Q1: Why do artists make portraits? What purpose do portraits serve, beyond offering visual representations of a person or group?
A1: I think artists make portraits to shed some light on things that are not widely noticed or talked about. Portraits have the capacity to tell a story. They can be a simple way to express something that cannot easily be done with words. Portraits are also able to immortalize a principal aspect of a person's community and can allow the artist to notice things they wouldn't usually see before (like the essence of the person captured in the portrait). Q2: What makes a community? A2: At the end of the day, a community can be whatever you make it. A community is a safe place that is familiar to you, in which you feel comfortable enough to be your authentic self, and it is also where you can bond with other people over mutual experiences. You can have a physical community with people in close proximity to you, and you can have an online community with people all over the world. A community can be created over something you feel strongly or are passionate about, and this can range from things like music, art, cartoons, astrology- literally anything- and can also include very important things like culture, ethnicity, belief systems, etc. Q3: What are the "communities" that you interact with/ belong to? A3: There are quite a few communities that I interact with, and due to the pandemic still keeping people apart, a large amount of them are online. Some of these include the Twitch community (lots of gaming), anime and cartoon fandoms, twitter communities where people can express their support of a certain internet personality, and discord servers where people can interact and bond over things they have in common. I also have communities online (like Instagram and YouTube) where I can have conversations with people about race, religion, politics, gender and sexuality, etc. In school I am in Women's Empowerment and Amnesty International. I am also a member of the Black community, the Nigerian community, the Christian community, and the Queer community. Q4: As you view the portraits featured in this video, what kinds of things strike you or resonate with you? A4: I like the fact that she loves to capture Black people simply existing. Many people often have preconceived notions about Black people, specifically Black men, but her work aims to capture the natural essence of people, whether that be their joy, their swagger, etc. Q5: How would you describe Casteel's community? List some words that may describe the communities that she engages with in the video(s). A5: Casteel's community is majorly made up of Black and Brown folks, and she also seems to have a lot of Black male figures in her life. She shows herself spending a lot of time with her family and allows us to see that she is a sister, a daughter, a niece, a cousin, an aunt, etc. Q6: In Casteel's paintings, what do the bodies and gestures convey? A6: The bodies and gestures in Casteel's paintings often convey Black men doing something as simple as sitting, and there isn't usually an elaborate expression on their faces. She paints them completely as they are in their lives. To me the gestures are very subtle, but they also say "I'm here and I exist, and I am allowed to take up space simply by just being here as I am". That is what the bodies and gestures convey to me. Q7: Describe and compare your reactions to Casteel's portraits of nude models and to those of clothed models. How does each set of portraits tell different stories? A7: Seeing the immediate contrast between Casteel's nude and clothed models was incredibly fascinating, but when I looked and thought more carefully I found quite a lot of similarities between them. Both the use of nude and clothed models in Casteel's work manage to show the humanness of the subject. The clothed models are shown in a way where they are simply existing in their everyday lives just as everybody else, while the nude portraits show an aspect of Black men that is rarely portrayed- vulnerability. Black men are very often dehumanized and the nude portraits force the audience to witness their humanity. On that same note, Casteel makes the thoughtful decision to not show any of their genitalia in the nude photos. To me, I think this is because a part of the dehumanization of Black men manifests itself in the form of fetishisation, where Black men are often (both historically and contemporarily) stripped down to nothing but their genitalia.
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Q 1: How do artists and other professionals learn about new ideas, processes, and strategies? What kinds of approaches do they take to build on their own experiences and inquire about things they do not know? A 1: When artists and other professionals want to learn new things, they can often get inspired by other artists, or research whatever they want to explore. If they want to build on their own experiences, they can observe their environment , ask questions, and remove themselves from their comfort zones in order to reach their goal. Q 2: When do exploration and experimentation become art? A 2: Exploration and experimentation become art when we least expect it. A lot of the time breakthroughs occur through periods of trail and error and when you continue to test the waters and ask "What If?", then at some point something will click and things will eventually fall into place. Focusing on the process and the journey instead of the destination often gets us results we never expected or knew we needed. Q 3: How do the artists in this episode perform investigations? What do their investigations look like? A 3: When Leonardo Drew went to college he didn't just stick to what he knew. He was always asking questions and he took many different kinds of art classes (from photography to woodshop) to make sure he continued expanding his knowledge. He never limited himself to one thing. When he investigates he questions everything. He questions himself, his work, and his emotions, and he does this in order to fully understand how to make the most of something. This constant questioning ends up manifesting itself in his work when he asks himself "How do I improve? How do I get to the next place?" He investigates by continuing to place his body in the act of attempting to know. Q 4: How do the materials used to make sculptures influence the meaning of the work? For example, what do we associate with materials such as wood and cotton? A 4: The materials that are used to make sculptures influence the meaning of the work because of how we often view these materials, and what we usually associate with them. Our associations with the material can allow us as viewers to make inferences on the meaning of the piece. A good example of this is shown in the video where we see a photograph of a Black man (Leonardo) working hard to push a bale of cotton through the street. Based on what we already know about the history of Black people and cotton in North America, we as the audience are able to subconsciously make a connection with the photo and how it relates to chattel slavery in North America. The photograph essentially becomes a political statement whether it was intended to be or not, all because of how and what we associate with the material. Q 5: In what ways do artists work with restrictions and rules? How might restrictions or rules help you to form ideas? How does Leonardo Drew work with self-imposed restrictions? How have they influenced his process and artwork? A 5: Artists can work with restrictions and rules by examining themselves and their art. They can pay attention to their strengths and weaknesses and even their habits to figure out a personalized set of rules or restrictions to help them break out of their comfort zones and further improve and refine their art. This is able to help an artist form new ideas because of the fact that it pushes you out of your comfort zone and typical routine, whether this be by changing mediums, art styles, or even just your mindset. Leonardo Drew works with self-imposed restrictions. At a certain point he realizes that he has either gotten too good or too comfortable with a medium (or both) and he notices that it gets in the way of him realizing something larger. He then removes himself from whatever he is used to and tells himself "You're gonna have to find another way to create", and that's what he does. This influences his process and artwork because he views lingering on something for too long when there is nothing more to give or to be said as doing the art a disservice, so he subsequently strives to make sure he is doing his work its due justice. Q 6: Choose two materials (other than those materials featured in this video) that have symbolic associations. Create a sketch or plan in your sketchbook (no bigger than 5"x 5") for an artwork YOU could make, using one or both materials to convey an idea or story.
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