Photographic Collage
Critical Investigation
Artist Inspiration
Niki Johnson Niki Johnson is a local Milwaukee artist, whose art is heavily influenced by politics, religion, and gender. She also works with identity, and life and death. “As a feminist, my artwork voices my politics. Reflexively, the shows I curate weave together communities of artists to further engage issues of gender, identity, cultural power structures and human rights. I value art as a non-exclusive experience and believe that to affect social change, you must speak up, listen to others and be willing to give of yourself. These beliefs brings purpose to all aspects of my studio practice." Her artwork is anything but conventional. Niki Johnson addresses these topics making bold statements on her personal beliefs within her artwork. Niki Johnson has won a Voices Award for Planned Parenthood as well as other kinds of recognition. She works with 3 dimensional objects, as well as 2 dimensional. |
Hills and Valleys- Niki Johnson
"To create Hills & Valleys, the aluminum signs from de-funded Planned Parenthood health centers were carefully deconstructed re-purposing nearly every square inch of the materials. Hills & Valleys unites these re-imagined materials to create a large-scale sculptural image of the hips, groin and thighs of a woman. Atop her pubic mound is a mirrored vajazzle of our nation’s capitol. The US Capitol is the ideal symbol to carry forward this message, as it is the place where decisions take place legislating a woman’s liberties over her body. The mirrors, which were purchased at Hobby Lobby, not only mimic the sparkle and appeal of vajazzle, they also reflect the viewer’s own image. A traditional quilt star pattern known as “Sarah’s Choice” forms a backdrop behind the hips. This aluminum quilt integrates the visual language of women’s traditional craft into the artwork, infusing notions of heritage and heirloom as the fabric upon which reproductive rights have been forged by women in the present and past." |
Johnson, Niki. "Lather." Niki Johnson. N.p., n.d. Web
"During my year-long residency at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I worked on several projects, including a new series titled Betwixt, which investigates fairytales as gateways into understanding contemporary gender identity. Betwixt combines writings from The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen with the physical qualities of clay, glass, iron, fur and animal skins. The resulting artwork in this series is child-sized, since our primary experiences with fairytales takes place when we are quite young. The bathtub is the unifying form for each of these fairytale portraits, as it is place we go before we dream. Lather, the second piece to be completed in the series, is based on the narrative of Cinderella. Through its very materiality, Lather explores modern identity including notions of servitude, class ascension, birth and death through a Victorian lens. The cast glass bathtub and the porcelain soap bars were molded and cast in the Artist’s Studio and fired onsite in the kiln I had installed on the 6th floor of the Pfister Hotel’s parking garage. All wool was sourced from local farmers. " |
Artist Inspiration
Romare Bearden Romare Bearden created dazzling work on the black American experience, which he integrated into greater American modernism. After working several decades as a painter, during the politically tumultuous 1960s Bearden began making collages made of cut and torn photographs found in popular magazines that he then reassembled into visually powerful statements on African-American life. The artist's subject matter encompassed the urban milieu of Harlem, traveling trains, migrants, spiritual "conjure" women, the rural South, jazz, and blues musicians, and African-American religion and spirituality. Late in his life, the artist established The Romare Bearden Foundation to aid in the education and training of talented art students. Bearden remains revered as a highly esteemed artist of the twentieth century. experimented with many different mediums and artistic styles, but is best known for his richly textured collages, two of which appeared on the covers of Fortune and Time magazines, in 1968. He is an innovative artist with diverse interests, Bearden also designed costumes and sets for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and programs, sets and designs for Nanette Bearden's Contemporary Dance Theatre. |
Conjur Woman, 1964
"Conjure and Collapse in the Art of Romare Bearden." Nonsite.org. N.p., 02 Jan. 2014. Web. The image nearby is another Conjur Woman by Bearden, completed in 1964. It’s only 9×7 inches, and was created with snippets from newspapers and magazines such as Ebony and the Saturday Evening Post. Bearden enlarged his small collages into Photostat black and white reproductions, which he called PROJECTIONS. The Photostat was a photographic process popular from the 1950s through the 1980s (now replaced with photocopies and digital technology). The Photostats allowed Bearden to turn light skin into dark skin, and to reproduce clippings from Ebony, Life and Look magazines. Bearden’s Projections were a sensation because they made his tiny collages into huge, graphically powerful black and white “prints.” Some critics say Bearden’s work is influenced by Cubism. Compare Bearden’s figures in his collage Prevalence of Ritual: Baptism (below) with Pablo Picasso’s Cubist painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (below). You may see the influence of Picasso on Bearden. |
Pittsburgh Memory,1964
NGA: The Art of Romare Bearden - Pittsburgh Memory, 1964. N.p., n.d. Web. Bearden made a collage out of printed papers with graphite on cardboard. In a 1969 article,bearden explained his approach as a "Rectangular Structure in my Montage Paintings." Bearden explained that in making collages: "In most instances in creating a picture, I use many disparate elements to form a figure, or part of a background....I feel that when some photographic detail, such as a hand or an eye, is taken out of its original context and is fractured and integrated into a different space and form configuration, it acquires a plastic quality it did not have in the original....” |
Planning and Journaling
Sketches:
We worked on a packet to get us thinking and have midpoint critiques from our peers.
***Click or hover to display caption
Reflecting:
The process was fairly simple once I had an idea in mind. I cut out pictures of women and children. I also cut out objects and people that also caught my attention. With those, I imagined different one that could be set up together convey my message. I believe that the message gets through well. When my piece is analyzed, it is easy to see that it is the face of a woman, and that a child is in the clouds. It is easy to see that it deals with life and death, one with a child. This piece addresses both sides of being pro-life or pro-choice. The right side of the female head is pro-life and the left is pro-choice. The face is serene and implies happiness or acceptance of the situation, that being the life and death of the child in the center. The suit represents government, politic, and to some extent, even God, as the figure holds the child between its hands. This represents what influence the government and politics have, as well as religious beliefs on what can and should happen when it comes to abortions. I used multiple mediums and drawing techniques to help illustrate this within my piece.
The process was fairly simple once I had an idea in mind. I cut out pictures of women and children. I also cut out objects and people that also caught my attention. With those, I imagined different one that could be set up together convey my message. I believe that the message gets through well. When my piece is analyzed, it is easy to see that it is the face of a woman, and that a child is in the clouds. It is easy to see that it deals with life and death, one with a child. This piece addresses both sides of being pro-life or pro-choice. The right side of the female head is pro-life and the left is pro-choice. The face is serene and implies happiness or acceptance of the situation, that being the life and death of the child in the center. The suit represents government, politic, and to some extent, even God, as the figure holds the child between its hands. This represents what influence the government and politics have, as well as religious beliefs on what can and should happen when it comes to abortions. I used multiple mediums and drawing techniques to help illustrate this within my piece.
Critique:
I share many similarities with my artist.Like Niki Joshnson voiced her opinion on abortion and the female body, I chose to speak on my opinion about abortion. In both of our pieces, we used a female aspect to show the woman. I used photos from magazines as well to create the photo montage like Romare Bearden and placing them together to form a person. These images were of different body piece and objects carefully placed and glued together to create harmony and unity as one fluid image.
I didn't necessarily criticize the government, instead I chose to criticize the people for not understanding that they should do whats best for them. I used a full figure to project the issue instead of just a specific part of the body. It showed two sides on one face, but both were of them looking happy and peaceful. I also used different mediums and drawing techniques to create my figure on the final piece. This unified the pieces all together.
I didn't necessarily criticize the government, instead I chose to criticize the people for not understanding that they should do whats best for them. I used a full figure to project the issue instead of just a specific part of the body. It showed two sides on one face, but both were of them looking happy and peaceful. I also used different mediums and drawing techniques to create my figure on the final piece. This unified the pieces all together.
Connecting to ACT:
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Niki Johnson inspired me to find a bold aproach to a current issue on a current political debate. Romare Bearden gavee me a kind of style and technique in which i could use to help convey my message.
What was the overall approach (point of view) the author (form your research) has regarding the topics of your inspiration?
Niki Johnsons approach was very direct in what she believed and experienced, which I found to be very admirable. She believed it was the womans choice and she demonstrated that with the image of the Capital building upon the woman.
What kinds of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that within politics there is a grey area. Human nature is to tell others what is right and wrong, but many things come to play whwen it deals with things like that. Religions, identity, and priorities come into play and that's what makes politics so difficult. Everyone is too focused on what everyone else is doing, instea dof focusing on what makes themselves happy.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Politics and abortion was the central theme around my research. Public opinion and action also influenced my piece.
What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I discovered that within politics there is a grey area. Human nature is to tell others what is right and wrong, but many things come to play whwen it deals with things like that. Religions, identity, and priorities come into play and that's what makes politics so difficult. This is why expressing ones opinion and considering the other side is extremely important.
Niki Johnson inspired me to find a bold aproach to a current issue on a current political debate. Romare Bearden gavee me a kind of style and technique in which i could use to help convey my message.
What was the overall approach (point of view) the author (form your research) has regarding the topics of your inspiration?
Niki Johnsons approach was very direct in what she believed and experienced, which I found to be very admirable. She believed it was the womans choice and she demonstrated that with the image of the Capital building upon the woman.
What kinds of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that within politics there is a grey area. Human nature is to tell others what is right and wrong, but many things come to play whwen it deals with things like that. Religions, identity, and priorities come into play and that's what makes politics so difficult. Everyone is too focused on what everyone else is doing, instea dof focusing on what makes themselves happy.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Politics and abortion was the central theme around my research. Public opinion and action also influenced my piece.
What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I discovered that within politics there is a grey area. Human nature is to tell others what is right and wrong, but many things come to play whwen it deals with things like that. Religions, identity, and priorities come into play and that's what makes politics so difficult. This is why expressing ones opinion and considering the other side is extremely important.