narrowing it down

i thought the critique of my video 'goodbye' was awesome, it had some criticism, but i was mostly elated to hear that i had, for once, met in the middle of obvious and too vague, so i felt i was ready to work on my painting/drawing critique. but first, i had to stress out and paint for luminaria. i painted on two sheets of 3' x 4' plexi and dropped petals from my collection of dried roses from past relationships in between, sealing them in forever. in contrast to the artist i was showing with, yvette shadrock, whose piece was immaculately white and clean, my painting was dark and dirty, which i was completely happy with :) spring break then was a whirlwind of ideas... ive been working with nude portraits a great deal, and tried incorporating text with them to indicate a power struggle. i also drew a large self-portrait with the giant word 'lush' encompassing the all-together 8 smaller self-portraits from the shadows. but alas, in critique yesterday, i knew i was back to the obviousness im trying to get away from. the drawings are cathartic to me, but it was suggested that im adding to much information with the figure and the text together, so i will make attempts at them separately and see what happens. i thought i was creating layers, but too many, it seems, and the wrong kind, as i was also advised that the nudes arent necessary, they are often typical, expected, and reminiscent of figure drawing class. they also dont show faces, so they are non-confrontational, and more seductive rather than intense and uncomfortable. so i am back to the drawing board again (hahaha), but with more, hopefully clearer ideas, and without loaded, literal, or melodramatic results. As for leslie's class, i would like to make another video and/or sound piece, but i havent quite got my idea yet. with a month before more critiques and the semester review, ive got to get it figured out now... however, ive been looking at more artists, and am inspired to keep trying new ideas and working through to what i want :)

midterm madness!!!

i am feverishly working on editing my video, and have realized two things: that i have way too much footage, and that it isnt lit very well. so i have reshot video, and simplified the whole thing a great deal. my goal is to have it down to approximately 3 mins as opposed to the previous 30... my other main concern is that it might be too literal or obvious, which is a recurring issue in alot of my work. so i hope to remedy the problem by chopping clips up more, rearranging them in not such a linear or narrative fashion, and by omitting some parts all together. in my other work, im focusing on juxtaposing images to suggest ideas other than what you can literally see, and so i hope to accomplish the same in this video. in the meantime, im stressing out about my piece for luminaria. i hope i can get that successfully done by friday! its a painting layered on two sheets of plexiglas that are mounted together. its fairly large, and i dont have much more time, so i have to keep it simple as well.... printmaking crit last week was good, and i have many new ideas for prints :) painting/drawing crits have started, luckily mine is after spring break so i can get my head together and work on my drawings! my stalker situation has ceased to exist, and so i have much more freedom to think and focus now, the only thing in my way now is that some of my work is addressing how much i drink, and i drink when im making it.... so as a result im not at my studio too much, and i sometimes end up trashed and not getting things done as fast as i had planned. i definitely need to cut that out asap if im going to make it through grad school. (!!!) even though my mind is in a MUCH better place and im taking way better care of myself, (save the bottles and bottles of wine....) i find my work is very much revolving around that time in my life. maybe thats why im still drinking, (even though it is substantially less....) i feel like this work will help me deal with it all so i can let it go. and as a bonus, maybe it will speak to other people too. SO much to do!!! cheers!! (just kidding!! :)