Romanticism Collage - Artist Statement

Happy Thursday!

Recently we just finished our Romanticism unit, so I'm posting the collage set that I made for it. My concept was on horrors of war; I focused on the political situation in North African and Middle Eastern countries, but mainly on Libya and Egypt. My thoughts were that as Egypt finally drove their dictator out, Libyans were starting to protest; the little peace that was left in Libya is leaving and there is peace at last in Egypt. The situation in Libya seems to be getting worse with each passing day, and I know foreign countries are trying to assist the country, but civilians are getting hurt and killed when it is probably avoidable.

Collage Representing Egypt

The first image is to represent Egypt; I mentioned before that just as peace was entering Egypt, it was leaving Libya. In here I show the ominous red sunset in Cairo being broken along with Mubarak's image. I incorporated the Twitter and Facebook icons because those social networking sites are one of the reasons the world got to know about the protests so suddenly. I found out almost immediately through Twitter.

The composition in this is diagonal; it could have been something else had the dove been elsewhere, but I placed it so the piece would have a diagonal composition. I also wanted the composition on the Libya collage to match the Egypt collage.

I really want the eye to go towards the dove, as it unifies the two pieces together as a set, and I believe it is the focal point of the piece. I was debating between the gold gift-wrap I happened upon in a magazine or just white paper; I'm very happy I went with the gold paper as it shimmers, and eyes will drift toward it automatically.

Collage Representing Libya

The second image is of the Libya collage; in this image the dove is shown leaving; when I began the project the crisis was just beginning. If I were to start it now I would keep the dove smaller and show very little of it leaving, as the condition of the country now is very tense.

It was in this image where I wanted to illustrate the horrors of war. I didn't want to show people getting hurt, because I feel like that may be the obvious thing to do. Instead I show a calm Libyan night breaking down, along with the map of Libya beginning to break with the peaceful night. The only images that are not dissolving are of Gadaffi's and his female soldiers. One thing I really wanted to incorporate wasbhis female bodyguards. Even in today's modern state of mind I found that surprising, but very interesting.

I did not want to show the dove breaking with the night and the map because first of all, it unifies my piece. Secondly, no matter what others believe I think there is still peace in many parts of the world, and the dove represents all places.

I mentioned before that this piece has a diagonal composition; in this one as well if the dove was placed differently there would be a completely different composition. This one is different than the first because there is a lot more negative space in it, showing how blackness is taking over.

The last thing to mention is my colour choice. I chose black for the Libyan collage and white for the Egyptian collage. I was really debating the black and white choice, because in my culture and religion, white is a mourning colour, while black is considered ominous. I still went with white for the Egypt collage because it is still bright, and brings contrast and light into the piece. Another reason is that they were and probably are still mourning for those killed and injured during riots and protests.

I was very unsure of this project when we began it, but I really started to appreciate how professional and artistic collages can be near the end.