Lighted BeautyFlowers, leaves, and fire
14cm x 20cm April 2016 Beauty is a subjective term but we can definitely agree on the statement that our society has a passion for being beautiful. Good looks and nice bodies dominate our society, influencing those who see it. Being beautiful is good, but once a certain line is crossed, beauty becomes more of a chore and can sometimes lead to harm. I was inspired by “Burning Roses” by Mat Collishaw whose artworks show roses burning on a black background and used roses to represent beauty. |
Meaning
My burning roses represent a literal burning passion for beauty. In our current time, the majority of people are obsessed with appearances and how people think about them. I used roses because they are very pretty and are associated with beauty. Alone the roses are okay, but the added fire brings a whole new meaning. Don't get me wrong, beauty is important, but to a certain extent. There are times, where being beautiful can hurt you. Just like how the fire can burn roses down, age can cause beauty to diminish. At first, the flame is strong, and the passion is great, but eventually the flame starts to die out, bringing all the miserable remains with it.
ARTISTIC INSPIRATION |
PROCESS |
At first, I was looking for artist who created sculptures with flowers, and I couldn't find one I liked. So I looked at paintings involving flowers, and Frida Kahlo instantly struck me. In a few of her self-portraits, she is wearing a type of flower accessory in her hair and I liked the idea. She usually uses native Mexican flowers, but I wanted to use a simple yet meaningful flower. So I chose to use roses. Looking at many rose projects, I came across Mat Collishaw, who works burning roses and I like the idea. Mat's ignites them with a large flame, but I wanted to do a smaller flame. It'll look less hectic to me. So I combined the two and thus my project was created.
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Right after I found my inspirations, my plan was pretty straight-forward. I wanted to build a flower crown. So from my local art store, I bought fake roses, fake white flowers, and fake leaves. The flowers and leaves are fake because the roses I wanted haven't grown in Wisconsin because of the cold weather. Once I brought them home and started, I saw that I could disconnect the buds from the stems, and that was very helpful. This enabled me to individually work with one part. I took apart the flowers and leaves and there were a few stems left. To create a circular base, I twisted the ends of a stem together.
With the base ready, I used hot glue to place the leaves, roses, and white flowers onto the base. I used hot glue because it gave a good hold, it dried fast, and super glue didn't work. It's also clear, so that helps the craftsmanship. I started with the leaves, with the tops facing towards the top. Next I put down the main rose bud, and two smaller ones on its side. Finally, I glued the white flowers buds on the front (under the rose buds) and behind the leaves. They were meant to fill up any negative space and give a more pleasing appearance. Then I grabbed a lighter, my project and headed outside. I went out during the night because I didn't want the background to be too distracting, and I wanted the burning crown to be the main focus. I put the crown on my concrete driveway and lit it. The roses were made from a light fabric which caught on fire quickly. I took many, many pictures, and only stopped until my project was all burnt up. The pictures can be seen on the left. |
Reflection
I'd say that this project went very well. The project I had envisioned was what I received and that felt accomplishing. I was able to be more crafty and learned how to create a flower crown. I was able to work with a new medium, fire, and work on my photography skills, as I did not use the auto mode. I played around with the shutter speed and F-stop to try and get the best picture possible.
It was quite hard to take the pictures because I had to do it fast before the flame burned everything down, so I wasn't able to perfectly adjust my camera and got some blurry pictures. However, the nice pictures I was able to take were presentable and sends clear message to the viewer.
It was quite hard to take the pictures because I had to do it fast before the flame burned everything down, so I wasn't able to perfectly adjust my camera and got some blurry pictures. However, the nice pictures I was able to take were presentable and sends clear message to the viewer.