Santa Monica Trip

I had an incredible amount of fun on this assignment. I went into galleries that I wouldn't normally go in, and also discovered some new favorite artists. The first exhibit I went in was by the artist Kelly Reemsten. I found her oil paintings to be fantastic. Not only were they filled with beautiful colors, but they also had a lot of humor in them. She painted womens bodies, and they were all holding some type of garden tool. The titles were the piece that held the humor. She had one piece with a woman holding hedge clippers, the title reading, "I don't need keys to get into your house." I loved her paintings because they were both vague AND obvious.

The second artist I saw was Karen Karson. Her paintings I didn't personally enjoy as much as the others I saw that day, but I LOVED the way she framed them. She used frames that reminded my of a Dr. Suess book. They were uneven and jutted out past the actual painting.

The third artist I saw I am unaware of the name. But the artist was a photographer who took photos of very interesting people. I loved this because I also like to photograph people. They were mostly pictures of African Americans in a poor part of a country that wasn't named. I loved them because they all evoked a certain emotion.

The next exhibit I went to was called, "Another Nude Show", and it was filled with a bunch of nude art by all kinds of different artists. The first one that caught my attention was Robert Grahms Mirror II. It featured two nude people viewing eachother through a piece of glass. I loved the way the people were laying on the ground. Something about the emotion was so carefree and childish. The next one caught my attention because it was a relief like we talked about in class. They used a series of pins to make a human body.

The artist I enjoyed the absolute most was Jose Bedia. His paintings moved me in such a way. I also loved the way he incoorperated text into his paintings. Because I find it really difficult to successfully combine text and imagery. He was the last exhibit that I went to that day, mainly because I wanted to end the day on such a great note. I was so inspired by his technique and the way that he used space.

The History of Hair

St. Paul said "that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him..But if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her." At certain historical moment, such as the 1920s, short (or "cropped") hair on women was considered a statement of rebellion against established gender roles.

Under slavery, hairstyling was one of the few areas in which enslaved men and women were free to express themselves as they wish. In Africa grooming and styling hair was an important cultural ritual. Many men shaved their heads, while many women elaborately styled their hair. Intricate hair designs were also common in the New World. Many enslaved women braided their hair, wrapped it, or wove shells and beads into their hair.

Mr. Tension

For my tension project, I was originally going to shoot my sculpture and put it back together with plastic toys. However when I was sculpting my project, I started to think about what I thought tension meant, and for me it was more emotional. So I decided to make my piece a performance piece. I secretly went into class and pretended to present my project when really I planned on dropping it. I wanted everyone's tense emotion to be my tension.

The Mustache Mission

Ladies and gentlemen, as you may know it is March Mustache Madness. For the apparatus, I wanted to honor this event and make a mustache out of my own hair. I made an appointment with a hair stylist, and chopped off my bob. I wanted to use something light to make the mustache structure, so I used Molding Magic by Crayola. It's similar to the texture of marshmallows but it dries hard. I then painted the molding magic brown to match my hair, then glued on the chunks of chopped follicles. The one problem I ran into with this endeavor was that my hair was short to begin with, so the hair I used for the mustache was pretty short. It was difficult to make it look convincing and I felt it would have been easier with long strips of hair. Hope you enjoy!

'Stache Happy Folks!

-Kelsey

Getting Started

Welcome to my Blog! I'll be recording all my art projects and how I did them in case any of you are feeling in any way inspired by what you see. I enjoy photography, sculpture, and drawing so that's mostly what you'll see on my Blog. I'm currently working on a photography piece on femininity and I'll post the steps and finished product when I'm done! Any questions about me or what I do I'd be happy to answer.