DAT Capstone - Amy Caldwell

  I think this painting was successful in terms of combining mixed media in the way that I was envisioning. If I were to do it over again, I would change my ability to describe my piece during the process. A lot of the time, when discussing the direction of my piece, I never had the right words in mind to describe the idea I was trying to convey in my piece. In my practice as a multimedia artist, I am limiting how much feedback someone can give me. Despite my inability to describe the idea behind my work, I was still able to receive some great feedback from the professor. For example, the reminder to add mediums with intention. In The Intersection of Fine Arts and Digital Media: Blending Traditional and Modern Techniques, posted by RMCAD points out that among other things, “Mixed media artists can avoid these pitfalls by clearly defining their artistic vision and by selecting harmonizing techniques that complement one another.” This was yet another reminder on how important it is f...

 While adding to my physical painting, I experimented with different ways to apply glass beads that I had bought for this project. Initially, I knew I wanted some sculpted elements in the piece, but I didn't know exactly what I was going to sculpt or with what. One day in my painting class, the professor brought in some roofing tar. Other oil painters have used it before as a base for their shadows. But, since it was a very thick substance, I tried to sculpt with it. I sculpted some hands in a sign language position that meant "reflect". My plan was to paint over these hands that looked like poop smeared on a piece of paper at this point, but the tar never dried completely. So that option was scratched. My next experiment was how I was going to work with these glass beads. At first, I mixed them with a transparent oil paint, and the beads had a nice look to them, however, they were hard to move around, they couldn't be stacked, they took way too long to dry and they j...

  As I am diving deeper into the world of multimedia approaches, it has lead me to look for artists that have worked in a similar way. My absolute favorite overall has been Nancy Graves. Her approach to sculpture, painting, and the combination of the two is truly inspiring. In her sculptures she uses, "  unusual materials such as fur, burlap, canvas, plaster, latex, wax, steel, fiberglass and wood ". She was the youngest artist, and only the fifth woman, to be selected for a solo presentation at the Whitney Museum of Art. Graves was also among the first contemporary artists to experiment with bronze casting.