This semester I studied German
expressionist artist, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. He was known for his elaborate landscapes
and portrait paintings; which employed vibrant color schemes and atypical
depictions of reality. I tried to do capture this style by creating four
separate pieces, each intended to symbolize one season, then I arranged them
into one larger piece. To do so, I decided on one color scheme that I felt
represented each season and created a very abstract background using these colors;
Kirchner’s work always consisted of very defined brush strokes, so I was sure
to do this as well. To kind of contrast with Kirchner’s atypical depiction of
typical forms, I decided to put the Earth – a geometric shape - in the center of the work in an effort to add
some order. Being that his work depicted forms in unconventional ways, much of
Kirchner’s work felt like it was open to interpretation of the viewer. To try
and capture this theme, I didn’t paint landscapes that made it clear what they
were trying to depict; I wanted to leave a lot of this interpretation open to
the viewer.
As someone who spent several days
of elementary school recess in their art teachers’ classroom because my work wasn’t
“done right,” I have always kind of hated art and honestly was dreading taking
this class (hence my putting it off until my last semester). Over the semester, however, I grew to really
enjoy it because much of what we did was open to our own interpretation; there wasn’t
just one way to do anything, which is how art was always taught to me and
ultimately why I hated it. I liked how we were encouraged to see things through
multiple perspectives and to step outside of our comfort zones. I think the
importance of taking a step back and seeing things through alternate
perspectives is an important concept learned in this class that I can continue
to apply to my everyday life.
Overall, I really enjoyed this
class. There were times, however, that it felt very rushed and almost too fast.
I know there is a curriculum in place, but I personally think it would be more
effective to learn less styles and concepts, and spend more time really getting
familiar with a few concepts. Data visualization unit/project, for example, was
kind of fun and overall interesting, but I also didn’t really think it was
necessary to spend two plus weeks on it. Also, I think it would definitely be
helpful to lay out all due dates at the beginning of the semester. The class
schedule only went until I think February, so I often found myself overwhelmed
because I would have no idea something was due until a day or two before. I also
almost never had any idea when the blog posts were due. Again, I really enjoyed
your class overall and had a lot of fun… thank you!
