It's about time

Process of the carving itself.

 Pictures of my first soap carving:

The Process:

First, I subtracted by dripping water on it for about 6 hours

This was my result

Next, I added by sticking a short candle wick in his head

When I lit it, it turned into subtraction

Next I added beads to his back

You can't really tell, but I tore a hole in his chest (subtracted) and added a piece of ice.

Next, I subtracted by rubbing him on the pavement

Next I added a string

And my final step was adding shards of glass to divide him up

 Final soap carving

Momento

Back more than a decade ago, my grandfather had owned a several acre farm in Louisiana. Every summer we would go and visit and it was nothing but absolute innocent fun. I simply recall that the sun shone really bright. And with my grandfather's recent passing it seems to me such a blatant contrast from then and now. I had wanted to represent such a difference in my memento.  I used a small plank of balsa wood, dirt, and a single blade of grass.
One end of the board is rugged while the other is elevated by the roots of the piece of grass. The gradient of dirt from the broken end to the one with the grass is there to reinforce the representation of old and new, growth and death, and innocence and truth.

Poetic Metamorphosis

All paper. No tape or glue.

 Complete bug, bed (headboard, box spring, mattress, blanket, pillow), and chest.

 Bug top

 Bug bottom

 Decent shot of mattress

And finally the chest.

When I had read "The Metamorphosis" the vibe I had gotten from the story was that it was creepy, dark, and just wrong. Thus, I had wanted to convey this in my pieces. 

I did this by choosing a bunch of textures and dark colors.

A technique I used quite a bit was that of twisted bits of paper. I liked it because it was not crisp and clean-cut like a lot of other sturdier and simpler forms. It made certain aspects of my pieces look twisted and unstable and damaged; which is what I had wanted.

Another thing I used a lot of was paper weaving. I did it with twisted paper and without it. What it did for me was, once again, divert from the crisp and clean effect that folded paper is so prone to producing. It is also one of the main sources for the all of the texture.

As for color, I had wanted to really push the feeling of "wrong-ness" that the story had given me. So I used darker, dingy colors (browns, greens and grays). On the bed frame I did include bits of bright green and purple and orange because I thought that they would contrast with the dingy-ness of the colors around them and make them feel out of place.

Expressive 3-D forms

#1  Stoic

Strong vertical lines, minimal decoration, simple yet sturdy set up; my thought when creating stoicism was something that stood tall, strong, and proud. I feel I accomplished these through the height of my piece, the minimal elements, and procedure in which I got it to stand.

 #2  Angry

When I think of anger, I think of the hidden deep-set kind that is disguised and masked to convey otherwise. Thus, for my piece I created two individual components  one a wood frame with tape on both open ends, and the other, a triangular bit of balsa that has bits attached and gouged out of it. The concept is that through the window, one cannot clearly see the distorted figure of that underneath. 

 #3   Dangerous

I wanted to create a dangerous situation to convey this word. However I could not think of anyway to make the audience feel directly in danger; thus, I chose to create a small innocent shape that the audience could possible relate with and sympathize for and place it in a dangerous situation. The situation I chose is one the involves a rickety structure, a large pointy object, and unfortunate placement for my little wood piece.

#4  Calm

unfortunately the image is currently unavailable

(meaning that I lost track of this piece and was unable to capture it)

However it will be up as soon as I am able.

In the meantime, enjoy this illustration of the piece.

When I think calm, I envision nice soft edges and no rough or sharp corners. Thus, my final piece, to me, resembles what we used to call "worry stones". "Worry stones" are essentially flat, rounded, rocks with an indent in the middle so you can hold it in your hand and rub the indent with your thumb; the purpose being that the repetitive motion would ease your worries. Unintentionally I created a similar shape for my final piece.

Metamorphosis Definitions

Metamorphosis- A complete change of form, structure, or substance, as transformation by magic or witchcraft
Superfluous- Unnecessary or useless 
Asphyxiation- To cause to die or lose consciousness by impairing normal breathing
Diminutive-  small; little; tiny

Metamorphosis Outline

Part one

i.                     Gregor Samsa (salesman) wakes up

                                                               i.      Discovers he is a giant cockroach

                                                             ii.      Misses his train

ii.                   Boss shows up at his house

                                                               i.      Makes demands to see Gregor

                                                             ii.      Aids in the discovery that Gregor is now a giant bug

iii.                  Exposes himself to his family and employer

                                                               i.      Roughly shoved into his room

1.       Injured in the processs

                                                             ii.      Locked in room

Part Two  

        I .           Wakes up in room, still a bug

                                      I . discovers he doesn’t like  good quality food

        II.           Sister begins to care for him

                                Bring him food

                                Clean his room

III.                Mother enters his room one day

a.       Sees Gregor

                                                               i.      Runs out of room screaming

1.       Father injures him via apple

Part Three

i.         Gregor is severely injured           

a.       Family begins to neglect him

b.      Begins to feel depressed

II.  Family in need of money

a.       Allow three men to rent rooms

b.      All excess stuff goes in Gregors room

III. Gregor comes out of room due to his sister playing violin

a.       The renters see him

b.      The renters leave

IV.                Family decides they need to get rid of Gregor

a.       Gregor stops eating out of guilt/ depression

V.                  Gregor Dies

a.       Family moves