Describe the elements of your collage and what relationships you have created through your images.
There are only two elements of my collage, which is the umbrella and the picture of me. The umbrella is placed over me so that it shields me from the “rain” on the upper portion of the painting. This makes sense because umbrellas are used to cover someone from the rain. In the picture of myself, I’m seen looking up at the umbrella, seemingly aware that it’s sheltering me from all the downpour.
How have you used the techniques of juxtaposition, dislocation, and or transformation. Use specific examples from your work.
In the painting, the upper half is supposed to represent a rainy, dark night sort of feel, while the lower half is representing the bright, sunny day. It’s almost paradoxical how it can be rainy at the same time sunny, and how it can be dark while it can be bright. Again, the placement between day and night is a dislocation because they are not often seen together in one same painting and still make sense. The umbrella is also a transformation (though not that obvious) that it becomes not only as a shelter, but also as a border and separation between the two portions of this painting.
Describe your painting technique by explaining your process (what you used and how you painted)
I mostly used the drip effect in this painting to show the rain. For most of the time, I tried to mix a lot of water into the paint so that it would be easier to run, and also so I get the thin, watery effect. In order to stop the paint from dripping down to the part below the umbrella, I used masking tape to cover the umbrella so that the paint wouldn’t run down to the bottom before I caught it with a tissue. For the bottom part, I used a sponge to dab the paint on there to get that cloudy gradient look, and I tried to use as much contrasting (to the upper part) colours as possible.
What areas of your work are you most proud of?
I think I’m most proud of the upper section, where I had that drip effect along with the depressing mood using the colours. I’m also proud that I managed to get the depth in the upper section using different shades of blue and black. This also created a cave effect where it looks like you’re peering into a cave because the darkest colours are on the outside.
What areas of your work needs improvement?
I think I could improve making the lower section more like daytime instead of just bright, neon colours that simply contrast with dark colours on the top section. I could also improve on blending the collage pictures into the painting instead of having it isolated and looking like it was cut out and pasted.
What is the overall theme or message of your work? Please explain the impact of specific collage photos, colour choice, and technique in painting or use of collage.
The main message of this painting was to show how the world I live in is so enclosed and unexposed compared to the real world. The upper portion represents all the suffering and real pain out there in the world, and the umbrella represents the Hong Kong community I live in, since the Umbrella Revolution could be a symbol of Hong Kong. The lower portion, with the bright and sunny colours, represents the happy and perfect community I currently live in. For the upper section, I chose dark colours such as dark blue and black because dark blue generally represents depression, sadness, or depth. Black usually represents darkness, pain, death, and negativity, and the meaning of these two combined can represent the darker side of our world, with all the pain and suffering that most of us do not see. For the lower section, I used light colours such as yellow to show the happier and innocent society I live in. The umbrella is also corresponding to the two sides, with the ‘outside’ part being black and connected to the upper sections’ dark colours, and the ‘inner’ part being a picture of the blue sky, related to the bright colours of the lower part. This painting was meant to show how the innocent and pure Hong Kong community that I live in shields me from the real suffering of this world, denoted by the dripping ‘rain’, and the proportions of the upper section shows how rare these pure communities are compared to the suffering communities. On the other hand, the fact that I am looking up towards the rain shows how I am aware of the suffering, but have not yet experienced it yet.