Origins
Digital College
91 cm x 61 cm
September 2015
Using photographs of different objects, I pieced them together to represent my home country, Myanmar. After being born in a Thai refugee camp, my family and I flew over to the United States looking for new opportunities. We found many new opportunities and just as much difficulty. The American culture changed all of us, for better or for worse, but in the end, who we actually are will never leave us. Using paths similar to those of “Separation” by Evard Munch, I created a sense of distance to represent that even though I don't think about my origins a lot, they are still in the back of my mind.
91 cm x 61 cm
September 2015
Using photographs of different objects, I pieced them together to represent my home country, Myanmar. After being born in a Thai refugee camp, my family and I flew over to the United States looking for new opportunities. We found many new opportunities and just as much difficulty. The American culture changed all of us, for better or for worse, but in the end, who we actually are will never leave us. Using paths similar to those of “Separation” by Evard Munch, I created a sense of distance to represent that even though I don't think about my origins a lot, they are still in the back of my mind.
Process
Mr. Calhoun came into our class and talked to us about a new project that we were going to be working on. He said it would be about something important to us. Being a refugee and growing up with parents that didn't speak English caused me to grow up differently and I wanted something that reflected that. Then I realized that where I came from caused most of this, so I created my digital college on where my parents and I originated. Even though my culture has changed, I still have parts of it with me.
Since I knew the most English, I had to be more responsible and help my family with English. Because of that I understand more of what an adult has to deal with. |
Artistic Inspiration
The faded objects would symbolize the objects in the back of my mind that are still with me even if I don't think about them all the time. The background is a picture of a hill side (part of the Karen Hills) I took when I visited Burma. The statue of Buddha represents my Buddhist background and country. My father is holding the Fighting Peacock flag that was the main symbol in democracy in Burma. This is particularly important because the country was under total authoritarian control which is part of the reason why my parents fled for the refugee camps.
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Sketches
For the first sketch, I wanted to show a picture of my head being somehow fused to objects/items that represented Burma (My home country). The pictures I have are of a large hill side, my father holding a flag, and a statue of Buddha. All of these things are from Burma and represent my past. I also wanted them to be out of focus and somewhat blurred because I don’t usually think a lot about my past, but it’s still there in the back of my head.
My second sketch shows a picture of me walking from one scene to another. The scene on the left is a picture of a refugee camp that was in Thailand to represent where I came from and on the right is Washington D.C, to represent my family heading to the states. In the middle, there is a path that shows me walking from the Burma to D.C.
My third sketch shows me standing in front of some homes in a refugee camp, dressed in my native clothing. Afterwards, I was thinking that it would be better if it was me in American clothes, because it would show two different environments in one picture, much like the other ones.
My second sketch shows a picture of me walking from one scene to another. The scene on the left is a picture of a refugee camp that was in Thailand to represent where I came from and on the right is Washington D.C, to represent my family heading to the states. In the middle, there is a path that shows me walking from the Burma to D.C.
My third sketch shows me standing in front of some homes in a refugee camp, dressed in my native clothing. Afterwards, I was thinking that it would be better if it was me in American clothes, because it would show two different environments in one picture, much like the other ones.
Photoshop
After choosing the first sketch to continue with, I opened Photoshop and imported the pictures that I wanted to use. These pictures were of the hillside, half of my face, my dad holding the Fighting Peacock flag, and a statue of Buddha. The hillside represent Burma, the flag represents democracy and the struggle, and the statue of Buddha represents my Buddhist background. I wanted to use these things because I felt like they summarized my origins in a good amount.
With the pictures, I quick selected the parts that I wanted. From there, I put them all on one canvas, which had the background of the hill side. From there, I used puppet warp to stretch the images toward my face and create the "paths." Then I used the blur tool to create focus on just the main parts, leaving the path somewhat blurred. I blurred them to create a ghostly feeling.
With the pictures, I quick selected the parts that I wanted. From there, I put them all on one canvas, which had the background of the hill side. From there, I used puppet warp to stretch the images toward my face and create the "paths." Then I used the blur tool to create focus on just the main parts, leaving the path somewhat blurred. I blurred them to create a ghostly feeling.
The original pictures from which I took from.
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The tools and pictures I used in Photoshop
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In conclusion, I think I did a satisfactory job. Afterwards, I felt like there could be more added and done with a better sense of craftsmanship. But this was my first project using Photoshop, so I was still getting used to the mechanics. I enjoyed using it even though I stayed within a small range. I used the puppet warp and blur tool, and I will definitely use more the next time I use this program. My piece has a decent amount of symbolism and I think that's the most important and best part of my piece.
- "Separation, 1896 by Edvard Munch." Evard Munch. Web. 5 Dec. 2015. <http://www.edvardmunch.org/separation.jsp>.