Final exam piece

A2 Project Evaluation

The theme and exam question that I have been studying and researching, is multiple images. When first researching multiple images for the first time, I was hit with a vast amount of ideas and images that could lead on to something big. My initial ideas when I first started the project were about painting movement and noticing the different between each photo and how it has changed. Throughout the project, I moved on from painting portraits to experimenting more with different medias such as wood, sewing onto a photograph, patterns and photo montaging. The mood that I have tried to portray to the viewer is a sense of getting a closer look into my personal life and the years that have passed. Like a timeline of my life, from being born to the present year. 

At the beginning of the exam preparation, i wanted to look at how people change over a period of time through the use of a details portrait painting on canvas or a board. I created a small scale wood painting which was based on the artist work, Jonathan Yeo. After i created this, i decided that i wanted to move on from painting and not focus on this specific media for the whole exam. Following on from this, i gathered several personal, old family photos to use which my work. This was a major turning point within my exam preparation as i was now focusing on family, personal life and the emotion that was portrayed within that time period. Sticking to the theme of multiple images, i layered these photos onto of each other changing the opacity level so each photo was seen if the viewer looked hard enough. This  gave a new meaning to the photos as they now look ghostly and disturbed. Although, it did show the relationship and close bond that my family has together and this was a theme which i was interested in and wanted to move forward with. These photographs compared with the artist Richard Billingham are the same showing the truth and who an every day family functions which there arguments and the love within the household. 

Not leaving the painting behind in the past, i wanted to incorporate it within my project. This then leaded on to creating a mix media board piece which i used a verity of different media from coffee, string, paint and arts a craft prices. I though that this was a successful piece and i wanted to incorporate the photography and the painting together but didn't want to overshadow the photograph and its message with too much paint. 

Leading on from this idea with the paint and photographs, i wanted to add more media into the piece to get the audience thinking and have an insight into my personal life. I found an artist, Maurizio Aneri which uses thread the created technical patterns over the face of his subject within vintage photos to create a mask showing or hiding the emotion of that person. This really inspired me and i wanted to take this ideas and incorporate it with the paint and the photographs. I then created several mix media photographs that included photography, thread and paint. I thought that this worked really well and the way i sewing shown the emotion that i wanted to portray. I then added text and colour symbolism within my work to create a new point within my work. This was inspired by the artist David Fullerton. 

Within my final piece, I have created three different photographs, with a different story, different meaning which the audience can see for them selves through the use of visual images, text and the sewing methods. This represents a timeline of my personal life which has changed over the years. The colours that i have used all symbolise a feel or emotion that was taken place within that place and time. I used the colours to make the outline of the subject bold and more edgy and contrast with the sewing part of the photograph. 

Photograph number one was of myself and my brother at a young age. I have used blue, yellow, red and black within this piece. This is because it symbolises the place were this photo was taken and our lives at this point. At a young age we liked to play with tractors and our rooms were tractor themed. This influenced us as children and became a part of our lives which then became part of the picture. The text on the background is a short sentence and text saying 'I used to like tractors' and 'Brothers'. This is describing the picture and the content within and shows that this is how i was writing at a young age which was simply created by using my left hand. The stitching on the face, which is near the eye and around the eye symbolises that we will always look out for one another no matter what. The techniques that i used were simple weaving and a series of thread over laying to create a shape around the eye. I developed these ideas by researching artists such as Maurizio Anzeri which had a major influence on my art work with the stitching techniques. I feel that if i could do this photograph again, i would add more vibrant colours in like adding more yellow in so it does not look so dark and disturbing. The stitching at the start of the exam preparation was not going too well as i tried using the sewing machine but decided that if i did the 

sticking manually, i would be able to create more detail and make it 

look professional.

Photograph number two was of myself on my first day of school. This was a major turning point within my life which i wanted to capture within my sting techniques that i used. I used plane colours and over layered the red on the jumper to enforce that the jumper and the logo was the important part of the photograph. The black thread on the face represents a mask covering the fear that i have of school and the people within. I feel that this was a success as black is a full, depressing colour were as yellow would portray to the audience that i was happy about going to school and not afraid. The text, moving on from the last photograph i have grown up and starting to learn how to write so i wanted to portray this to the audience. 

I used a child like writing frame and chosen the sentence 'First day of school'.  Again, the main influence for this was Maurizio Anzeri which in one of his photographs used a black vale to hide the woman emotions that she was trying to hide by covering it and hiding under something black and depressing.  

 Photograph number 3 used the same principle as the previous two picture of the symbolism of the colours and the text used in the background of the photograph. I chose this picture to work on because this was a major event within my life which i shared with my closest friends. The vast array of colours that i used to outline the subject and the multicoloured thread at the top right hand corner of the photograph. The wide range of colours suggest excitement as we had just completed our sky dive. The words which i have chosen to use are a mixture of excitement and truth at the present year. 'What do i do now', 'Friends', 'Excitement', '………'. All these words have a meaning and how i am feeling, we are all friends, we were exited and now we don't know what to do with our lives which leaves questions in our mind of a worried future. These sentences and words are printed onto paper as this is now the current year and technology is advanced.

I am really pleased with the outcome of my final piece because of the sewing techniques that i have used and they are in great detail. Secondly I am pleased with the message that the pictures portray different emotions of that moment in time when the photograph was taken. On reflection i would add more stitching to the photographs but on the over hand it may have over powered the photo which i didn't want to do. The strengths within my final piece would be the stitching because of how detailed it is and the patterns that i have used. Overall, i am extremely pleased with my final piece and i am happy with the outcome.

Practice experiments for the exam

Experiment 1: I have created a mix media photograph using the stitching method with thread, coloured paint with symbolises this moment within my child hood and text. This photo was taken when i was at or around about the age of 4. Gathering information from my mum who said i used to enjoy playing with tractors and my room was based around the colours of a tractor, yellow green and my favourite colour blue. I have used this colour paint to capture this moment in time and symbolise the tractors through the photo. The way the sewing is coming from my face/eye and connected to my brother, who i am holding, this is showing that i will always look out for him and always keep an eye on him. This shows the connection that we have together. To capture my age and intelligence within this photo, i decided to add text, like David Fullerton did, i am adding random words which look like a 4 year old has written it. I achieved this affect by using my left hand. I feel that this experiment has been a major success with showing symbolism and a insight within my personal life through the use of paint, thread and text. 

Experiment 2: Within this experiment, it was the same idea as experiment 1. The same symbolism etc but i wanted to see what it would be like if the text was printed. The outcome was that i liked the printed tested stitched onto the photograph but i thought that it didn't go with the feel and the time the photo was taken. I think that the printed text would look better with a present picture so this shows how times have changed and technologies at the same time. For this reason i have decided to use my left hand (child like handwriting) for the first picture, the way i was learnt to write in the second using lined and the third as printed text stitched onto the photograph. 

Intital exam ideas

For my exam, I am going to be sticking to the theme of multiple images and subjects that are personal to me. The final piece will be a trip-tic of three photos, like a time line, one from when I was newly born/couple of years old, second when I was around 10 years old and the final one to be current. The sewing will tell a story including the colours used and text on the photo. All three of the photos will have a meaning whether its the time and the place it was taken or the feelings behind the picture. Incorporated into the pictures will me a mix of painting and sewing the flows between all the subject within the picture.