The Years You Miss the Most
My transformative portrait plays on the idea of "who do you want to be?" by flipping it and asking who do you wish you were? My piece has me inside a moving train car going forward yet I am looking backwards and seeing a reflection of my younger self in front of a beautiful fall landscape symbolizing change. The train car itself is devoid of color and life feeling bleak but I am still in color attempting to shine in spite of the bleak shell around me. But where that central idea is present is in how I've portrayed my younger self in a dress; one I never got the chance to wear as a kid depicting a girlhood I never got to experience.
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I chose to describe the work “The Years You Miss the Most” by Noelle Greene. It’s a horizontal portrait in which the artist places herself almost in the center of the composition. The scene takes place inside a train, where she sits alone in a corner, looking through the window at the landscape outside. The train looks very empty and dark. In contrast, the artist seems like a point of light inside it. Her fair skin and white dress stand out against the dark background. Her expression is melancholic and she seems lost in her thoughts. In the window reflection we can see a younger version of the artist from her childhood. She is also wearing a dress, but she is smiling and looks happy. The landscape outside the window has autumn colors which create a nostalgic feeling and a sense of longing.
ReplyDeleteI think this work is an excellent example of a transformative portrait because of the way motion and composition are used to tell a personal story. The movement of the train looks very natural at first, but when we look more closely, we notice that the train is actually moving backward instead of forward. This detail is not immediately obvious, but it is an important part of the concept, as it represents looking back at the past. The whole scene feels natural and emotional and it makes us reflect on our own childhood: did we miss something when we were younger? It also makes us question who we are today and who we wish we could have been.
This work, by Noelle Greene, includes a few different elements. To begin, the main setting is within a train car as it moves forward. The subject, Noelle, sits within the car by herself. The inside of the train car is devoid of much color, the walls and chairs all being in a gray setting. However, Noelle stands out in a white, off the shoulder dress. The window of the train, which the subject looks out of, shows a landscape of orange fall trees. In the glass, an image of a small child in a dress is shown reflecting back towards Noelle.
ReplyDeleteI think that this work says a lot of things about the individual reflected in the portrait. Firstly, Noelle has placed herself in a position that, while the train moves forward, she is facing backward. That could be used to symbolize looking back towards the past, or possibly being unable to move forward as easily as other people may be able to. In addition, Noelle’s eyeline goes to the child in the glass, most likely a reflection of herself as a child, clothed in a dress similar to the one she wears. The train moves at a decently fast pace, with the fall trees blurring as they move past the view of the window. Fall is often seen visually as a representation of change, or more literally, cold times coming in the future. Through Noelle’s explanation herself, we can see that this child is indeed herself as a child. The dress the child wears is even significant as that was not something she wore as a kid, and feels as though she missed out because of it.
I think that there were plenty of visual clues given to interpret the work. Color, motion, environment, clothing, and expression were all clues given to the person seeing the work. If someone may have missed some of the meaning in one aspect of the composition, there were plenty of other portions of the work that would lead a viewer to a similar conclusion. It is also a transformative work. The portrait clearly shows Noelle sitting in the train car paired with a child to her left. That makes it clear that we are looking back into the past. The framing is done well, placing both of the important subjects on, or near, the third, further emphasizing their importance. The motion also works to push the meaning, as it shows the train moving forward. This creates an interesting juxtaposition with the subject as Noelle looks to the past while moving forward.
Within our larger culture, this work would definitely have space within the art community. It sounds as though Noelle made this to speak mostly on her lack of ability to be feminine as a child. There are plenty of people today in our culture that can relate to that, or would find that to be meaningful. It could be shared with an audience to give comfort to other people that they are not alone. It could also be shared simply to put Noelle’s story and feelings out there.
This work seems to speak to a transformative portrait in the concept of time very specifically. It shows a feeling of moving forward while also being stuck in the past. The transformative nature also shines through in the interaction between Noelle and her child self. It speaks even more obviously to culture as a whole as well, when compared to some of the other submissions. While it is personal to Noelle, there are many who could relate to this work in the larger culture of the U.S.
"The years you miss the most" by Noelle Green is an excellent transformative project showing a subject in a train car looking out the window, where they find a younger version of themself looking back in the mirror.
ReplyDeleteI interpret this work as a self-reflection of who the subject is and what they want to become. The composition reminds me of the classic reflection of oneself found in movies and entertainment. There is a contrasting color scheme between the subject in the mirror and the train car. I interpreted this as a comparison of emotions between the two subjects. There is a gleaming light on the older subject, which I think represents the opportunity to shine and get the positive emotion back. There is a small detail on the face that further shows a contrast in moods. The older subject matches the bleak and monochromatic setting of the train, while the younger matches that of a happier setting.
The movement of the background gives the train a sense of motion and helps with the recognition of a reflective scene, and it was created very well. Two different layers of the background help show the speed of the train.
This work exists in our larger culture by making the audience replicate that same type of reflection. Many people view their youth or past as being happier than their present. The work has a slightly inspiring tone that could make the viewers want to improve themselves.