Blog Page – Digital Portfolio

Reflection Essay

December 2, 2020 / CDVL

During this semester, me and my team decided to promote inclusion on campus by creating a proposal to fix the elevators on campus. This would promote inclusion by making Agnes Scott’s campus more accommodating to people with physical disabilities or injuries. To start our research, we created a google questionnaire in order to figure out which elevators we should prioritize and why. We then spread this poll to the ASC Discord and Facebook group. In the end, we concluded that we should prioritize the elevators in Walters and Winship.

The second main step was to reach out to the people who were responsible for the elevators on campus. This led us to Jessica Owen, who was in charge of maintenance on campus, who was the biggest help to us on this project. She gave us the details on the elevators’ contract, contract owner, and the future plans for the dorms themselves. She was also very happy that we were doing this project and was willing to help us further if we win and get the seed money. In conclusion, I am very proud of the work that me and my group did on this proposal.

COVID-19 Summery

May 5, 2020 / CDVL

As I moved to online schooling for this class, I was worried that I would not get the same experience from this Photography class. While that statement is partially true, I have learned something else from this online class system, which is how to advocate for myself and focus on my work. In the past, I have been pushed to do my work by others and have depended on others to help me. However, while at home, I have to go out and email and talk to others to get the help I need. This has also helped the way I see myself and how I feel about myself. It helped me feel more confidant in my work, especially in my photography, even if I wasn’t using the best camera. So Ms. Koral, if you are reading this, I want to say thank you for helping me overcome my social anxiety, even if just a little.

Exercise Summary

April 1, 2020 / CDVL

For the first exercise, we studied the photographic techniques of Imogen Cunningham. She was mainly known for her sharp and crisp photos of plants, flowers, and nature. This was due to her usage of a small aperture, deep depth of field, fast shutter speed, and sometimes double exposure. In my opinion, these are my least favorite photos that I have taken in this class. This is because these were not the original photos I chose for this project as well as I had the wrong settings on my camera. I was also still trying to figure out how to use the digital camera properly.

For the second exercise, we studied the photographic techniques of Francesca Woodman. She was mainly known for her blurred figures in movement while exposing the pure, sexual nature of human life. While I did not focus on the later, I did create better pictures than the ones from the past exercise. I did this by taking photos of my fellow classmates in my Archery and Badminton course. While I still believe that I could have done a better job with my photos. I am very proud of these photos because they showed my improvement and taught me how to tell a story through images, something that I very much used in the next and last exercise we did.

For the last exercise, we studied the photographic techniques of Lorna Simpson. She was mainly known for her combination of photography with other artistic mediums like text and paint. In order to encapsulate this feeling of mixed media in photography, I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my photos. I also made the photos have varied meanings depending on how you interpret them. Of all of my photos I have taken in this course, the two I did for this assignment are my favorite.

Off-Campus Art Review

December 14, 2019 / CDVL

I used this photo of this specific artwork because it reflects my inspiration for my artwork in this class. A couple summers ago, I went on a trip through Europe and during that trip, we visited the Baptistery of Pisa, where this mural is located. I talk about this because it represents what I most love about art; symbolism. I love to theorize about the meaning of artworks and I try to make my artworks open to interpretation as well.

On Campus Art Review

December 14, 2019 / CDVL

In Dana, there is a mixed media painting on the immediate right that I would pass by on my way to my visual thinking class. This painting is titled “Those People” and it was made by Larry Jens Anderson in 2002. The artwork itself is of a spray painted black rectangle with phrases imprinted into the paint. These phrases, from top to bottom, read as Arab people, Black people, Chinese people, Dumb people, Fat people, Gay people, Japanese people, Jewish people, Old people, Poor people, Rich people, Smart people, Straight people, White people, and Young people. I believe this is a social commentary on how when you break people down to fundamental concepts, we are all the same despite our differences in race, gender, wage, or ethnicity. This specific artwork inspired my topic for my final as well as my mid-term.

Final Self Analysis

December 12, 2019 / CDVL

With my final six artworks, my main themes were duality, not judging a book by its cover, running out of time, and the problems with society. These themes came to me due to my frustrations with people not taking me seriously because of the way I act and how I view the world around me. Because of this, I have had many encounters with others where they act differently around me, which makes me upset. Therefore, I decided to use this project as a way to vent my feelings and dissatisfactions with the world through art.

For this project, I used many different types of media. This included ink, colored pencil, graphite, charcoal, plastic covers, crayon, oil pastels, and sharpie. My main subject matter consisted of machinery such as metal pipes, clockwork, buttons, gears, and electronics being combined with natural and living beings such as flowers, people, eyes, and hearts. I did this because it showed the semi-fake and unnatural feelings people seemed to have towards me. Out of all of the six artworks, the black and white window one is my favorite. This is because I feel that it looks the cleanest and best out of all six of the drawings. Likewise, the heart one is my least favorite because it looks sloppy.

Final Leadership Essay

December 10, 2019 / CDVL

As I look back at the course, my style of leadership has only improved, but not changed. In a way, this course only strengthened my idea of what my style of leadership is. My idea of leadership is being able to make sacrifices while also being able to weigh pros and cons of big choices in projects or communities. Also being hard-working and kind are both parts of being a good leader. This is because these two qualities lead you to being well liked and therefore have more power. I have used these ideals ever since middle school when working in group projects and it has worked wonders for me.

However, one skill that I have really worked on during this course is my public speaking. In the beginning of the course, I was very timid and shy with my new environment and peers around me. This often left me to retreat to my “comfort zone” and wear my noise-cancelling headphones. I would also not participate in class discussions because I was scared of saying something wrong. However, when I started working in my group, I started to come out of my shell and be more comfortable with my teammates.

This also affected my public speaking skills in my other classes. For example, in my Art of Writing class, I had to present my essay, which I was originally scared about. However, at the end of the semester, I felt much more confident about speaking about my essay topic, especially since I had strong feelings about my topic. Another example was in my Visual Thinking class. I was very apprehensive about talking about my creative process in my artwork since it is so personal to me. However, now I feel much better about sharing my feelings and thought process about my artwork to others.

Self Analysis Crit #2

October 28, 2019 / CDVL

In this artwork, I used charcoal, graphite, sharpie, and ink. I also used a kneaded eraser and a paper towel to shade. In context of the assignment, I focused on the idea of shape as well as made it the focus of the piece. Compared to the last project, I played around a lot more with darker and lighter values. I also focused on the idea of reflection by flipping the graphite drawings into abstract sharpie shapes. Another thing that I did differently was that I used a bigger variety of materials instead of just staying with graphite. However, one thing I wish I could fix is that I would have filled in the two side triangles with drawings or even textures.

Rufino Tamayo Image Analysis

October 23, 2019 / CDVL

This piece by Rufino Tamayo is titled The Chant and the Music. The subject matter is of a man lying down on the ground in a sleeping bag while playing a guitar. There are two other figures lying down near the man with their eyes closed. There is a door in the floor with a walkway coming up from the floor. This piece uses the elements of art of value and texture by roughly shading the figures around the central figure. This piece also uses the principles of design of unity and emphasis by grouping the figures in the shadows around the one in the light.

The mood and theme of this particular artwork is one of celebration. It celebrates the idea of music and song, as shown by the title of this piece as well as the multiple guitars featured in the piece. This makes sense given the location that this mural was made at. This mural was built for the National School of Music so the subject matter makes sense.

I believe that this is one of Rufino Tamayo’s better artworks. It shows the importance of music and serves its purpose. One thing that I do not like about this artwork is that it get convoluted at some points. In the end, I believe that The Chant and the Music by Rufino Tamayo is one of his better pieces.

Frida Kahlo Image Analysis

October 22, 2019 / CDVL

This artwork by Frida Kahlo is called Luther Burbank/Portrait of Luther. The subject matter is of a elderly man holding a uprooted plant. The man’s lower body is made up of a tree trunk which then spreads into roots. The roots are wrapped around a dead body buried in the ground. This piece uses the elements of art of color and texture by putting details and gore into the two human figures in the artwork. This piece also uses the principles of design of contrast and emphasis by contrasting the healthy man in the upper part of the piece with the corpse in the bottom half.

The mood and theme of this artwork is one of life and death. I believe that this is a metaphor for Luther Burbank’s life, rather than Frida Kahlo’s. Luther Burbank was a botanist that created over 800 different strains of plants as well as helped Ireland recover from the potato famine. When he died, he was buried underneath of the tree’s at his childhood home. I believe this artwork is a metaphor for this.

I believe that this is one of Frida Kahlo’s better artworks. It shows many aspects of Luther Burbank’s life and gets her message across clearly. One thing that I do not like about this artwork is that it gets smudgy at some points in the piece. In the end, I believe that Luther Burbank/Portrait of Luther by Frida Kahlo is one of her better pieces.