 

    In the last part of the poster board there is a picture of me and my family enjoying a family vacation trip to Florida, doing the one thing we all have in common and that is been in the water. Before we went on vacation things were off at the house and everyone had their own business going on, but my mom decided to plan a vacation so we can all reconnect again. If it wasn't for my mom starting this vacation we would've never share that moment together, but these are the things families take for granted. My mom does not get the credit she deserves for keeping the entire family together and for raising two sons on her own. My entire project is based on the connections between me and my culture inspired by the works of Frida Kahlo. But it is also inspired by Carrie Mae Weems and her "Table Kitchen Series"

                                                                    Work Cited

Carrie Mae Weems: National Gallery of Art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jIwiBgSNtk&ab_channel=NationalGalleryofArt

Carrie Mae Weems: "The Kitchen Table Series" | Art21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPDInpNoO50

Final Self Portrait Project

Love Letter to My Culture

Love Letter to My Culture

For the final project, I decided to do a collage piece since I had a great time doing the last collage piece and I was able to experiment with new elements I have not used before. My project is about embracing the culture I once tried to push away when I was younger and trying to show the beautiful hanboks which come from this culture. I tried to represent South Korea the best I could with using a picture of me from when I was about 3 years old and was wearing my very first and only hanbok before I decided I was ashamed of my Asian side. The shame I had for being Asian was deeply rooted in being one of the only Asians in elementary school and feeling like an outcast and especially being made fun of for looking different. Throughout my childhood, I wanted to only identify with my Hispanic side especially since I felt more comfortable with this side and had most of my Hispanic family always in my life. As I have grown older, I was able to understand what I was doing was isolating myself and making me feel hatred for this other part of me. I started recently to love both cultures and sides of me equally since they both play a part in who I am and how I present myself. I decided to photoshop a hanbok on a picture of me since I do not currently own one myself and wanted to show myself that this is my heritage, and I should really embrace it fully. I also made the background by using a picture of the El Yunque forest to also represent my Puerto Rican side subtly but to not let it overshadow my South Korean side once again. I included the national South Korean symbols as well which represent peace, and this was to symbolize the peace I have made with myself fully.

The artist I was fully inspired was Frida Kahlo who always embraced her culture especially in her pieces of work. She never shied away from who she was, and she wanted everyone to know, especially with how she dressed. She also used all her life experiences in her artwork to show how these have modeled her as well as how they are a part of her no matter what. She never let anything stop her and would capture even the most negative emotions in her art. A quote from the Frida Kahlo website states “I paint myself because I am often alone, and I am the subject I know best”. I love this quote as we all only know ourselves best and we can see ourselves differently than others and know truly how to capture ourselves. Another quote from Frida is “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” I was able to capture my own reality as well in this collage and was able to show how I want to embrace my culture almost like a love letter to my culture. Also, I found another quote from Frida, “My painting carries with it the message of pain.” I feel as if even though I have this love letter, there is still the pain and trauma I have when growing up of being bullied out of loving my Asian-ness.

I noticed the differences between this final project and the other projects, is I was able to gradually start to focus more on myself and was able to better myself as I went on. I was able to find a deeper meaning in each project and tackle myself, especially in this last project. I was also able to identify problems which I needed to fix as well as be able to embrace the parts of me which truly need to be loved. Also, with this final project I was fully able to show myself truly and embrace all of me.