Digital Collage
Piece by Piece was created to show the two different cultures that I feel connected to, but at the same time are only a part of who I am. Because there is so much I do not know about that aspect of my life, it helped me find and build myself based on who I wanted to be. I was inspired by Picasso’s Portrait of Ambroise Vollard and Dali’s Sleep.
Meaning
A big part of knowing who you are is knowing where you came from. Your culture and your family have a big impact on how you see yourself, and for some people, it defines them.
In the 1970’s, China instituted its infamous one child policy, which stated that in order to decrease the large population of over 800 million people, they only allowed couples to have one child. This was extremely hard for families who bore more than one child, as they were forced to give up their children or, in extreme cases, kill them. China is a male dominated society, and many times when families gave birth to girls, they would put them up for adoption (Pletcher 2018).
To some people, adoption is a scary thing. But to me, it is all that I have known. I was born in Anqing, China, in Anhui Province, and was adopted by my parents who brought me here when I was a little over one year old. I don’t know why I wasn’t able to be with my birth parents; maybe they could not afford to keep me, or they already had a child, or maybe they just did not want a girl. It will always be a mystery, but it does not really matter. I know that I was adopted for a reason, and that the family I have now has and will always provide for me what my birth parents could not. I am truly grateful for the life I have, and I know I would not trade it.
Although I am not ashamed of my adoption, it does leave some holes in my life. It sometimes leaves me thinking about what my life would be like if I was not adopted. The definition of myself would be completely different, growing up exposed to a different culture and style of life. It also leaves me thinking that sometimes I do not really know who I am. I forget sometimes that I do not look like everyone else because I grew up not really paying attention to it, which is why I think it is so beautiful. Not knowing who you are allows you to shape yourself into the kind of person you want to be, not what anyone else thinks you should. You can put the pieces of your own life together and become whoever you want. In my opinion, where I came from does not define me. Although it plays a part in who I am, it does not dictate how I see myself, nor the way I want people to see me.
In the 1970’s, China instituted its infamous one child policy, which stated that in order to decrease the large population of over 800 million people, they only allowed couples to have one child. This was extremely hard for families who bore more than one child, as they were forced to give up their children or, in extreme cases, kill them. China is a male dominated society, and many times when families gave birth to girls, they would put them up for adoption (Pletcher 2018).
To some people, adoption is a scary thing. But to me, it is all that I have known. I was born in Anqing, China, in Anhui Province, and was adopted by my parents who brought me here when I was a little over one year old. I don’t know why I wasn’t able to be with my birth parents; maybe they could not afford to keep me, or they already had a child, or maybe they just did not want a girl. It will always be a mystery, but it does not really matter. I know that I was adopted for a reason, and that the family I have now has and will always provide for me what my birth parents could not. I am truly grateful for the life I have, and I know I would not trade it.
Although I am not ashamed of my adoption, it does leave some holes in my life. It sometimes leaves me thinking about what my life would be like if I was not adopted. The definition of myself would be completely different, growing up exposed to a different culture and style of life. It also leaves me thinking that sometimes I do not really know who I am. I forget sometimes that I do not look like everyone else because I grew up not really paying attention to it, which is why I think it is so beautiful. Not knowing who you are allows you to shape yourself into the kind of person you want to be, not what anyone else thinks you should. You can put the pieces of your own life together and become whoever you want. In my opinion, where I came from does not define me. Although it plays a part in who I am, it does not dictate how I see myself, nor the way I want people to see me.
Planning
Inspiration
I was inspired by mainly Pablo Picasso’s Cubism period for this piece. I really enjoyed the geometric shapes incorporated into it, and how the pieces kind of abstractly fit together as a whole to make a beautiful piece. I think this particular movement really spoke to me because it symbolized the aspects I was talking about for this piece: parts that make a whole.
Picasso’s “Portrait of Ambroise Vollard” was my main inspiration for my piece because I really liked the way that the colors in the foreground popped in contrast to those in the background.
Picasso’s “Portrait of Ambroise Vollard” was my main inspiration for my piece because I really liked the way that the colors in the foreground popped in contrast to those in the background.
Picasso, Pablo. “Portrait of Ambroise Vollard.” Artsy, 2018, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, www.artsy.net/artwork/pablo-picasso-portrait-of-art-dealer-ambroise-vollard-1867-1939.
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For the background in specific, I knew that I wanted to move away from the Cubism style and into something more peaceful and calm so that the main focus could be on the face. For this, I looked into the Surrealism movement. Surrealist paintings are often described as “dreamlike”, and I thought that it would be perfect to tie everything together. “Sleep” by Salvador Dali stood out to me because it kind of had a similar idea of calmer colors in the back so the main focus could be on the face in the foreground. It was this part of Dali’s piece that I specifically used as inspiration for my own.
Dali, Salvador. “Sleep.” Dali Universe, 1937, Private Location, www.thedaliuniverse.com/en/sleep-salvador-dali-painting.
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Sketches
These are the sketches that I made while brainstorming. All three of the sketches I made kind of came together in the end to make one idea that encompassed all of the ideas together.
The first and third sketches did not include the piece of my face in my hand, because I wanted to experiment with how it would make the piece look. In the end, I decided to keep the piece of my face in my hand because I thought it fit better with the themes I was going for. I also switched up the backgrounds in each of the sketches just to see how it would make the piece look. In all of the drawings, I made sure to keep the grey scale background, natural colors for the face, and cubist style for the face as well. (Click on pictures to get a closer look)
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Experimentation
The experimentation consisted of me figuring out and adjusting how I was going to “cut up” and adjust the pieces of my face so it resembled Picasso’s piece.
The first picture shows me trying to cut up my entire face, so after I had the pieces I could rearrange them and put them back how I wanted them to look. I quickly realized, though, that if I cut up my entire face, it would a) not follow my original design, and b) not let me use my hand to be holding the piece of my face.
I also had to figure out how to section the pieces so that the whole piece would not look distorted, but also leave narrow spaces between each piece to let the background color peek through, like in Picasso's Portrait of Ambroise Vollard. I did this in the end by cutting off slivers of each pieces’ sides so that when it was all put back together, they would not exactly touch.
Another thing I experimented with was the original photos. I knew from my planning that I wanted to have my hand holding a piece of my face, but when I was taking the pictures, I still did not know how I was going to do that. I took pictures of myself looking straight on without my hand (second picture) and some of me with my hand on my face (third picture) so I had the option to experiment with. I ended up using the picture of my with my hand by my face because it would have been harder for me to cut out my hand from the other pictures and then proportion it to make it look natural. When I ride to do this, it did not look right, and it looked like my hand just sprouted from out of nowhere.
The first picture shows me trying to cut up my entire face, so after I had the pieces I could rearrange them and put them back how I wanted them to look. I quickly realized, though, that if I cut up my entire face, it would a) not follow my original design, and b) not let me use my hand to be holding the piece of my face.
I also had to figure out how to section the pieces so that the whole piece would not look distorted, but also leave narrow spaces between each piece to let the background color peek through, like in Picasso's Portrait of Ambroise Vollard. I did this in the end by cutting off slivers of each pieces’ sides so that when it was all put back together, they would not exactly touch.
Another thing I experimented with was the original photos. I knew from my planning that I wanted to have my hand holding a piece of my face, but when I was taking the pictures, I still did not know how I was going to do that. I took pictures of myself looking straight on without my hand (second picture) and some of me with my hand on my face (third picture) so I had the option to experiment with. I ended up using the picture of my with my hand by my face because it would have been harder for me to cut out my hand from the other pictures and then proportion it to make it look natural. When I ride to do this, it did not look right, and it looked like my hand just sprouted from out of nowhere.
Process
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Reflection
Critique
I think that the final product was not exactly how I had imagined it, but I still like how it turned out. Although it took a lot of work, and a lot of time experimenting, it was definitely worth it, and I am so proud to show this and talk about it now. The hardest part of this project was figuring out how I was going to cut up the pieces in my face, experimenting with different types of lines and methods, but once I had figured that part out, it became so easy to finish the project. When I stepped back and looked at my final piece, at first I did not like the way that the background was so simple and almost boring, but I looked at it more and thought about it more, I realized that if I had put any crazier background, it would distract from what was happening in the foreground. I was also unsure because I felt that the lines around the edges of my face looked kind of messy, but I think that just adds to the rawness of this piece. I am very glad I was able to do this project because it helped me appreciate myself more and become stronger as both an artist and a person.
Compare and Contrast
Picasso, Pablo. “Portrait of Ambroise Vollard.” Artsy, 2018, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, www.artsy.net/artwork/pablo-picasso-portrait-of-art-dealer-ambroise-vollard-1867-1939.
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Similarities
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Dali, Salvador. “Sleep.” Dali Universe, 1937, Private Location, www.thedaliuniverse.com/en/sleep-salvador-dali-painting.
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Differences
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
Picasso’s cubist style of art inspired the “cut up” sections on my face along with the section of my face that is being put back in place. Dali’s “Sleep” inspired the wistful and quiet background in order to keep the attention on the foreground.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article talks about how adoption can have a big impact on how you see yourself, and it can be a lifelong struggle wondering who you are.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People who are adopted, or people struggling to find who they are have to build themselves up in order for them to really know themselves.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of this piece is being able to build yourself and grow alas a person from challenges you may have faced.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
There are so many things we do not really know about ourselves, and that is part of the beauty of life, we get to shape ourselves.
Picasso’s cubist style of art inspired the “cut up” sections on my face along with the section of my face that is being put back in place. Dali’s “Sleep” inspired the wistful and quiet background in order to keep the attention on the foreground.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of the article talks about how adoption can have a big impact on how you see yourself, and it can be a lifelong struggle wondering who you are.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People who are adopted, or people struggling to find who they are have to build themselves up in order for them to really know themselves.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of this piece is being able to build yourself and grow alas a person from challenges you may have faced.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
There are so many things we do not really know about ourselves, and that is part of the beauty of life, we get to shape ourselves.
Bibliography
Dali, Salvador. “Sleep.” Dali Universe, 1937, Private Location, www.thedaliuniverse.com/en/sleep-salvador-dali-painting.
Jordan, Lita. “How Does Adoption Affect Children?” Adoption.org, Adoption.org, 2018, https://adoption.org/adoption-affect-children
Picasso, Pablo. “Portrait of Ambroise Vollard.” Artsy, 2018, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, www.artsy.net/artwork/pablo-picasso-portrait-of-art-dealer-ambroise-vollard-1867-1939.
Pletcher, Kenneth. “One-Child Policy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Mar. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/one-child-policy.