I've come a long way...now how did I get here?

 

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei was born in 1957, in China. His father is a strong example for him. Ai Weiwei’s father was well known poet, Ai Qing, who was exiled in 1957, which lasted 20 years. Ai Weiwei spent most of his childhood growing up in political exile. After returning to the capital in 1978, Ai Weiwei attended the Beijing Film Academy. He spent 1981-1993 working in New York. He studied at Parsons School of Design, but did not finish his degree. 

Ai Weiwei on the Met rooftop

In 1993, he returned to Beijing. He became involved in the “experimental art scene”. Ai Weiwei started the FAKE Design, a studio for art, architecture and design, in 1999. His work has been shown in New York, Germany, London, and China. He has worked in photography, installation, and other media and projects, including the design of the National Olympic Stadium for Beijing games in 2008. In 2008, Ai Weiwei was also a major activist in the aftermath of the Sichuan Earthquake. The Sichuan Earthquake Names Project was “an effort to record the names of more than 5,000 schoolchildren killed in poorly constructed classrooms.” During his work for this effect, Ai Weiwei was attacked by police. 

As Ai Weiwei’s work grew increasing involved in politics and activism, he also grew to be more of a target of the Chinese government. Under government surveillance, his blog has been monitored and shut down; he has suffered from police brutality; he has been placed on house arrest, he has been denied access at the Beijing airport; and his studio was demolished in Shanghai in January 2011. Through all of this, Ai Weiwei still works in advocating for freedom of expression. 

 Alison Klayman has been working with Ai Weiwei since 2008. She began documenting his artistic process in preparation for exhibitions, interaction with family members, and his “increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government”.  AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is a film documenting Klayman’s interaction with Ai Weiwei and his work. 

http://www.aiweiweifilm.org/en/

Tate exhibition, London. "Sunflower Seeds"

“I have to always, everyday ask myself ‘How long can I last if I’m in extreme conditions, such as jail…the answer I don’t really know.” –Ai Weiwei with Dan Rather Report*

“I don’t think I’m brave, or have any crazy ideas to change the society. But I really want to be myself, just to tell other people you also can do so. To be yourself, to state your mind clearly, and to tell people what is right and what is wrong…because it is impossible to stop freedom…How could you stop it? Unless they put me in jail, then maybe that could stop it.” –Ai Weiwei interview with Dan Rather Report*

“Nobody can stop the course of change.” –Ai Weiwei interview with Dan Rather Report*

* “‘Dan Rather Reports’ will air one of the last television interviews that Ai Weiwei conducted before his detention on Sunday morning at Beijing Capital Airport. The interview airs on HDNet April 5th at 9 pm ET” (From http://www.aiweiweifilm.org/en/news/)

“Even when you’ve spent a lot of time with him, you don’t feel like you completely understand him. You never know what his next step will be.” –Wen Tao, Journalist

After being told to leave his job at Global Times, Wen Tao participated in demonstrations for Ai Weiwei and reported on his case. Wen Tao has been missing since April 3, 2011.

On April 3, 2011, Ai Weiwei was detained by police in a Beijing airport. 

Amnesty International’s response: http://www.amnesty.org/

Chinese authorities have placed heavy focus on activists, lawyers and bloggers, since an online outreach for Chinese “Jasmine Revolution”. These protests are inspired by the people’s movement, starting in February 2011, in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Chinese government has also arrested and mistreated human rights lawyers. Lawyers have been faced with harassment and intimidation. “China is abandoning the rule of law…The government is trying to systematically break the will of the country’s lawyers…It is giving its security forces free rein to pervert the course of justice and deny activists and critics the right to a legal defense,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific.

“If the authorities are so bold as to grab this world-renowned artist in broad daylight at Beijing airport, it’s frightening to think how they might treat other, lesser known dissidents,” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific.

 

The Beginning

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost...I am hopeless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out. 

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don't see it. 

I fall in again.

I can't believe I'm in the same place.

But it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it there.

I still fall in...it's a habit. 

My eyes are opened. 

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it. 

I walk down another street.

-Sogyal Rinpoche

"Tibetan Book of the Living and Dying"

The Intersection of Arts and Activism

The Prometheus Project focuses on the intersection of arts and human rights, in collaboration with the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)’s production of Prometheus Bound and Amnesty International. The Prometheus Project team really wanted to change the idea of the audience being unengaged and just leaving after the performance.

Prometheus Bound was adapted from Aeschylus' 2500 year old Greek play. Writer and Lyricist, Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) translated the play and transformed it into a new rock musical, with music written by Serj Tankian (System of a Down), and directed by Diane Paulus.

After the performance, the actors bow and a curtain speech was read. During the curtain speech, the actor describes what the Prometheus Project is and about the collaboration with Amnesty International. During this time, the space turns into “The Happening.” The Happening, or Act II, is when the Amnesty case is discussed. The actor briefly describes what the case is about and directs the audience to the Amnesty volunteers, around the room holding up case posters. After the closing speech, Amnesty volunteers discuss the case and get the audience to sign postcards urging for action on that week’s case.  I have been a member of Amnesty International for the past few years and I volunteered with the Prometheus Project for seventeen shows.

The collaboration with Amnesty and the A.R.T is a beautiful way to shine a light on those suffering from injustice. The eight Amnesty cases represent a modern day Prometheus. The story of Prometheus reflects the injustice that is so relatable with an unfortunately large number of cases. 

This project indirectly relates to the portraits I am working on now. I am working on craft, so that I can draw more realistic portraits. I would like to transfer the craft of portrait drawings to depict a strong message. This relates more to work I have done in the past. Below are a few pieces that have done relating to my work with Amnesty International.

Aung San Suu Kyi is an active member of the pro-democracy political party in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi was detained for 15 of the last 21 years. This portrait of Suu Kyi was done for my Conceptual drawing class last year. The shading is done with quotes from Suu Kyi. Aung San Suu Kyi was released on November 13, 2010.

Tissa is a well known Sri Lankan Journalist. He was detained on March 7, 2008. The Sri Lankan government is very repressive regarding freedom of speech. These two paintings were for my Conceptual Drawing final, last year. The focus is on the difference of freedom of speech in Sri Lanka and the United States. He was released in June 2010. I met Tissa on November 13, 2010 at an Amnesty International conference at Boston University.

For more information about the Prometheus Bound production or Amnesty International:

http://meghan-robbins.blogspot.com/2011/03/prometheus-bound.html

http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/events/show/prometheus-bound

http://www.amnestyusa.org/

Pamela Murphy

Pamela Murphy studied at Rhode Island School of Design and got her MFA in India.
Murphy has had Solo Exhibitions in Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Neenah, WI, Ephraim, WI, Birmingham, AL, and Charlotte, NC.  Murphy has showed work in group exhibitions in Wilmington, VT, Atlanta, GA, Ephraim, WI, Chicago, IL, Duxbury, MA, Milwaukee, WI, Galveston, TX, Sturgeon Bay, WI, Lahore, Pakistan, Grand Rapids, MI, Santiniketan, India, Calcutta, India, Providence RI, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, Charlotte, NC, and Wilmington, VT.

From her artist statement: “I collect old photographs and choose figures from them for my paintings. The people whose lives are recorded in those pictures are strangers, yet they are familiar to all of us. They remind us of ourselves, our families, and our issues on both personal and cultural levels.” (pamelamurphystudio.com)

I love how powerful a portrait is. I am very interested in the story behind the figure.

http://www.pamelamurphystudio.com/  

http://www.chaseyounggallery.com/Artist_Profiles/Murphy_extra/PMstatement.html

Kristina Laurendi Havens

Kristina Laurendi Havens studied painting at State University of New York College at Buffalo and got her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting at the Texas Christian University with a full scholarship. Her work has been shown in Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia, New York, Virginia, Texas, and North Dakota. She has also worked on public murals in New York.

I love the power of the eyes in the drawing the first girl. Her mark making is really strong throughout her pieces. They way she makes the face smooth and defined, surrounded by line work is really beautiful.

                     

http://krystyna81.blogspot.com/

Sarah Parks

Sarah Parks works out of her studio in Virginia. When creating a portrait, Sarah Parks starts by painting a quick sketch from observation. After the sketch, she photographs the subject in different poses and lighting, to “explore pose, expression, styling, and background.”

From Artist Statement: “When painting a portrait, I enjoy the challenge of capturing the personality and likeness of a subject because that portrait will be a family treasure to be handed down from generation to generation. But whether it is a portrait, figurative, still life, or landscape, my aspiration is to capture the perfect play of light, shadow, and color, enhancing the spirit and composition of my painting.” (sarahparksartist.com)

I found this quote in Sarah Parks’ blog, “Drawing isn't so much what your hand does, but what your eyes look at, focus on, concentrate on before you ever pick up a pencil. What makes an artist is the ability to SEE!  And when we look at anything in life we see three things, values (lights and darks or shading), proportion, and perspective.”  (http://sarahparksartist.com/blog/21030/drawing-techniques-1)

Learning to actually look at the image and draw what I truly see is definitely something that I can work on. One issue I have with drawing portraits from a photo is that I do not really look at what is in the image. I only see part of what is there. I have been working on sections of portraits and drawing portraits upside down, because it forces me to pay more attention to what the image realistically looks like.

http://sarahparksartist.com/

Heidi Maiers

Heidi Maier is a portrait sculptor. She is currently living and working in Arizona. She studied at the University of Oregon and the Scottsdale Artists School. Heidi Maiers has been working as a portrait sculptor for more than 25 years. Maiers is the Co-Founder of The Portrait Sculptors Society of the Americas. She has shown work in Idaho, Florida, and throughout Arizona.

From the images of “Gary” you can see some of the process in this piece. Reference photos of several angles of Gary’s head are shown in the background. It is interesting to see the process work of a sculptor. With reference to many different perspectives of the subject, Maiers creates a strong representation of Gary.

Gary: “First photo at almost 100 pounds, I didn't let the underlayer stiffen up enough and the face is starting to droop. Propped it up with some boards for a couple of days until the clay was stiff enough to continue.” (heidimaiers.com)

http://www.heidimaiers.com/HTML/WIP.htm