Title: Melancholic Peace
Medium: Photography Size: 21.59 x 27.94 cm Date: September 2016 My intentions were to portray the common melancholic expressions found throughout catholicism. Smiles are uncommon among saints and higher beings yet religion continues to be regarded as an uplifiting method to inspire others. Through the use of photography, and inspired by Renaissance artist Michelangelo, I explore the facial expressions of religious beings within my own religion, catholicism. |
Artistic Inspiration: Michelangelo
Michelangelo was an Italian Renasissance artist regarded as one of the greats. His works reach across various mediums from sculptures to frescos. At the time of the Renaissance, religion was prodominent and influenced many of the artists at the time's work. The Roman Catholic church inspired many works of art including those of Michelangelo. In many of his works, such as his "Pieta," Michelangelo captures biblical scenes in harmonic and peaceful poses yet captures a melancholic facial expression. This expression can be found on his "Pieta." These facial expression captured in his work inspired me to do so as well with current religious figures. Similar to Michelangelo, I wanted to capture the sad expressions potrayed amongst Catholic figures to portray how regardless of what seems like pain and suffering, can be displayed in a manner of belief and faith. Research Citation: "Michelangelo, His Paintings, and Sculptures." Michelangelo:Paintings,Sculptures,Biography of Michelangelo. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2016. |
Planning/Process
I then proceeded to sketch the facial expression of Jesus Christ, common religious figure. It is perhaps the most common symbol in Catholicism and demonstrates to a great extent the idea of how pain and suffering can be portrayed as belief. Pinned to a cross, head drooping, and a depressing face, Jesus Christ on the cross symbolizes the Catholic religion.
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Process |
Once more I resorted to drawing our religious symbols. The bible, holy grail, and sacramental bread could be replaced by ordinary objects such as a cup, book, and cookie yet portray a religious idea through light and exposure. It was in order to attempt to demonstrate the "overselling" of religion.
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After planning out possble ideas for creating my piece, I decided to utilize photography as my medium. Religious objects could be found around my entire house easily due to my family's close ties with Catholicism. This then gave me the idea of photographing these objects. When approaching the idea of photography, I knew angles and lighting were essential aspects. Additionaly, I lacked a proper camera and needed to use a phone camera which restricted the quality and resolution of my images. If the object was too small, the camera had difficulty focusing properly on it. Lighting was also a challenge. I attempted photographing pieces with the flash on and without the flash. Whenever I photographed anything without the flash, it was too dark in order for the contrast in hues to be easily seen. When I didi use the flash, if I pointed it incorresctly, the piece became drowned in whte light and could not be seen. I experimented with various angles in an attempt to best capture the facial expressions of object. An improper angle resulted in blurriness or an overwhelming amount of light. Besides experimenting with angles, I attempted to limit the amount of flash that was used. I would place my finger over the flash, however rather than reducing the flash this simply created a red light rather than a white one. This gave the picture of Jesus Christ an ominous look that I was not looking for. I simply wanted to capture the almost emotionless facial expression, not create a strange sense of evil through the use of red light. Therfore I discarded this method and continued photographing with various angles. Eventually I was able to properly capture four religious personas. I then took the images and combined them into one piece through the use of photoshop. I simply made small edits such as increasing contrast and decreasing brightness.
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Reflection
Overall, I believe I was successful in demonstrating the melancholy in Catholicism. Due to lack of proper equipment such as white light, a white background, and a proper camera, it was challenging to capture the images in the manner that I desired. Additionally, some of the figures I captured were old and were somewhat corroded however I believe this added to the piece rather than took away from it. Often times religious symbols found at churches, cemeteries, and other locations are usually corroded due to their old age since Catholicism has been around for centuries. In capturing facial expression, I believe I was successful however I would have like to improve the exposure and quality of the images through the use of proper equipment.
ACT Questions
ACT Questions:
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
-Religion is portrayed in my work as well as my inspiration's. Additionally both portray melancholic scenes or facial expressions of religious symbols.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
-Religion is a beuatiful source of inspiration that can portray a substantial amount of menaing to the viewer such as by portraying faith simply through artwork.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
-Religious ideas are often based on stories passed down, however it is when these stories are visualized that a religion truly forms and people begin to fully place their faithin it.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
-Religion although meant to be positive, most often depicts sad and painful expressions and scenes.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
-Cultures have come to accept these melancholic expressions as a part of religion and a necessity to encourage faith based on pain and suffering.
1) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
-Religion is portrayed in my work as well as my inspiration's. Additionally both portray melancholic scenes or facial expressions of religious symbols.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
-Religion is a beuatiful source of inspiration that can portray a substantial amount of menaing to the viewer such as by portraying faith simply through artwork.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
-Religious ideas are often based on stories passed down, however it is when these stories are visualized that a religion truly forms and people begin to fully place their faithin it.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
-Religion although meant to be positive, most often depicts sad and painful expressions and scenes.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
-Cultures have come to accept these melancholic expressions as a part of religion and a necessity to encourage faith based on pain and suffering.