So for this project i decided to blend two cities that really impacted me and how I interact with my art. Chicago and Staunton. One half was from Chicago. This mural was a couple of blocks away from the Chicago institute of art, which really revived my want to pursue art, this was a moment of high change in my life. Then with Staunton, it was the city near the art camp that I went to right after a hard break up. The camp not only surrounded me with artists who I could learn from but as well, giving a break from the world. Both areas were places of healing for me plus the idea of the country meeting the city has always been a subject I like to play with. What i was aiming for was to create a sort of melting together of good memories. A lot of my work is personal so this was really fun to try to make.
Two Cities Pictures - Me
Cracked Texture - https://www.pexels.com/photo/broken-glass-wallpaper-866351/
This work is Architectural Blend by Jordin Lopez. The work is a street scene photograph of a historic town featuring a large, colorful mural of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, painted on the side of a tall brick building. The mural stands out from the gray desaturated background and captures your attention with its bright pinks, purples, and black. Cars are moving through the foreground of the image with pedestrians walking through the intersection, tying it back to the busy city atmosphere the artist seems to be creating. The tone is slightly desaturated with a textured, scratched overlay, giving the photo a weathered, almost film-like quality.
ReplyDeleteThe message of the piece was not immediately clear to me, but after reading the artist's statement it makes sense since it was related to their personal experiences. From my perspective the mural initially seems to be the main focal point of the image because of how the colors stand out dramatically from the buildings and because of its central placement in the image. This led me to assume that the work was about how imagination and creativity can brighten up everyday city life. The bright Cheshire Cat mural brings playfulness and fantasy into a scene otherwise filled with traffic, old buildings, and people going about their routines. The worn, textured look of the photo adds a feeling of memory or timelessness, which could relate back to the feeling that watching Alice in Wonderland might invoke.
This piece works well conceptually because of how successfully the artist combined parts of two different cities that are very meaningful to them and the development of their passion for art. Technically the work is also very strong, considering that the buildings blend relatively seamlessly despite the artist saying one is a rural area and the other is a large city. The framing balances the mural with the surrounding architecture and traffic to make a balanced composition, and the applied textures give it a cohesive, vintage feel. To be as nitpicky as I possibly could be, the perspective is a little skewed at the bottom of the buildings on the left side, but the piece is still completely believable despite that.
I’m not necessarily sure if cultural commentary is necessary for this piece since it is solely based on the artist’s personal connection to these places. They expressed that both of these cities helped them heal from difficult situations and helped them grow a strong enough love for art to pursue it. This piece was made to bring together these comforting, inspiring places to create a message of personal growth, self expression, and finding a getaway from your problems.
Architectural Blend by Jordin Lopez is a photo collage of a city street featuring a colorful Cheshire Cat mural that pops against the muted tones of the surrounding historic buildings and traffic. The mural becomes the focal point, symbolizing how imagination and creativity can brighten ordinary life. The scratched, film-like texture adds a sense of memory and timelessness, tying into the nostalgic feel of Alice in Wonderland. Conceptually, the work blends two meaningful places from the artist’s life, reflecting their journey of healing and growth through art. Technically, the piece is strong, with a balanced composition and seamless blending, making the scene both believable and visually engaging.