1. what is the subject of your image?
1. The subject of my image is a a tornado, and faces of 3 African Americans who were killed by police along with my face. 
2. what is the content of your image?
1. The content of my image is a to show you what is going on in the world today with African Americans. 
3. why did you make the choices that led to the composition?
1. I made these choices because i wanted to show the disadvantage black people have. 
4. • Explain the process and steps you went through and why you made those decisions.
1. The process I went through to make this portrait was fast and good. My first step was to paint a big black cloud and have a tornado forming in the cloud. Next I added the heads of the African American victims in the cloud along with my head.
5. • How you would categorize your work (ex. collage, graphic print, mixed media, etc)
1. I would categorize my work as graphic print.
6. What artists or works are appropriate to compare your work to
1. The artist I tried to compare my art too was Carrie mae weems.
7. what do you think this image conveys to the audience?
1. This image conveys to the audience that black lives matter.
8. What are the differences between the first self-portrait and your last self-portrait? 
1. The difference between my first self-portrait & my last portrait is my first portrait i used words describing my whole life & my last portrait i used my face along with other faces of african americans who lost their life to police.  
9. What influenced these changes?
1. I wanted to point out an issue thats going on in the real world and whats going to keep happening if we don't do anything about it. Which is going to lead to my pictures in the tornado if we don't.

Am I Next ?

  

I was assaulted a few weeks ago back in my hometown by an police officer. He's been doing it for a long time, he got reported and still has his job. Police gets away with alot in todays society and thats the problem. If this issue don't get solved we will see more pictures of innocents on the posters. BLACK LIVES MATTER 

Post 3: Out For The Camera

The museum I went to that includes self-portrait work is called the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. The museum consisted of two exhibits when I went. The first exhibition I explored contained mostly all self-portraits. The exhibit is called “Out For The Camera” by Leonard Fink. Leonard Fink (1930-1992) is a gay American photographer who made most of his work throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. It was interesting that Fink’s photos are so explicit because during his lifetime he was in the closet with family members. This was probably the main reason why Fink never showcased his photography in his own public gallery during his time. This fact adds a point to the exhibit that not only Fink, but many gay people need to have multiple identities that are so necessary to the oppressive regime of the closet.

Themes that are prevalent in this exhibit are identity, exposing yourself unapologetically, sex, exhibitionism, and gay culture. Many of Fink’s photos include himself and other subjects in explicit poses and engaging in what was then forbidden and scandalous sexual acts. In many of his photographs, he and/or his subjects are looking straight at the camera lens, which differs from most pornography, because the subjects usually look away as if the audience is unseen. I think society has tried to make those who aren’t heterosexual feel like they aren’t normal and like they are doing wrong by exposing themselves. Heterosexual people have been posing naked forever and it is deemed art. I think Fink is critiquing that societal idea and pushing limits. I believe he is also just exploring the identities of the people in his community.

Keller Bar, 1976

Fink portrays being unapologetically yourself in The Kiss (n.d.) and Self-Portrait with Tommy (n.d). By looking straight at the camera Fink is making the viewer know that he is unapologetic and not ashamed of showing off who he is. Fink was also very fascinated with the gay bar culture of the West Village and the annual Pride marches. As I read the description of the Keller Bar (1976) photograph, Fink decided to photograph men in light-filled bars where they talked and enjoyed themselves, unlike the “dark quasi-private spaces where men congregate in the night” that films tend to portray during that time. I was also interested in Fink’s annual Pride march photographs. One of the images is entitled Gay Pride March (Boy Scouts), 1973, which is of boy scouts at the Pride march. 

Leonard Fink, Self-Portrait in the Mirror with Camera to the Eye, 1979. 

The above photograph is entitled Self-Portrait in the Mirror with Camera to the Eye, which was taken in 1979. This photograph represents the freedom Fink found in the mirror. He also found freedom in his camera because it was like a mirror for him. He believed the mirror and camera made way for him to explore his own image and ones he could create. He could be any of the characters that he portrayed in other photographs, such as a scout leader, naked biker, and naked and vulnerable. I believe Fink may have found solace and the ability to be himself, regardless of what character it was, through his photos, because he was not allowed to around his family. 

Del LaGrace Volcano, Self-Portrait Collaboration with Gerard Rancinan, Paris, 2004

This photograph is not by Leonard Fink but it is included in the "Out For The Camera" exhibition because it encapsulates the vision of Fink's self-portraiture. Del LaGrace Volcano is another photographer and was born in California, but is based in Sweden. Del LaGrace was born with male and female characteristics but was raised as a girl. He/she now lives as a man and woman. This plays a big part in his/her's photography. Del LaGrace explores the subjects of gender variance, sexual connectedness, and body mutations. In the photograph above, Del LaGrace explores what gender is and how it is displayed in society. He/she is dressed in a skirt with thigh high socks, platform boots, and makeup while also maintaining a masculine pose. He/she has a stern face and stance. Del LaGrace is pointing out that masculinity and feminity can be displayed at the same time and still be empowering and beautiful. Del LaGrace is defying the norm. Your image can be whatever you want it to be and you do not need to follow society's rules when taking a photograph of yourself. By making him/herself the subject Del LaGrace is able to take control of how the photo looks and the point of it. 

I believe the curator for the "Out For The Camera" exhibit was trying to tell the museum audience that gay artists are taking a hold of their own identity and sexuality. They are out for the camera and proud of it. There is nothing weird or odd about it. They are showing that gay artists utilize the self-portrait to get that point across because what better and more personal way is there to express yourself and your truth than through photos of yourself. 

Works Cited

“DEL LAGRACE VOLCANO.” DEL LAGRACE VOLCANO, www.dellagracevolcano.com/.

Hyperallergic. “Your Concise New York Art Guide for Spring 2018.” Hyperallergic, Hyperallergic, 13 Mar. 2018, hyperallergic.com/427450/concise-guide-new-york-art-spring-2018/.

“OUT FOR THE CAMERA: The Self-Portraits of Leonard Fink.” Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, 17 Feb. 2018, www.leslielohman.org/project/leonard-fink-out-for-the-camera/.

Blog Post 3 - John Chamberlain's Self Portraiture

Chamberlain photos displayed at MANA Contemporary, retrieved from aynfoundation.com

On Tuesday, April 24, I saw John Chamberlain's Photographs displayed in the second floor gallery of MANA contemporary. John Chamberlain spent most of his career as a sculptor and became well known along with abstract expressionists during the 1950s. His works were made of car parts and brightly colored with car paint, although the finished products had no resemblance to cars(The Art Story). He was said to have pioneered the use of automotive metal in sculpture (Kennedy). From 1989 to 2002, he experimented with photography and created the series of photos including those on display at MANA Contemporary. These works are all untitled and do not have any descriptions on display in the gallery, but this leaves them up to the interpretation of the viewer. Additionally, I think it creates a simplicity and straightforwardness that says these works are what they are and nothing more. I found these pieces to be at once abstract and deeply personal. Chamberlain's method and approach create a self portrait using his motions and the world around him.

Chamberlain portrays himself in his photos mainly through his movements and experiences, although in some of them he includes his own face. In some cases, his face is the main focus, such as in the photo above where he uses the motion of the camera to turn his head into a long squiggle. In others, such as the photo below, his face appears off to the side or in a corner and is not as much of a focal point.

In yet other photos, his face appears multiple times due to the photo being panoramic. This adds an element of surrealism to the pictures and is also a way of capturing his movement from one place to another within one still image. He also captures images of a wide array of experiences. For example, some pictures show restaurant interiors and foods, while others show streets, rooms, art galleries, monuments, and other locations, some too distorted to discern. Additionally, the majority of the photos were taken by a moving camera, usually moved by Chamberlain himself. The distortion of the photos shows how much he moved when he took them, and even indicate what directions he may have moved in.

The most prominent repeated themes I noticed in this series were movement, distortion, and day to day life. Almost every photograph captured movement. Chamberlain often took photos by holding the camera close to his body and moving around as he took them (Wiley). In doing so, he captured his own movement through the way the surroundings are affected by the camera’s movement. This is visible in the distortion of the photos’ subjects. Although a few photos do not, most show extremely distorted, often blurred objects and places. This is why they appear so abstract even though they are also easily understandable as self portraits. Since he does not show his face in every picture, he uses many of them to portray himself through his experiences. Even though he chooses to show relatively simple and everyday subjects, such as room interiors, outdoor scenery, and meals, he does so in a way that makes them interesting to look at and unique to his own style. In the cases where he portrays travel and landmarks, they are not usually the focus of the picture, making them seem like mundane everyday scenery as well.

Chamberlain addresses himself and his experiences playfully and experimentally in his photos. This in itself is a characteristic of his identity as an artist. He was known to experiment with many other media besides sculpture, as well as with different materials within sculpture(Kennedy).

If he is critiquing the concepts of self-identity, Chamberlain seems to be countering how seriously many people take themselves by creating more playful images. He is also countering how contrived and overly constructed one’s self image may be by creating these images without much premeditation. He lets his movements direct what the picture will look like, making his self portrayal genuine on a very basic level. His technique has been compared to automatic drawing (The Art Story), which works well as a method of expression without too much thought. Chamberlain’s work evokes a sense of constructed self, however, in the sense that people construct themselves through their experiences. I also think it exemplifies the male gaze, but in a different way than portraits of women by men tend to. In this case he is literally portraying what he sees. He is also an active participant in his work, emphasizing John Berger’s point that “men act and women appear”(47) as a way to simplify the concepts of the male gaze. This, however is the only similarity because there is not any objectification of women to be found in Chamberlain’s work. Of course, it is hard for any art works not to be considered self portraits because “[s]pectatorship cultivated through cinema, art, theatre, and fashion has conventionalized a visual representation of identity (Finkelstein 129).


I think that the purpose of this series was to experiment with self portrayal and photography when Chamberlain did not primarily work in this way. It was another step in the experimentation he naturally did throughout his career. He may be telling the audience to experiment with expression and self-portrayal as he did, or simply showing the picture of himself created by these works.



Sources

“John Chamberlain Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.m.theartstory.org/artist-chamberlain-john.htm.

Kennedy, Randy. “John Chamberlain, Artist of Auto Metal, Dies at 84.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2011, mobile.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/arts/design/john-chamberlain-artist-of-auto-metal-dies-at-84.html.

“Ayn Foundation Projects at MANA Contemporary.” Aynfoundation.com, Ayn Foundation, www.aynfoundation.com/mana.php.

Wiley, Tad. “‘MORE ME’: John Chamberlain's Panoramic Self Portraits.” Aynfoundation.com, Ayn Foundation, Aug. 2016, www.aynfoundation.com/photos/mana/chamberlain/more-me.pdf.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Art & Language, 1978.

Finkelstein, Joanne. The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. I.B. Tauris, 2007.

Final Project: 'Fight Like A Girl'

My final project is inspired by an image of Basquiat and Andy Warhol. Basquiat is someone who I consider to be a big influence on my life (I have a tattoo of his crown). In my project, I am the subject, and I am portrayed as a boxer. I knew that I wanted to do something revolving around empowerment, and I choose to do mine on women empowerment. Since I am familiar with Photoshop, I chose to do a gif. I would categories my work to be mixed media, as I created the background and take a photograph of myself. I believe that my project is very modern, considering it was done using technology, and I believe it is something that women today could relate to. It could also convey that I, as the subject, am encouraging women's empowerment. I think I was a bit inspired by my first self-portrait for my last self-portrait. Also, I rushed to put something together for my first self-portrait and I really did try to come up with a meaningful idea and execute it well. 

Paperweight [Final] [Jan Castaneda]

The subject of my image is a depiction of my views on my religion, unlike my family who seem to have more faith in religion, I constantly question it. I created a makeshift head with a noose anchored to a bible, the content represents how I view religion as a paperweight and that it seems to hold people back. I decided to create this project because in my family, my mother or grandmother would attempt to guilt trip me to go to church, saying that it was a necessity but I, unfortunately for them, do not agree. I also have seen or heard of instances where religion was used to excuse people's actions such as preventing abortions due to religious beliefs or where people could not marry because of religious differences. I would categorize my work as a mixed media since it incorporates sculptural qualities and photographic elements. The difference between my first and last self-portrait is that the first was a drawing and my last one is a more three dimensional piece.

final post

Girl Looking Crooked, 2018

The subject of my image, Girl Looking Crooked, is to show the viewers how crooked my back is. The content of my image is me, my scoliosis, and a few things that represent me. I made the choices that led to my composition because I wanted to use an image where I could show my back. Since the woman in the image Grande Odalisque is fully naked, I saw the opportunity to represent myself in that image. So, I chose all the images I wanted to represent in my artwork and I photoshopped it onto Grande Odalisque's image. My work is a collage and I can compare it to Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres's piece. This image will probably confuse the audience at first because it is a cluster of different things, but once I explain what it means, people will understand. My first self-portrait was a painting of the two places I am from, and that represented me and how I travel to Spain every year to see my entire family. My second self-portrait is more of a physical image of myself. This self-portrait portrays the things I experience throughout life. The influence in these changes is to show my audience that I am not as perfect as I seem. Everyone has something wrong with them whether its mentally or physically.

The picture matching the flowers was unintentional, but it worked. I wanted to use my spine, but it didn't look as well as my friends. I relate to my friend because we both suffer through back pains and our clothing not fitting properly. The snakes represent what my friends call me and the flowers represent me being happy about my body.

Final Project - Me, Myself, I, etc.

For most of my life, I have been fascinated by costume and altering my appearance. That is why in this project, I used different costumes to express different aspects of my personality, as well as different ways I present myself. I separated these aspects into eight different "selves", each with costumes, props, and settings that represent them. I exaggerated each aspect as well to make them easier to photograph. Some are selves that I create, and some are inherent traits.

My first self is the "cool and mysterious". I expressed quintessential "coolness" with black clothing, sunglasses, and a leather jacket. This is the self that people see when I dress well but don't talk much and carry myself with confidence, the self that people are intimidated by and wish they could be friends with.

My second self is the feminine. Although I do not identify as a woman, I am in touch with my femininity and sometimes decide to present in a more feminine way with makeup or dresses. This character represents my femininity and how I might present myself more often if I identified as a woman.

My third self is the lazy. This is the self that most of my close friends and family see, and is characterized by stress, depression, tiredness, and sloppiness. This is the self that wants to stay in bed all day, only eats junk food, never dresses well, never cleans up after themselves, has panic attacks, is tired all the time, and wastes their life away. I represented this by photographing myself in bed with dirty hair and clothes and a bag of chips.

My fourth self is the happy, spiritual, and kind. This self loves flowers and nature and is a bit of a hippie. They thrive in spring and summer, always recycle, consider others' feelings and believe in karma, and rarely worry as they know things will work out in the end.

My fifth self is the heroic. They represent the hero complex I've always had. I always want to play the role of the knight in shining armor in a story. I portrayed myself in this photo as a cowboy, the knight of the wild west. This character is a born leader who is law abiding, polite, brave, and always helps others.

My sixth self is the academic and professional. This is the least personal and furthest in expression from my true self, yet represents what I feel is a very important aspect of myself: hard work and book smarts. I always put forth great effort in both classes and jobs, and this self represents that. This is the self that is loved by teachers and bosses, gets perfect grades, and has a wealth of knowledge to share but rarely shares personal information.

My seventh self is the healthy and athletic. This represents my health consciousness. I do not always act in health conscious ways (see Lazy Self), but I do think about my health almost constantly and strive to become the healthiest person I can be. This self is that person. They work out regularly, stay active, eat clean and are very strong.

My eighth and final self is the dramatic and creative. This is the self that writes dark poems and sad songs, creates dramatic monologues and dances when they are alone, and isolates themselves to create art. They are inspired by the starving artist and tragic prodigy, but are not as prolific as they wish to be. This is a self that I don't present in my own appearance, but rather in some of my art. I have not made such dramatic art in a long time, and I think that it was partly a phase of being a teenager that motivated me to do so in the first place, but it is nonetheless still a part of me that influences my creative decisions.

This project is different from my midterm in that it utilizes photographs of myself rather than a painting. There are also many different symbols in each of the photos instead of just one throughout the project. Instead of just one image of myself, or rather a focus on one aspect of myself, there are many. I want this project to convey the complexity of the self as well as the ability to express yourself in many different ways simply through appearance. The artist that inspired me most this semester was Cindy Sherman, so it made the most sense to let her influence this final project. The way she creates different identities through costume, setting, and photography resonates with and appeals to me, and it was a natural direction for me to take for the project.

To create the project, I took photos of myself (or had friends take them for me) in each costume after coming up with the different selves I wanted to portray. Then I assembled printouts in a cardboard accordion book. The accordion book is a way to show that the self is many sided but still a single entity.