This week, we as a class have been working through our final project ideas, paintings, and essays as the end of the quarter looms in the distance. I have been toying with a variety of ideas this week, but wanted to focus my time on layering. This is in the physical sense of layering paint on canvas, but also with the layering of perception that come along with the idea of portraiture. The ways in which people interpret and interact with their environments of nature are infinite, and too large for me to investigate all at once. Therefore, my final project question has been morphing throughout the week, and currently it is:

How does the contemporary western world depict and interact with specific animals in North America?

This has changed a bit from my previous idea, but still has the same ties in symbolism, human projection, and animal/portraiture content. I’ve whittled down what I’m really looking for in this project, and although it is a still a very big range of questioning, I feel more comfortable with the constraints I’ve allowed myself in terms of theory. My research has taken me on many different paths through multiple genres of study. Even in this specific field of questioning, the perspectives that I could depict in my paintings are far too many. I’ve created three general categories of interaction/perspective that condense much of the information I have already gathered. These categories are Animism, Symbolism, and Objectivism. Each of these categories will be represented by a different style and form of how we view deer and coyotes.

There has been a lot of valuable material from my pool of research this past week, but some of the most influential books and vessels of information have been Sigmund Freud’s The Totem and Taboo, books on Warner Bros, and Disney Animation, the movie Bambi, and Animals with Faces, a exhibition dedicated to artists who use animals as literal and satirical content in their work. These resources helped me develop my categories and think on broader terms as to how animals are used by humans as content and objects.

On Monday, after presenting our question and studio plan in class, I felt stuck. I had spent so much time in theoretical research, that when asked about how I was going to paint this question, I have nothing more to say than “stylized realism” on stretched canvas. Shaw helped me change direction by questioning how these paintings were going to be different than any other kitschy animal study devoid of deeper meaning, and got my thinking about depth, layering, and transparency. During our “sketch in writing” critiques, my colleagues gave me good feedback as to how I could narrow my research question into focusing on the actual act of perceiving these animals, which relates to the concepts I have for my painting more than my previous question did.

I’m letting go of my sense of control this week by choosing to layer different representations of these animals on top of one another, to allow a more abstract yet well-rounded final profile of each animal. This will be done in stages, with the first representation being laid down in transparent, medium heavy oils. Come Monday, I will scrub most of the center of each painting away, and add my next layer of portraiture on top of the first. This week, I finished the first stage, which is representing the symbolic/iconographic view. Overall, I’m satisfied with how the first layer turned out on both of my pieces, yet didn’t expect to feel as apprehensive about painting over each one next week. This is all part of the experimentation process though, and I’m devoted to taking the risks that will come with next week.

For me, the most significant accomplishment of this week was the act of thinking outside of my comfort zone with how I am going to conduct this project, and letting go of the perfection that usually surrounds my work. I don’t really have a final vision of how these pieces are going to look at the end of the quarter, but the act of not knowing is enjoyable and new in itself. I hope to continue this pleasure even into next week, when I really have to allow myself the freedom to mess up or fail, but I’m proud of taking that first step towards that act.

Next week, I plan on adding my second/middle layer and category of thought, which is Animism. I hope to depict these in a general way, with naturalistic renditions of both animals with humanlike features incorporated into the portraits. Part of me worries that these might become overwhelming and confusing with the many layers of different content I’m choosing to add, but the other part of me thinks that helps add to what I am trying to get across to my audience-Human relationships with animals are complex, confusing and very messy. Only next week will be able to real veal how it will turn out. The week after that I plan to add the top layer, which is representing the category of Objectivism. This layer will be detailed studies of each animal’s skull, cropped on top. Plans will change as obstacles arise. To learn more about what I am putting into action next week, refer to my studio pan for week 8 in the Final Project Category of the website.