Corky
60.96cm x 30.48cm
Mixed Media
9/11/19
Mixed Media
9/11/19
Exhibition Text
The original intentions of my piece was to honor famous Mexican activist, in this case that activist ended up being Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales a “Chicano” activist. For the creation of my piece, I used Mauricio Ramirez’s, Fridas Watching and an Image of “Corky” by Denver photographer Dick Davies. The hardboard I used as my canvas was bought as well as the Bristol paper, but every design was self made.
Critiqual Investigation
Mauricio Ramirez is a latino Artist, who focuses on doing artwork that he describes as being able to cross borders. He does commission artworks here and there and they are quite lovely, but it’s in his pieces for the community in which he exceels as an artist. Most of his community artworks consists of Murals that incorporate famous mexican icons such as the legendary mexican artist Frida Kahlo. But he doesn’t just reference mexican icons for the sake of it, he references them to reach out to the community as he states that, “I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of how the visibility of culture can lead to not only the growth of confidence, but also care within our communities”. This is what I tried to communicate through my piece, the thought that we latino’s should care for one another and to have the confidence to get ourselves out there. Fridas Watching artistic composition consists of a fragmented portrait of Frida Kahlo painted in warm colors, on top of a fragmented background consisting of cool colors. I took inspiration from the way that Fridas Watching uses contrast but I put a spin on it. As I contrasted the warm colors of the background against the black and gray colors from my figure.
Rather than choosing a latino pop culture icon, I chose to do a portrait of a latino activist. Not wanting to do Cesar Chavez, (because he’s too known) I stumbled upon the mexican activist, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales. He was born in Denver to Mexican parents. He wanted to pursue a career in engineering but his lack of money made him go into boxing instead, where he found success, this embraces the feeling that I like many latinos have embraced, the feeling of doing the best with what you can. After retiring from boxing he became an activist in where he protested racial oppression as well as encouraged latino youths to get involved in the arts whether it be writing, dance or visual arts. It is this sense of unity and perseverance that Corky shared which led me to choose him as inspiration.
Rather than choosing a latino pop culture icon, I chose to do a portrait of a latino activist. Not wanting to do Cesar Chavez, (because he’s too known) I stumbled upon the mexican activist, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales. He was born in Denver to Mexican parents. He wanted to pursue a career in engineering but his lack of money made him go into boxing instead, where he found success, this embraces the feeling that I like many latinos have embraced, the feeling of doing the best with what you can. After retiring from boxing he became an activist in where he protested racial oppression as well as encouraged latino youths to get involved in the arts whether it be writing, dance or visual arts. It is this sense of unity and perseverance that Corky shared which led me to choose him as inspiration.
Planning
This was my primary vision of what I wanted to create. In this version Corky was going to be painted in a realistic way with the background being fragmented. I took a little inspiration from Frida's self portrait with monkeys. as the centered figure with a vivid background. But what moved me away from this design was the lack of movement as I didn't want to center my figure.
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This was the first design of my figure. Before choosing to fragment a picture, I first attempted to draw my own interpretation of corky. for the suit the shapes were triangular, while for the living aspects of the figure I would have used squares. I eventually discarded this ideas as I personally didn't like the proportions and aspect of the figure.
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Process
I began my process by buying a large piece of hardwood, and cutting off a 2 foot by 1 foot rectangle from it, this is what I would use as a canvas. Having retained knowledge from sophomore year, I knew that simply painting over the hardwood won't make my colors “pop”. So I went out of my wait to buy gesso, to ensure that my colors would be more vibrant. I applied gesso to the hardwood just like one would apply gesso to a canvas, using a brush moving in a single direction until it was completely covered. Once I had my hardboard prepared for painting, I began the painting process by fragmentation the board. Using a yardstick I began to draw intersecting lines, these intersecting lines would form the various shapes that I would be coloring. I learned this technique in sophomore year of high school as well. Once I had my background fragmented, it was time for me to begin painting. I began my painting process by making a color from a little bit of yellow and a glob of white. This resulted in a pale-ish yellow, I would paint the most centered block with this color, which then I would paint any surrounding blocks yellow, then painting orange the blocks that surrounded yellow blocks, lastly I would paint red any blocks that surrounded orange blocks resulting in a sunburst color pattern. I wanted for all my fragmented blocks to be solid in color. It was this stylistic choice that presented me with one of the biggest struggles while painting. As I soon realised that my yellow and red were not opaque. I first dealt with this struggle by applying multiple coats of one set color. But I soon noticed that darker and lighter colors were more opaque. As a result I began to add black and/or white to every single color I used, which resulted in more opaque colors each time. Another challenge I faced was the craftsmanship, as i wanted straight edges for my painting. I first used tape to endure clean lines but in the end it was more tedious than helpful. But through these experimentations, I achieved a clean and well executed background. The next step was to create the illustration. For that process, I printed an image of “Corky” and just like the hardwood, I used a ruler to fragmentate the image. Once the image was fragmented, I did my best to transcribe the image onto a large bristol paper. Once I had “Corky” drawn out, I began to color in my illustration. For which I used markers, that's when I found out about layering regarding markers. The first layer is quite low in tone, but as more layers of markers are applied the tone increases it was in this way in which I achieved the variety of colors within my image
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Critique
When comparing my piece alongside my inspirations it is evident what I took as inspiration. When comparing my piece to Fridas Watching, one can see the shared artistic principles and elements of art. This can be seen in the art direction between my piece and Fridas Watching as the fragmentation that incorporates contrast trough highlight and value of color is also present within my picture. The movement within the photograph of "Corky" is also included on my piece. While the photograph has movement starting in the face of Corky, then by moving to his hand then to the top of his head. My piece has movement by focusing on the figure of Corky as a whole and then by moving to the bright yellows to finally the dark reds.
Reflection
This was my first project, for senior year of high school. Having learned much from Junior Art. I wanted to create a piece that not only would it showcase my growth since last year but one to also challenge me. And I'm pleased to say that I'm happy with the results. This piece proved to be a moderate challenge for my skills as I had to do precise lines, along with creating solid colors with very transparent paint. But in what I truly feel accomplished was in the way I used elements of art and principles of design. The contrast between the smooth texture of the colors, against the rough texture of the figure. The contrast between color, and value. The movement that guides your eyes through the whole piece. And the unity that makes nothing feel out of place. Its all of these components that make this piece a testament to my growth in art.
Connections to ACT
1. Q: Explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and it's effect on your artwork
A; All the elements of art and design that were present within my inspiration is what artistically guided my creation. As well as the meaning that each of my piece has also impacted the message that my piece conveys.
2. Q:What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
A: Mauricio Ramirez treats his inspiration of latino culture as something important/sacred he mentions that the latino community should also find inspiration among one another..
3. Q: What kind of realizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A; For this piece I came to the realization of the impact that culture has on an individual as its not only a part of who he is but a part of what his reality is, his community, and how that can influence art.
4. Q: What was the central Idea or theme around your inspirational research?
A: To commemorate significant latino civil rights activist, and what they do for their community.
5. Q: What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
A: Culture is not what represents you but something that you are truly active in it wether it be your national culture, or music culture. Culture is a great unifier of people.
A; All the elements of art and design that were present within my inspiration is what artistically guided my creation. As well as the meaning that each of my piece has also impacted the message that my piece conveys.
2. Q:What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
A: Mauricio Ramirez treats his inspiration of latino culture as something important/sacred he mentions that the latino community should also find inspiration among one another..
3. Q: What kind of realizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A; For this piece I came to the realization of the impact that culture has on an individual as its not only a part of who he is but a part of what his reality is, his community, and how that can influence art.
4. Q: What was the central Idea or theme around your inspirational research?
A: To commemorate significant latino civil rights activist, and what they do for their community.
5. Q: What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
A: Culture is not what represents you but something that you are truly active in it wether it be your national culture, or music culture. Culture is a great unifier of people.