Message:
For the message aspect of this project, I thought it would be a challenge represent an idea not through literal messaging such as the usage of words, but by the manipulation of light and the posing of a particular object. My object of choice was a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that my mother found and took home from somebody’s trash several decades ago. It’s been in my home for as long as I can remember, and through many moves has never been lost. One aspect of the statue I always found peculiar was that Mary is missing her hands–they’re reduced down to wooden stubs, leaving her arms in a position of reaching out but missing their vital extremities.
I thought that it would be interesting to see what the viewer might think upon seeing this photograph of her, if it would even be apparent that Mary is missing her hands. The statue was posed against a plain wall and on a white table, so that the colors still remaining in the almost vestigial paint would not be completely lost to any surroundings. My light source was a task lamp positioned a couple feet above the statue, and pointed in the direction of Mary’s hands to make this region more visible to the viewer. What I realized as I was manipulating the neck of the lamp was that the statue’s shadow moved along the table and up against the wall, creating the dramatic shadow seen behind Mary.
The rippling shadow disrupts the ethereal quality of the bright light shining on Mary, drawing the eye to the pointed darkness at the right corner of the image. This contrast of light and dark might be seen as a similar juxtaposition to the presence of Mary and the absence of her hands that would otherwise signal a welcoming embrace of her love (a familiar comfort to anyone who’s recited a Hail Mary before).
Just as the light shone on Mary reveals her missing hands, it also clearly displays the base of the statue, where her feet are crushing the serpent below her. I feel like the final form in which my mother found Mary can evoke a story of both perseverance, and a tiredness from giving until there’s nothing more to give.
Abstraction:
Walking towards the LaValle Stadium parking lot from our ARS 281 class, I took out my camera and began taking photos of the buildings I was passing along the way. I noticed the weathered concrete brim spanning the top of the stadium and so I took several photos up close to get several unique photographs. After viewing them, I thought that they could either be construed as abstract oil or acrylic vignettes as part of a monochromatic series, or as the decrepit concrete surfaces that they actually are.
I felt like this speaks to the thin line between what someone might classify as fine art and what might be totally disregarded as an insignificant, utilitarian component of our man-made environment.
Sarah, your message photo is incredibly meaningful. The depiction of a Mary statue that has hands broken off, as well as the way your mother found this statue, shows the lack of religion in todays society, as well as the lack of respect that people now have towards religiosity. I found that your lighting and angle portrayed a sort of powerful and serious feeling. Your technical skills with the camera are also really great. This was definitely one of my favorite photos from class.
I really love your commentary on what’s considered “art” and what’s not. I think we often see artists and viewers alike comment on what is and isn’t considered art. Some artists would intentionally craft their pieces like the ones you shared in this project, while others would simply throw this piece of wood away due to it being “too ugly.”
Your technical skills are really evident in this set, and I think you did an excellent job of expressing meaning through all the pieces.