Artmaking Practice refers to the series of actions taken by artists in the production of their artworks. These actions are the consequential outcomes of decisions made by the artists. Artists influence the perspectives of other humans and influence their artmaking, which gives an effort to create the real world. The human experiences and observations reinforce and influence their artmaking which has the ability to move people along their journey of grief and loss into a more balanced place of healing and hope. The arts empower tragedy, and the creative process which can help give a voice to the voiceless. Artists such as Francisco De Goya and Anselm Kiefer have had an impact on influencing my artworks.
Francisco de Goya born in 1746-1828 was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th century. He suffered a severe and undiagnosed illness in 1793 which left him deaf, after which his work became progressively darker and pessimistic. His later easel and mural paintings, prints and drawings appear to reflect a bleak outlook on personal, social and political levels, which contrast with his social climbing. In 1807, Napoleon led the French army into the Peninsular War against Spain. Goya remained in Madrid during the war which seems to have affected him deeply. That suggests that he feared for both his country's fate and his own mental and physical health was reflected in his work.
“The Third of May” 1808, was commissioned by the provisional government of Spain at Goya's suggestion. The painting's content, presentation, and emotional force secure its status as a groundbreaking, archetypal image of the horrors of war. Diverging from the traditions of Christian art and traditional depictions of war, it has no distinct precedent, and is acknowledged as one of the first paintings of the modern era. He had supported the initial aims of the French Revolution, and hoped for a similar development in Spain. The central figure is the brilliantly lit man wearing white that symbolises his innocence and his heroism of individuality kneeling amid the bloodied corpses of those already executed. In addition behind and around him are others who will soon share the same fate. The innocent and heroic man stands for spain, which was not to find true freedom which shows the man’s inhumanity to man. This scene of an execution in wartime is emotionally heightened by the close up focus, the dramatic lightning with arranged tonal contrast and a strong diagonal direction. Thus dehumanising the soldiers actions while focusing the audience’s attention on the faces of those about to die on their terror, anguish and defiance. Goya had a big ascendancy on my artmaking, especially with the critical comments of power, and the theme of political issues and the impact of war on innocent people, and the intrigued with subjects of injustice, war, and death to compose the BOW with a greater attention to the conventions of politician towards the land and the citizenses.
“The Dream of St. Joseph” 1772, Goya completed his first major commissions cycle of religious frescoes in the chapel of the Sobradiel Palace in Saragossa. In his painting, the angel seems to call on St. Joseph to not abandon his pregnant wife, the Virgin Mary. The diagonal composition of the painting was adopted by him from an engraving of a painting by the French painter Simon Vouet. The painting was later removed from the wall and transferred to canvas. Referring to his artwork, Goya has influenced my artmaking by focusing on the mental and physical power that is able to bring enlightenment and the angel embodies the triumph of Light. And the idea of the imagination that goes far beyond the traditional view on the angel-like creatures with wings; it looks like the Muse angels take them under their wings which inspire new findings, plus combine the Christian traditions that angels are sent to us bringing Hope.
Anselm Kiefer born in 1945, is a German painter and sculptor. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan have played a role in developing Kiefer's themes of German history and the horror of the Holocaus. Themes from Nazi rule are particularly reflected in his work. His artworks are characterised by an unflinching willingness to confront his culture's dark past, and unrealised potential. He is the son of a German art teacher, Kiefer was born in Donaueschingen two months before the end of World War II. His city having been heavily bombed, Kiefer grew up surrounded by the devastation of the war. Generally, Kiefer attributes traditional mythology, books, and libraries as his main subjects and sources of inspiration. In all, his searches for the meaning of existence and "representation of the incomprehensible and the non-representational." He acknowledges the issue, but says “change is part of the process and that their essence will ultimately stay the same”.
“Book With Wings”-1992/94, the modern’s winged book is the triumphant version, its wings lifting high off the pages, as if about to take flight. Nonetheless, this sculpture, like so much of the artist’s work, is ironic the wings are made of lead, and therefore cannot fly. Based on Germany's physical and cultural landscape since the war, Kiefer addresses guilt, shame and destruction by creating images laden with subtle and personal symbols of rebirth and redemption. its mysterious and symbolic ability to evoke emotional states and allude to history and layers of meaning, with an intellectual approach that is most impressive. Visions of heaven and hell and hope and destruction are employed by Kiefer in a long and inspiring process to define spirituality. The book has immense symbolic power as a container and transmitter. He has guided my work with not only the style but the theme behind this specific artwork which shaped the depiction of the danger of overestimating one's own capabilities, of the pride that comes before a fall. To show the symbol of wings that include the lightness, spirituality, and the possibility of flying and rising up to heaven, and convey the idea of the expression of the aspirational soul towards a higher than the aspiration to transcend the human condition.
“San Loretto”-2009, is an immense canvas portraying a winged boulder, replete in tones of jet black and ashen gray. Teeming with the somber radiance of embers, this curious and dusty form coalesces the Catholic myth with the artist’s own spiritual convictions in the redemptive potential of art. “People think of ruins as the end of something, but for me they were the beginning. When you have ruins you can start again." Therefore emotionally-charged and swarming with acute energy, represents a quiescent examination of philosophy, mythology and alchemy, all through massive proportions.On the contrary, he sought to uncover the stratified quality of classical techniques through drawing and symbolism The implications of his materials are equitably important as their physicality. The artist’s expressionistic touches, encapsulates a palpable impression of anxiety about the past of his country and a metaphor of flight and his iconographical lexicon of religious lore. Importantly, the concept of the palette became emblematic of Kiefer’s historical perspective through flight. Hovering above the rugged landscape, the soaring stone indicates the eclipsing power of matter over spirit, and more so of mind of matter, and the omnipresent symbol in the relentless search for divinity among destruction. The scorched tonality of San Loretto significantly suggests the war-torn wasteland of Kiefer’s youth, but the mysticism and lyricism of the winged stone climbing the clouds toward promise veils the brutality of its making. The fine pencil-drawing surface is influenced by the practice and the style of Kiefer combined with soft, finely-nuanced contours all bathed in a blazing, unreal light. The motifs on the white paper seem to have been deprived of their original peaceful atmosphere between abstraction and realism.
Both artists focus on the idea of war and what they’ve experienced, which has a huge impact on my major specially of what’s happening to my homeland at the moment. Both artist’s practices influenced the way I created my body of work as well as it merged with my first language and the importance of culture. The Arabic language plays an essential role in my piece of work camouflaged with the English version where cultural icons are used to demonstrate the importance of language and how it is used to criticise political issues and war. I painted wings because it always brings me back to my childhood that represents angels as the embodiment of timeless values and present with faith, hope and charity. Which therefore communicates angelic qualities- peace of war, encouragement, support and unconditional love. The specific theme behind my work is the freedom not from death, but freedom from ourselves. My purpose is for the viewer to hear the sound of angel’s wings watching though salvation would come when angels appeared in the Sky.