The Bearing Weight
Block Print 23cm x 30cm September 2019 linoleum carving Exhibition Text The bearing weight was inspired by German expressionism, "The mothers" by Kathe Kollwitz. Kathe Kollwitz's piece had a focus of the sorrow of women and children. I decided to make my focus on the sadness and struggles women go through, but no one may never know because of the way these women may present themselves. The Irish Celtic cross was also an inspiration within my piece. The Irish Celtic cross has a meaning of strength and hope. The title the bearing weight means that something may always bring someone down, but you may never know because that person is radiating positive and happy energy. |
Planning |
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Inspiration
Some inspiration came from the German expressionism artist Kathe Kollwitz. Her work showed a story of the serious effects of war on the people who lost others within the war. In her woodcuts she carved out minimal space and left a lot of black, but also had very small details within her work. I took her usage of leaving the space and did the opposite and removed a lot to reveal a lot of white. Kathe Kollwitz made her pieces have an emotion and I tried to imitate that within my piece. I also took inspiration from the Irish culture. The two patterns in the back are a part of the Celtic cross. The Celtic cross represents faith, hope and strength, which ties into my piece because of the strength needed to persevere through hardships a women may encounter. |
Citation:
“Käthe Kollwitz. The Mothers (Die Mütter) (Plate 6) from War (Krieg). (1921-22, Published 1923).” MoMA.org, MoMA.org, https://www.moma.org/s/ge/collection_ge/artist/artist_id-3201_role-1_sov_page-17.html. |
Planning Sketches |
It was quite easy for me to know what I wanted to do for this project. The difficult part was how I was going to execute the project. My first sketch was of a women's silhouette with chains around the boarder turning into and X over lapping the women's body. After looking at the final sketch I didn't think it fit the criterion.
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This was my final sketch. I began to look into " The Mothers" by Kathe Kollwitz and got inspiration by the meaning behind her piece. I wanted to put my culture into my piece and found that Celtic cross and chose to put a detail from the cross into my piece. I chose to do this because of what the cross symbolized.
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Process
Experimentation
Most of my experimentation was within the printing process. I experimented with the amount of ink used and how much pressure I used when transferring my image onto the final piece of paper. When I first rolled the ink onto the medium I didn't put enough ink on some spots which made the final image look patchy. When I got the hang of where to put more ink and how to get the correct coverage over my block print I started to struggle with the amount of pressure I should use when using the barens. When doing the first print I used the bamboo baren with moderate pressure for about 2 minutes. I did not put enough pressure so the image came out undefined. After a few tries of testing different amount of pressure I finally got a good outcome, by using a lot of pressure for about 3 minutes.
Most of my experimentation was within the printing process. I experimented with the amount of ink used and how much pressure I used when transferring my image onto the final piece of paper. When I first rolled the ink onto the medium I didn't put enough ink on some spots which made the final image look patchy. When I got the hang of where to put more ink and how to get the correct coverage over my block print I started to struggle with the amount of pressure I should use when using the barens. When doing the first print I used the bamboo baren with moderate pressure for about 2 minutes. I did not put enough pressure so the image came out undefined. After a few tries of testing different amount of pressure I finally got a good outcome, by using a lot of pressure for about 3 minutes.
Process
First I redrew my sketch onto the medium with a pencil. I then began to make the smaller lines thicker to make sure that they will show up when printing them.
I then began to carve away the medium with a medium curved, medium v-shaped, and smaller curved carving tool. I carved out what was not colored by my pencil.
Finally, I stared the printing process. To print I first gather two clean pieces of large paper: one to roll the ink onto by block print and a clean one to transfer the print onto a piece of paper, a brayer, a baren,a metal plate, and water based ink. First I grabbed a small amount of ink: about a half a spoon, and places it on the plate. Using the brayer I evenly spread the ink across the plate, evenly covering my brayer in ink. After the ink was evenly in the brayer I rolled the ink onto the medium. After i was satisfied with the coverage of the ink I took a piece of paper and tranferred the image from the block print onto the paper using two different barens to get the ink onto the paper properly. I did this several times until the final product was achieved.
First I redrew my sketch onto the medium with a pencil. I then began to make the smaller lines thicker to make sure that they will show up when printing them.
I then began to carve away the medium with a medium curved, medium v-shaped, and smaller curved carving tool. I carved out what was not colored by my pencil.
Finally, I stared the printing process. To print I first gather two clean pieces of large paper: one to roll the ink onto by block print and a clean one to transfer the print onto a piece of paper, a brayer, a baren,a metal plate, and water based ink. First I grabbed a small amount of ink: about a half a spoon, and places it on the plate. Using the brayer I evenly spread the ink across the plate, evenly covering my brayer in ink. After the ink was evenly in the brayer I rolled the ink onto the medium. After i was satisfied with the coverage of the ink I took a piece of paper and tranferred the image from the block print onto the paper using two different barens to get the ink onto the paper properly. I did this several times until the final product was achieved.
Reflection
I am joyed to say that I am pleased with the outcome of my block print. There were no major mishaps while doing this project. I think if I would of carved out less around the women to make a thicker outline it would of popped out more and made more of a dramatic theme emphasizing the women's silhouette. Throughout the process of making this project i developed new skills to adapt to the tools and medium we were using. I began to pick up a technique for carving that was the most easy and efficient for me. While printing, it took me several times to begin to develop a technique that worked and gave me a good outcome. If I were to do the project over again I would focus more on the techniques I used and be more patient with the carving process to make sure the outcome of my block print would be nice.
Act Responses
1.Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work. Since Kathe Kollwitz had a focus based off of what was going on around her, that influenced the focus of my piece. Recently i have seen a lot of news articles and heard many people talk about women having issues within the community lately. Like Kathe Kollwitz I let something that is happening around me influence the focus of my artwork.
2.What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach I found that the author had was the struggle women, widows and children had to got through because of the effects the war had on them.
3.What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have learned that the German Expressionism era was a very dark and sorrowful time because of the dark colors and themes the pieces had.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was to see how someones surroundings can effect their artwork.
5.What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During the researching process I inferred that during the German Expressionism era the artist used their art to express their feelings. They also used their art to show the world was going within themselves because of their surroundings.
2.What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach I found that the author had was the struggle women, widows and children had to got through because of the effects the war had on them.
3.What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have learned that the German Expressionism era was a very dark and sorrowful time because of the dark colors and themes the pieces had.
4.What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was to see how someones surroundings can effect their artwork.
5.What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During the researching process I inferred that during the German Expressionism era the artist used their art to express their feelings. They also used their art to show the world was going within themselves because of their surroundings.
Bibliography
“Käthe Kollwitz. The Mothers (Die Mütter) (Plate 6) from War (Krieg). (1921-22, Published 1923).” MoMA.org, MoMa, https://www.moma.org/s/ge/collection_ge/artist/artist_id-3201_role-1_sov_page-17.html.
World, I. (2019). The Celtic Cross - The History And Symbolism Behind This Inspiring Symbol. [online] Irish Around The World. Available at: https://irisharoundtheworld.com/celtic-cross/ [Accessed 8 Sep. 2019].
World, I. (2019). The Celtic Cross - The History And Symbolism Behind This Inspiring Symbol. [online] Irish Around The World. Available at: https://irisharoundtheworld.com/celtic-cross/ [Accessed 8 Sep. 2019].