Final Project: Women As Mythmakers

 

For my final project, I’ve decided to expand my persona project and turn it into a Zoetrope (is a 19th-century cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous motion). For me being a woman in this world hasn’t always been the easiest thing for me but has taught me a lot. Throughout my life, I have always been this shy, quiet, reserved girl. But towards the end of my freshmen year here at UNH I met some amazing people who have turned out to be some of my best friends and since then I have really stepped out of my comfort zone. This allowed me to start to become the person I wanted to be. I’m not perfect I have many flaws and insecurities such as issues with my weight (I’ve always been on the heavy side), skin issues, hair loss issues (hormone thing). I’ve been working so hard to try and resolve these issues one step at a time. By doing so it has made me a stronger and more confident person and I will continue to work on resolving my issues. What I am trying to get at here is that we all have flaws and insecurities and we are not perfect. Us women have to stick together (I have more to say but them I’d just be rambling so I’ll leave it at that).

The images show myself, starting with a silhouette with my hands over my face. Slowly the images get brighter and I start to open my hands to reveal myself. There were 14 images but I had to edit two out because they wouldn’t fit in the Zoetrope.

Final Product:

Final Typology Project

 Top group of door knobs are from Durham, New Hampshire

 Second group of door knobs are from Stowe and Burlington, Vermont

Last group of door knobs are from Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Women as Mythmakers

My list of Women as Mythmakers:

1) Malala Yousafzai (is a Pakistani activist for female education)

 

2) Beyoncé (American singer-songwriter)

3) Angelina Jolie (Actress)

4) The Guerrilla Girls (An anonymous group of radical feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world)

Other Women as Mythmakers Picks:

1) Jane Goodall (Is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace)

Picked by my friend Megan

"I guess just women who are powerful and strong and don't let bad things in life keep them down, they get up and keep on going when people say that they won't make it or shouldn't do it or aren't good enough."

2) My friend China picked her mom (Eileen Wong)

"My mom is my big inspiration. She is just such a hard worker and well-rounded individual. She is careless and has such a big heart. She inspires me each and every day to be the best person I can be. She's always told me to follow my dreams and supported me 100% of the time. I couldn't be more thankful."

3) Anonymous friend picked Michelle Obama

"Not only was she the first African-American First Lady, but she is a role model for women, an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition, physical activity and healthy eating, and not to mention a fashion icon!"

 

Artist Lecture

Molly Anderson

9/21/17

ARTS 651.01

Artist Talk: Willie Cole, On Site

            On October 20^th I went to a presentation by visiting artist Willie Cole.  Mr. Cole is a contemporary African-American artist who exhibited and discussed some of his works at the PCAC.  He is best known for his work converting regular household objects (like shoes, plastic bottles, irons, hairdryers) into sculptures as a way to explore and critique pop/consumer culture.  Mr. Cole has been greatly influenced by African Art and culture and has used shoes to create masks resembling traditional African Art, and ironing boards made to look like the inside of slave ships bringing Africans to America.  One of his most interesting pieces is called “Loveseat”, made of hundreds of colorful shoes, discussed in more detail below. 

            Mr. Cole discussed himself and his art, noting that he also has great interest in music, writing, and magic (he told us that magic was involved in creating his shoe sculptures, which is almost believable when you see the complexity of the pieces).  “Loveseat” is comprised of women’s high heal shoes, formed into what looks like a flower: it is very colorful (the shoes are in many colors) and the upturned toes of the shoes are very much like flower pedals.  Part of the value of this is that it reminded me of how good artists are able to visualize a finished piece of art, using materials that most of us would never associate with the finished artwork (I would not think that a shoe could look like a flower).  A flower made from shoes is a little strange but I liked it and appreciate the creativity that went into it.  It made me think about photographing things in a way that you could not very easily identify them (where people might say “I like that but what is it?”).  I recently took photos of the inside of a spotlight, and of a staircase winding up to a ceiling which people thought were very cool even though they could not tell what they were. So I can say I both enjoyed this presentation and learned something helpful to my own work.

Masks and Hair Extraction

Persona Final Prints

Still Life Project