POST 2 INFLUENCES IN ART PRACTICE

 1. Who are the 5 artist you chose?

• Michael Rakowitz
• Firelei Baez
• Sarah Sze
• Julie Mehretu
• Jordan Casteel

2. What were the themes the artist addressed about making work?

    

    The themes of each of these artist that I chose are different, but some have similarities. Julie's work theme was an abstraction mural painting. She said no part of her work was completely determined and that it was an additive process. Firelei theme of work was to represent the female body, and had some inspiration from the work of Carl Linneaus. Firelei had some inspiration from a Dominican mythological figure that was like a seductress, and kind of morphed into other forms, getting ideas between animals from Carl's art and the creature.

    Sarah Sze made a mural in the subway in New York in a blueprint theme. This was inspiring, and you'll see that some of these artist that I have work in New York. I chose resonated with these artist, because I was born in New York, Manhattan, and I see these places all the time. Sarah's work comes to life in a sense. Her work can be used as a way finder, because you'll know what side of the train you're on if you look at the art, and colors. Sze put pieces of paper on the wall floating in space, giving it the feeling that there is a train coming, and the air is pushing the paper which I think is really smart and creative.
    

    Jordan Casteel takes pictures of people, and paints them in her own space, gathering her thoughts and feelings. Almost as if it was a therapy session, and finds inspiration from the details in the picture as she paints. Jordan Casteel's "New York Close Up" is very beautiful, and her theme of work is figurative, big, and she used oil painting. 
    
    Michael Rakowitz theme of work comes from his culture and from his families historical background in Iraq. I believe some of these paintings are spiritual, because I heard of all these names from these middle eastern places from the bible, for example; Nimrud (Nimrod), Assyria, even some of the art from the national museum of Iraq has to come from a spiritual belief. He based his work off of art that was stolen by a US invasion and calls the art " Haunting The West" because he is making like replacement art for what was stolen. He used materials from his country to make a collage sculpture, on the art work that was taken, and a difference between his work and the old work is that it is much more vibrant. 

3. What were the challenges of the artists faced in making their work?

• Michael Rakowitz's family had to move to the US, because of what was happening in their country, and when he was making his art work he was dealing with war. He had to balance his artistic practice and activism, he even had a culinary project called "Enemy Kitchen." This for sure raised some eyebrows, and him being an Iraqi-American, probably did also, because of stereotypes.
• Jordan Casteel challenges was that she was an African American woman, and had to weasel herself in the art market, as she said "room for her, is few and far between."
• A challenge for Sarah Sze was that her mural was hard to understand until it was made and how she would see the work from the different station levels.
• Julie said something that was challenging for her mural was deciding when to add shapes and how.

4. What were the inspirations you drew from the artists?

    I got a lot of inspirations from these artist, and 4/5 artist I chose are from or have work in New York, where I am from. I got a lot of inspiration from Michael Rakowitz, and Sarah Sze. I love how Michael's work was titled "Haunting The West" it is very bold and he is standing firm on his culture, and giving it a emotional and cultural meaning. Staying true to his roots and what he knows best, and bringing a new light to it. I like how Sarah Sze adapts to her environment, and uses what is around her to adapt her art to it, like the paper being blown by the trains, but it's an 2D art work.

5. what were the things you would like to incorporate into your own work after watching these videos?

    I would love to incorporate more of my background, culture, and passions into my artwork like Michael Rakowitz did. I think having a strong connection to your art makes it even more creative, limited, exclusive, and one of a kind. I like how he used collages of things from his childhood, and makes me want to go back to my roots, and apply what I know from my past. I would love to also adapt to my environment like Sarah does, and also use the blueprint theme more for my designs. I think they're petty cool and I don't see them a lot, and she was talking about how Italian futurists, and Russian constructivists were obsessed with the idea of acceleration of time mostly through transit, in which I want to adapt that theme and build some ideas from that to my designs. I want to make graphic designs relate so much to what the art piece is for, and give it so much meaning and detail, that it would take so much knowledge and wisdom to understand the piece, almost like a mystery or secret.