"Poverty"- 1893-4

This piece, Poverty, is by Kathe Kollwitz.  The content of this piece is very overwhelming  and upsetting because it appears as if a child has died (because everyone else in in the work seems distraught and the child looks fragile and ill).  I really like the mark making or etching used in this piece.  I think it sets the emotion that is needed for the image to work. Also, the composition works really well because the child in the bed is so light in contrast to the rest of the image, so the eye focuses there first before exploring the rest of the piece.  

Finally, Something Kollwitz

I have a few posts on Kiki Smith and now it is time to endorse Kathe Kollwitz and her work.  Here is a link I found on YouTube of different figurative pieces, and I think this is why Prof. Petry chose this artist for me... to find a way to expand my techniques when working with the human figure. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P7aPXwQB94

Enjoy.

Janine Antoni

Saddle, 2000- Janine Antoni

So I found this piece by Janine Antoni while browsing through a book with some Kiki Smith pieces.  I really was intrigued by this piece because the artist had made a cast of herself on her hands and knees using fiberglass and then took a cattle hide and molded it over the cast.  After the hide officially dried and hardened, she removed the cast giving Saddle this ghost like appearance of this body crawling or just stationary underneath the hide.  I find this piece spooky, yet different from other art work that I have observed and I wanted to share this picture.

"My Blue Lake"

My Blue Lake, 1994- Kiki Smith

This piece I don't really understand by Kiki Smith because the portrait is distorted  and on a flat surface.  I'm crossed between liking and disliking this piece, I just think the blue marks catch my attention more than anything.  Although I do like the blue face that represents a lake and the dark orange hair that can represent the sun.  The face itself sort of reminds me of portraits done in the 17th and 18th century, or something you would see on American money.  Perhaps My Blue Lake is a symbol of drowning oneself- burdens, lies, etc.  I'm not saying I totally believe my interpretation of this piece, but it can work.  

Why I like this piece...

I find Kiki Smith's work interesting by the choice of content.  Virgin Mary in particular is of a female body that represents other females as a whole, and it expresses how women are degraded because of their gender or sexuality.  And this piece is not just a nude figure either, but the inside- underneath the surface and the portraying of the scars and damages left on a woman's body.  I like work that has deep, thoughtful meanings and the "answer" is not obvious, or can have several meanings based on your own interpretation.  The first time I viewed the photograph of Virgin Mary, I would have never guessed the content that Kiki Smith chose to portray.