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by killianreimers

This project took on a personal approach for me in the form of the self portrait, both in literal and figurative terms. I decided to concentrate solely on what drives me and my practice – My self and my mind. In working with my subconscious mind, I am allowing myself to rid my self of any inhibitions, thoughts, tyrants; anything. I am literally just doing, and using that concept of ‘do’ to control my work and to see it through, not limiting myself to any materials, resources, or manipulations. I am exploring the uncomfortable and the unfamiliar territory that is my self, exposing the fear and the inhibitions that I have with it.

The subconscious mind is important to me because it allows for me to recollect and attempt to understand what my conscious mind cannot by itself. It also allows for me to have a better comprehension of my conscious mind. In relation to this project, I believe that making this work is about revisiting and deconstructing my past in relation to my development as an artist thus far, and I am willing to explore that through this practice.

 

In relating my research towards my project for this term, a lot of artists I looked at mostly interested me in their theory of practice as opposed to just their final imagery. A lot of the work that I created, especially that of my drawings and my writings, was almost if not entirely created by myself without attempting to reference anyone else – Any other artists. However, after creating some sample imagery, I found that my research fits in almost perfectly well with what I was creating, in attempting to further understand my practice as well as allowing to  further develop it. Tracey Emin’s work is completely uninhibited; She allows her life’s events to unravel themselves into what she creates without too much critique or structure to manipulate it. I particularly found what she is perhaps most known for, her drawings and writings, influential to my practice for this term. Another great artist, Louise Bourgeois, influenced me with her ‘Insomnia Drawings’ that she created between November 1994 to June 1995 – 220 drawings and writings created to help the artist fall asleep. The repetitive, yet complexity of this work again aided me in my own drawings and writings. Joseph Parra is an American artist who creates abstracted, manipulated portraits of individuals through the process of screen printing and charcoal drawings. His intricacies in his ‘Braided’ series interests me deeply; Here we see the individual restricted behind this ‘mask’, of sorts, that has been created for them, creating an almost silencing factor to the portrait, the intricate ties of the braids ridding the portrait of identity and worth.

Image Re-manipulation

by killianreimers

Subconscious Ink Drawings

by killianreimers

Re-visiting double exposures with black and white filter

by killianreimers

by killianreimers

Experiments #3

by killianreimers

Messing around with some long exposures.

Thinking about Antoine D’Agata’s long exposure self portraits, as well as violence in relation to the self portrait.

Experiments #2

by killianreimers

Experiments

by killianreimers

Experimental vertical sequence of photos of my eyes taken in different expressions.

Misc. Thoughts – ‘Femininity’

by killianreimers

• Questioning Femininity.
• Questioning role of ‘womanhood’.
• Questioning role as a person/human being.
• Questioning language in relation to femininity.
• Questioning femininity as a prosthetic.
• The face as a prosthetic.
• The body/symbols of the body/semiotics of the body as a prosthetic.
• Symbolism/semiotics of shapes in relation to femininity.
• Expectations of femininity.
• History of femininity.
• ‘Unraveling’ femininity.
• Femininity as a strict concept.
• The deconstruction of femininity.

Proposal – Killian

by killianreimers

What defines the ‘self’? This is a question that, for as long as I can remember, I have been trying to figure out and re-iterate into something that helps me better understand it. According to Wikipedia, the ‘self’ is “an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness”. Jean Baudrillard argues that self-actualization is not so much as breaking away from objects as a means of becoming oneself through objects. Sigmund Freud defines the self through his notions of Id (uncoordinated instinctual trends), Ego (organized, realistic part that mediates between the Id and the Super-ego), and Super-ego (critical and moralizing role).

 

However, I find that there’s much more to defining the ‘self’ than of that just through theory and scientific facts. In terms of art, there are more ways for an artist to define their ‘self’ or the ‘self’ through their work than by facts written in a book. For me, I see the notion of the self as a vessel – A vessel for a multitude of things, including but not limited to: for purpose, for nurture, for sentimentality, for conditioning, for therapy, for truth, for substance, for meditation, for representation, for escapism, for tranquility, or just a place to stretch my limbs.

Since this project is of particular significance to myself, I am looking to discover this notion of the ‘self’ through self portraiture, both direct and indirect. My imagery will include photography as well as other mixed media. I will explore the notions of the self in relation to the senses and the body as a whole, which will be visualized through my final presentation (exhibition).