Dissertation 

Introduction

For my project ‘Delicate Situations’ I am going to be investigating many different and creative way to express abuse and what effect abuse can have on a person mentally, physically, emotionally and physiologically.

Some of the artists I have been researching and experimenting from are Scott Hazard, a mix-media photographer; Florian Nicolle, graphic designer and illustrator; Sally Mankus, mix-media artist; Chris Devour, photographer; Steve Krait, photographer; Idris Khan for his long exposure photographs; KK DePaul for her mix-media compositions and graphic designer Michael Pharaoh. I am responding to each of these artists in many different ways such as: ideas, colours they may use, texture, composition and if they have used a certain similar material or technique.

Section 1

Chris Devour is a 22-year-old freelance photographer from Romania who mainly takes black and white fashion photographs. Even though Devour doesn’t use or express abuse in his photographs, the reason I have chosen to research and include him in my final major project is because of his projects ‘BLVK’, ‘ANA’ and ‘LUXAR.’ In these particular projects of Devour’s, the photographs express a feeling of peer pressure which is what someone might feel if they were taking drugs or how they might have started taking drugs, which is a different type of abuse rather than someone hitting or causing physical pain to another person.

I also like the compositions Chris Devour uses in his photograph. The people/models in the photos are positioned in a certain way, looking away from the camera, which emphasizes the ‘peer pressure’ effect even more.

In response to Chris Devour, I have taken some of my own primary images in his style of composition. However, I added props and makeup to my photographs to add my own ‘twist’ and personal approach as well as helping emphasise abuse further. When comparing my work to Devour’s work, they are very similar because I was inspired by his type of photographs and compositions and so I have used a very similar type, however all of Devour’s photographs are in black and white and mine are in colour. Even though I tried to make my photographs differ from Devour’s by using colour, I feel that mine would be a lot more effective in black and white.

Section 2

Sally Mankus is a mix media/ image transfer artist born in Augusta, Georgia. Sally’s work is evolved from a unique process of lifting rust, carbon, markings and being replaced with an image. Her work is very diverse as she explores and incorporates everyday, overload objects with her work. 

The reason I have decided to include, research and respond to Sally Mankus in my final major project is because of the texture her image transfers creates onto the surfaces/materials, leaving some areas blank of images as if someone has carved into the photograph/material.

I feel that this will be a very good and useful technique to use and include in my project because the texture and having some of the image disappeared will help enhance my theme of abuse, because it will be the physical photograph that has been abused as well as the subject/model in the photo.

In response to Sally Mankus, I created some samples by impasto transferring onto different surfaces and then manipulating them in different ways to make them my own. I transferred my photographs onto acetate, cotton, silk, canvas material and wood. I think these experiments were particularly successful and effective because not only am I communicating abuse via my primary photographs, but also I am able to further communicate my theme by manipulating them physically; such as burning, stitching, cutting or ripping the samples.

Florian Nicolle is another artist that I am including in my project. Florian is a 27-year-old, French graphic designer and illustrator based in Caen, France.

Florian’s work is very free and spontaneous, as he doesn’t use a certain ‘structure’ when creating his portrait paintings. Even though his work doesn’t respond or isn’t very similar to my theme of abuse, I have still chosen to research and respond to him because of the pattern and idea in his work. Also, for his slight distortion/unfinished effect which made me think would help influence abuse because in some particular pieces of his, half of a face or person is missing so it could be that, that person is unhappy because they are being abused in some sort of way which is making them disappear and not want to be around or seen by others.

I feel that this would be a very helpful and interesting idea to respond to because I can respond digitally or physically. For example, I could paint or draw only half a person face, or I could experiment in Photoshop with the gradient level, making half of the face/photograph disappear. 

            I have responded to Florian Nicolle in Photoshop by scanning in some dripping ink samples, layering them over my primary photograph and then experimenting with the opacity and different effects. I feel that using only Photoshop for these experiments works a lot better rather than creating a mix media piece, because I was able to respond to Florian very well and create the ‘half hidden face’ effect. Whereas if I had create a mix media piece it might have looked too ‘busy’ and not as effective.

When comparing Sally Mankus and Florian Nicolle, even though they are both very different artists, they do have some similarities as well as differences. Their similarities include: they both use very subtle colours, both uses greys, whites, blacks or browns. Also, with Sally Mankus’s image transfers, half of the face is missing in her pieces, which is what Florian Nicolle intentionally creates.

Section 3

Scott Hazard is a visual artist and landscape designer who was born in San Diego, California in June 1902 and died in September 1980 and was based in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Scott Hazard’s work involves a creation of sculptural meditative voids and small intimate landscapes with layers of paper and photographs. I am responding to Scott Hazard because of our similar artistic devices that we both use, but one particular project of Scott’s that I am interested in and the reason I decided to research Scott is his ‘Photo Constructs’ project.

To create these pieces Scott rips into several of his photographs and then layers them together to create the ‘wormhole’ type effect in his photos.

This particular project of Hazard’s doesn’t show or express abuse as he mainly uses photographs of landscapes or scenery; however, I thought that the idea of making holes in photos and then layering them on top of each other appealed to me. Mainly because I figured I could create the holes but using a different method, for example, burning holes in photographs instead of ripping and then the burning would discolour the photo which might have an interesting effect. Also, because the photographs that I will be burning will be photos of people who have been abuse, as well a physically abusing the photograph with the burning.

            I feel that my responses were particularly successful and effective because I am clearly showing abuse, but also the layering of the photograph suggest time or a long period of time, which could indicate that the abuse that this person is suffering with has been happening for a long period of time and it could be taking over them and their personality or ‘eating’ them away.

Section 4

Michael Pharaoh is a 23-year-old graphic designer and photographer based in Hamilton, New Zealand and I am researching and responding to him is because we are both using similar working methods of photography and also because of his ‘Homeless LA’ project.

The reason I have decided to respond to Michael’s ‘Homeless LA’ project and include it in my final major project is because he has taken very high quality portrait photographs and I would like to take very similar types of photographs to his, high quality and well positioned models. 

KK DePaul is an award winning photographer and textile artist as well as an educator and gallery director. She based in Santa Barbara.

Her dual role as and artist and gallery director has given Kim the opportunity to expand her involvement in the arts and use her varied experiences accurate distinctive exhibits at ‘Gallery DePaul.’ Through her role as an art gallery director, Kim has also developed and led a series of photography workshops in Paris, Tuscany and Venice.

I am including KK DePaul in my final major project because of her composition style in her project ‘Photo Lucida’ and the use of similar materials I will be using.  In this particular project of hers I noticed that she places her photographs/objects in a certain way which makes them very visually interesting and thought that might be a creative way for me to show/express my work. She tends to place her photographs very structured yet fractured. She places them very neat, straight or vertical in a line with each other but she has segmented her photos into tiny sections to make them fractured. She also places objects such as wire or glass boxes over the photos to entrap them. I felt that the fractured effect would help enhance ‘abuse’, as ‘fracture’ could be a psychological or emotional feeling someone might have if they have been abuse for a small or long period of time. Also, placing objects over the photos to create a trapped effect would also be very creative when expressing abuse because when someone is or has been abused, they might feel very trapped, nowhere to go or no one to turn/confront to, they might feel they are by themselves all the time and using frames or wires would help express that.  

My responses to KK DePaul were very successful and effective because I created my intention of creating a ‘fractured’ effect by ripping my primary photographs and sticking them slightly apart from each other and developing this by transferring my images onto different materials and then creating the same effect. I also created the ‘trapped’ effect by placing wire over my images and developing this by layering my photos with acetate and burning the acetate onto my photographs.

I also noticed that Sally Mankus and KK DePaul are both very similar artist as they are both mix media artists and both use very old, vintage style photographs and incorporate every day objects into their work. However, I have decided to include them both in my project because I am responding to Sally Mankus for her image transfer technique whereas I am responding to KK DePaul for her photography compositions. 

Conclusion

My chosen artists and examples have helped me enhance the development of my practical work because they have given me inspiration to create interesting and diverse ways of expressing ‘abuse.’ Such as experimenting with image transfer, Photoshop, burning or ripping a photograph, experiment with different colours and different angles to take photographs at.

They have also enabled me to solve particular problems that I might encounter when creating my own responses and experiments.

  The elements that most stand out to me that I created in my final major project would have to be my Scott Hazard responses and KK DePaul responses. The reason I particularly like these experiments is because the burning and layering of photographs and acetate really show and express abuse in an interesting and diverse way.