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Co
mp
arative S
tud
y: Ab
stract Art
Co
mp
ositio
n
VIII (19
23
) W
assily K
an
din
sky O
il on
Can
vas 140
x20
1 cm
Bro
adw
ay Bo
og
ie
Wo
og
ie (19
43
) P
iet M
on
dria
n
Oil o
n C
anvas 12
7 x 127 cm
Ce
nts S
ign
Travellin
g fro
m B
road
way to
Africa
via Gu
ade
lou
pe
(196
8)
Ch
ryssa
Ne
on
Tub
ing
& P
lexig
lass 109
.2x8
8.9
x72.4
cm
IntroductionI chose to do m
y visual arts comparative study on the artists W
assily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian
and Chryssa. Before I discovered abstract art, m
y artistic preferences lied in pop art and comic
book art. My favourite artist at the tim
e was Roy Lichtenstein as he m
orphed both pop art and com
ic book art into his artwork. H
owever, once I discovered abstract art, I w
as quickly drawn by
the ambiguity abstract art presented to m
e. I imm
ediately fell in love with w
orks of Wassily
Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Frank Stella and Ilya Bolotow
sky. I therefore decided to do my visual
comparative study on using the w
orks of these artists. After all, who better is there than the father
of Abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky? I then looked and found out that Piet M
ondrian and Kandinsky w
orked in almost the sam
e time period, and that M
ondrian was actually inspired by som
e of Kandinsky’s w
ork. How
ever, both the artists had different cultural influences in their piece. Finally, I looked into the 3D
neon sculpture artist, Chryssa. H
er work, although in a com
pletely different tim
e, shows clear influences of form
al elements as w
ell as a symbolic m
eaning from both W
assily Kandinsky’s and Piet M
ondrian’s work in her ow
n work. I then picked w
orks from the three artists
that were visually com
parable formally, functionally and culturally.
figure afigure b
2
Abstract art by definition is “art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual
reality but instead uses shapes, colours, forms and gestural m
arks to achieve its effect” (abstract art). It is art that aim
s at deriving a simpler form
of an object from its com
plex form. Although
abstract art can be used to simplify a particular setting by com
posing it from a elem
entary shapes, it can also be used to create w
orks that is completely unrecognisable and not representational of
anything at all. Cubism
, which w
as an art movem
ent that abandoned the use of a single view point
in favour of using simple geom
etrical shapes to compose w
ork (“Cubism
”). Fauvism, w
hich was a
short-lived art movem
ent that vivid expressionistic and unnatural colours for the works, depended on
the visual world to create their w
orks but they opened possibilities for more different approaches in
the outside world (“Fauvism
”). Abstract art can also be used for works that uses form
s like geom
etrical shapes and gestural marks that aren’t representative of anything. W
orks of Wassily
Kandinsky are considered to be one of the first ‘truly’ abstract art. How
ever, the ‘pure’ inventors of abstract art are considered to be Kazim
ir Malevich and Piet M
ondrian.
There are many theories that attem
pt to describe the intention behind abstract art, some of m
ost notable ones are that are is should be purely about about the visual appearance, another theory is that art is just as m
usic is in patterns and finally another theory derives the idea from G
reek philosopher Plato, that “the highest form
of beauty lies not in the form of the real w
orld but in geometry” (“abstract art”) .
Wa
ssily Ka
nd
insky
Pie
t Mo
nd
rian
Ch
ryssa V
ard
ea
-Ma
vrom
icha
li19
33
- 20
1318
72 - 19
44
186
6 - 19
44
Ch
ryssa w
as a
Gre
ek
Am
erican
artist
wh
o’s
wo
rk w
as in
d
iffere
nt
me
diu
ms.
Sh
e
wa
s th
e
pio
ne
er
of
ligh
t a
nd
lu
min
ou
s scu
lptu
res
mad
e
from
n
eo
n
tub
ing
and
ple
xiglass.
Pie
t Mo
nd
rian w
as a Du
tch p
ainte
r wh
o
was a co
ntrib
uto
r to th
e fam
ou
s De
Stijl
art mo
vem
en
t. He
imp
rove
d o
n th
e n
on
-re
pre
sen
tation
al art
wh
ich
he
n
ame
d
Ne
op
lasticism.
Wassily K
and
insky w
as a Ru
ssian p
ainte
r an
d an
art the
orist. H
e is accre
dite
d w
ith
pain
ting
on
e o
f the
very first ‘tru
ly’ abstract
pain
ting
. He
also tau
gh
t at the
scho
ol o
f B
auh
aus an
d d
eve
lop
ed
the
colo
ur th
eo
ry.
figure cfigure d
figure e
Fo
rmal A
nalysis: C
om
po
sition
VIII
Kandinsky’s Composition VIII is a sm
all, about 140 x 201 cm, oil on canvas
painting which w
as made in 1923 (“W
assily Kandinsky”). Wassily Kandinsky’s
Composition VIII can be form
ally described as a geometrically abstract piece.
The observer of the painting is instantly introduced to the painting’s large concentric circles that have a “radiating” effect of different colours m
uch like m
any of the other elements present in Kandinsky’s com
position. Some of the
other areas of the painting consist of seemingly random
shapes and lines such as triangles, sem
i-circles, circles, quadrangles and grids. While m
ost of the shapes are com
plete, a lot of the shapes in the painting are left open or incom
plete, possibly to provide “breathing” space to the painting’s chaotic layout. The intense black and purple colour of the top left side circle adds a stronger em
otion to the painting, that balances out with the am
biguous feeling that the design of the painting provides. The subtle beige colour of the background provides a calm
emotion the painting w
hilst the juxtaposing colour of the foreground elem
ents present a rich and flat look to the painting.
The arrangement of the shapes tow
ards the right side of the painting is cluttered w
hilst the left side is more spacious. The individual shapes feel fragm
ented how
ever, combined w
ith angled lines, the flow of the painting is directed tow
ards the a slightly off centred focal point. Elem
ents are continuously overlapped and intersected over other neighbouring elem
ents. Although most elem
ents possess a flat colour, som
e of the other elements have a translucent colours m
ainly due to the darker shade of colour w
here the elements overlap. A few
quadrangles and circles have textured colour fills.
Com
position VIII has had a extensive and arcane history. Reportedly, Kandinsky him
self regarded Com
position VIII as one his greatest works during his prelim
inary years at Bauhaus because the w
ork contained various elements and styles that Kandinsky w
orked on over many years. This abstract piece cannot be identified by
one “formal elem
ent” however can be related to m
ultiple personified and figurative examples. Kandinsky’s geom
etric style appears to be consistent of generic shapes like circles, sem
icircles, angled lines, rectangles and lines. The most spectacular aspect about Kandinsky’s paintings, how
ever, it the way he uses theses m
undane shapes to create interesting and aesthetically pleasing layouts that are overall balanced and unique. According to Kandinsky, the m
ost interesting aspect of a truly abstract art is “the am
biguity it presents to the audience” (“Wassily Kandinsky Bio”). 4
Fu
nctio
n + P
urp
ose
: Co
mp
ositio
n V
IIIW
assily Kandinsky was a Russian painter w
ho was accredited w
ith creating some of the
first ‘truly abstract works’(“W
assily Kandinsky”, wikipedia). The painting currently resides
in the Guggenheim
Museum
in New York. M
uch like as the name of the paintings
suggests, Composition VIII is the 8th painting in the series of painting Kandinsky painted
during the course of his life. These series name com
position (Komposition) began in
1911, during which Kandinsky expressed w
hat he was trying to achieve during his
paintings. Com
position II (figure 13) and Com
position VII (figure 14) are considered to be som
e of the more im
portant pieces from the series. Kandinsky w
as never concerned w
ith subject, object or the topic of his paintings, but rather was m
ore interested in the w
ay he used his medium
s to achieve completely different paintings (Bow
lt). The name of
the series, Composition, also im
plies how one of Kandinsky’s goal w
as also to paint how
music could be visually represented. Interestingly, the w
ord composition could also refer
to the balance and harmony of beats, tones, and other elem
ents of music. Perhaps that
is why Kandinsky’s w
ork was also carefully balanced and laid out.
Kandinsky believed
“that total
abstraction offered
the possibility
for profound,
transcendental expression
and that
copying from
nature
only interfered
with
his process” (“W
assily Kandinsky”, theartstory). Kandinsky also “viewed non-objective,
abstract art as the ideal visual mode to express the ‘inner necessity’ of the artist and to
convey the universal human em
otions and ideas” (“Wassily Kandinsky”, theartstory).
Kandinsky thought of himself as an clairvoyant, w
hose one purpose was to teach this
ideal to the world, ultim
ately, for the betterment of the society.
The end outcome of this process and areas that Kandinsky focused on led him
to create unidentifiable w
orks which although seem
s to hold many m
eanings, was visually
appealing and forced the audience to interact with his w
ork and deduce all his possible m
eanings.
5
figure 13
figure 14
Cu
ltural S
ign
ificance
: Co
mp
ositio
n V
IIIKandinsky w
orked in several different places including Moscow, M
unich and Paris. He also spent a great part of his life travelling around Europe w
ith the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). During this stage in this life, Kandinsky also lived and taught at Bauhaus (“W
assily Kandinsky”, W
assily). Staatliches Bauhaus, or just simply know
n as Bauhaus, is a design school in Germ
any that used both fine art skills and craft skills to m
ake intuitive designs. Works originating from
Bauhaus has had influence on m
any recognisable products from com
panies like Braun and Apple; com
panies which are applauded for their sim
ple and functional designs (Bauhaus).
During this time, Kandinsky taught basic design classes and advanced colour theory classes.
During his time at Bauhaus, he also taught painting classes and w
orkshops in which he w
orked and elaborated his colour theory w
ith elements from
psychology leading him to w
rite books like “Point and Line to Plane” (1926) in w
hich he analysed his use of geometric shapes in his w
orks (“Bauhaus”). This naturally lead Kandinsky to give m
ore importance to geom
etrical elements and
design in his works. During this period, w
hich seems to the tim
e during which Kandinsky w
as rapidly producing good w
orks like Sm
all Worlds I (figure 1), C
ircles in a Circle (figure 2) and O
n W
hite II (figure 3). Kandinsky’s Composition VIII therefore, naturally show
s clear links to these pieces in term
s of design and elements used. These elem
ents included rich planes of colour spectrum
s through which Kandinsky seem
ed to show his rejection of constructivism
and suprem
atism m
ovements w
hich were very influential w
ith artists during that time (“W
assily Kandinsky”, theartstory).
Contrastingly, the work that Kadinsky produced being a part of the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue
Rider), which w
as a group of several artists including Kandinsky himself. Der Blaue Reiter, as a
group rejected the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (M
unich’s New Artists Association),
which w
as accredited with pioneering and experim
enting with styles and techniques w
hich led to M
odern Art in Germ
any (“Der Blaue Reiter").
Due to the unstable and erratic condition of Bauhaus during a Nazi Smear Cam
paign, which
consisted of large scale book burning, Kandinsky left Bauhaus to finally put his roots down in
Paris.
figure 1
figure 2
figure 3
6
Fo
rmal A
nalysis: B
road
way B
oo
gie
Wo
og
ie (19
43
)Piet M
ondrian’s Broadway Boogie W
oogie (1943), can accurately be described has one of his param
ount works. The thick and thin black lines that for long filled the
canvases of his works, w
ere finally removed in favour for bright, governing yellow
lights that seem
ed to be inspired by the famous yellow
cabs of New York city.
Apparently, M
ondrian w
as inspired
by the
“exuberance” (“Piet
Mondrian”,
theartstory) of the New York city life. Naturally, paintings done during this tim
e clearly expressed this “exuberance” (“Piet M
ondrian”, theartstory) in Mondrian.
Much like his other w
orks, the yellow lines intersect at points m
arked by squares and rectangles of red and blue colours. M
ondrian aimed to represent the im
patient m
otion or the livelihood of New York city; these yellow
lines or “bands” (“Piet M
ondrian”, theartstory) repeat a group of different yellow tones to create the
flashing lights of nighttime New
York city. These yellow “bands” (“Piet M
ondrian”, theartstory) are occasionally interrupted by different coloured squares like light grey, red and blue. W
hilst, these colour choices appear to be based on aesthetics, one m
ay also argue that these colours are representative of different things about New
York. For example, the light grey squares that interrupt the yellow
bands, can be related to the fam
ous term ‘concrete jungle’ that has often been used to describe
New York. The arrangem
ent of these yellow “bands” (“Piet M
ondrian”, theartstory), w
hile horizontal and vertical, come together to form
a grid that may be interpreted
as the aerial view of New
York city’s layout. Much like Kandinsky, M
ondrian too seem
s to be inspired by the visualisation of music, in particular jazz m
usic.
The painting’s asymm
etrical layout manages to achieve a balance despite the
different coloured squares that dominate the canvas of M
ondrian’s Broadway
Boogie Woogie. This delicate balance is achieved by providing big open spaces or
‘breathing spaces’ to the foreground which is created by the slight off-w
hite colour of the background.
7
Fu
nctio
n + P
urp
ose
: Bro
adw
ay Bo
og
ie
Wo
og
ie (19
43
)M
ondrian decided to filter his visualisation of the world into the
rudimentary form
s of horizontal and vertical lines; seemingly to
personify the two opposing forces: the good and the bad, the changed
and the unchanged, the masculine and the fem
inine. It would seem
as if M
ondrian deeply believed in this omnipresent balance of these opposite
forces (“Piet Mondrian”, W
ikipedia).
For many iterations of his w
orks, Mondrian stubbornly stuck to the use
of bold black lines that travelled his canvases. Broadway Boogie
Woogie, how
ever, seems to be a com
pletely different story. Mondrian
favoured red, yellow. blue and light grey instead of the dominating black
lines. Unlike the m
ultiple iterations of his previous pieces, Mondrian
seemed to be influenced by the elated lifestyle of N
ew York city.
Especially with this piece, M
ondrian seems to be representing the
nightlife of New
York city as the yellow in this pieces appears to be
almost “illum
inating”.
Another theory that seems to aptly explain the inspiration behind
Mondrian’s inspiration w
ith this piece is that, the large use of yellow in
the piece may be representing the iconic yellow
cabs of New
York city. Even the nam
e of the painting, Broadway Boogie W
oogie, is named
after the well know
n Broadway theatre in M
anhattan, New
York. Since one of the m
ost iconic aspects of Broadway is, its lights, it w
ould appear as if this m
ay have been Mondrian’s m
ain source of inspiration. 8
figure 8
Cu
ltural S
ign
ificance
: Bro
adw
ay Bo
og
ie
Wo
og
ie (19
43
)In 1938, due to the rapid adoption of fascism
, which w
as “a form of radical authoritarian
nationalism” after W
orld War I (“Fascism
”), Mondrian relocated from
Paris to London. During
this dreary time, M
ondrian’s work w
as chaotic, filled with lines and overall, his w
orks seemed to
have lost the delicate balance of their predecessors (“Piet Mondrian Biography”). In som
e of his w
orks, he portraits a more fragm
ents and “messy” layout of lines w
hich almost looked like as if
they were cracks or scars.There w
ere also reports of how M
ondrian would paint for very long
hours until his hands blistered, cry and make him
self sick (“Piet Mondrian”, W
ikipedia). The afterm
ath of the Battle of Netherlands, resulted in the N
etherlands and Paris conceding to the G
ermany forces. M
ondrian, once again moved from
London to Manhattan w
here he spent the rest of his days. Because M
ondrian’s relocation was so abrupt and erratic, it is enigm
atic to pin-point and place his w
orks to one particular location (“Piet Mondrian Biography”). Therefore, it
would seem
as if Mondrian had w
orked on the paintings in different locations, but really finished them
in Manhattan, N
ew York. D
uring the time M
ondrian moved, his w
orks expressed fear and confusion. W
orks like Com
position / Place de la Concorde (figure 6) and
Com
position N
o. 10
Pier and
Ocean
(figure 7)
used bold
blank lines.
Especially C
omposition / Place de la C
oncorde (figure 6) used a more fragm
ented lines, which show
ed the fear and confusion M
ondrian was possibly going through.
Once M
ondrian settled in New
York, his paintings, like Lozenge Com
position With Four
Yellow Lines (figure 5), w
ere now once again, sim
ple paintings, with one drastic change of
using coloured lines instead of bold black lines. Mondrian also started introducing prim
ary colours in his com
positions, adding a new sense of depth into his paintings.
The impacts of M
anhattan on Mondrian started show
ing further as his work becam
e more
bright and cheerful as compared to som
e of his previous works. H
e started to experiment w
ith his w
ork, for example, he started overlapping elem
ents and shapes over each other and defying the grid system
. The fruits of these experimentations and changes led to pieces like
Broadway Boogie W
oogie and Victory Boogie Woogie before his untim
ely death in 1944.
figure 5
figure 7
figure 6
9
Fo
rmal A
nalysis: C
en
ts Sig
n
Travellin
g fro
m B
road
way to
Africa
via Gu
ade
lou
pe
The Greek-Am
erican artist, Chryssa Vardea-Mavrom
ichali was
inspired by the big billboards and flashing lights of Times
Square when she m
oved to America (Schultz).
Cen
ts S
ign
Travelling
from
B
road
way
to A
frica via
Guadeloupe (1968), w
as one of the last pieces that Chryssa m
ade. Incased in a clear plexiglass, the piece showcases the
cent symbol, m
ade from florescent neon tubes, layered four
times in four different colours: red, blue, green and yellow. The
symbols form
8 layers altogether; blue paired with green and
red paired with yellow.
Each coloured symbol is segm
ented into its own area, therefore
creating a total of 4 segments, separated by intersecting clear
plexiglass. The outer glass of the sculpture creates multiple
reflections of the florescent lights which add to the beauty of
the sculpture. Below the neon tubed sym
bols, the piece is separated in tw
o segments.
The larger segments of the tw
o, is in a solid black colour which serves the purpose of concealing the electrical com
ponents of the piece whilst also
providing aesthetic beauty. The use of black also pushes the attention of the audience to the bright, colourful arrangement of the sym
bols above. The sm
aller segment of the tw
o, is in a pure white colour w
hich serves the purpose of being a base for the entire piece to rest on. The combination of the tw
o segm
ents provide the piece with a m
inimal feel as w
ell as a modern and contem
porary look. The piece is displayed in an open area, surrounded by paintings by different artists. The open area allow
s the viewers to w
alk around the sculpture itself and appreciate its beauty from different angles and
perspectives. Even the colour of the wooden floor seem
s to complim
ent the sculpture.10
Fu
nctio
n + P
urp
ose
: Ce
nts S
ign
Travellin
g
from
Bro
adw
ay to A
frica via Gu
ade
lou
pe
When C
hryssa moved to N
ew York city in 1954, she felt as if a revelation took over her. She w
as m
esmerised by the light of N
ew York city. As a part of this, C
hryssa started working w
ith symbols and
icons by taking them out of their context. As a result of this, C
hryssa worked and created several
paintings, prints, and sculptures which each spoke to her and the audience in very different w
ays. She took these seem
ingly mundane and banal icons and sym
bols; using them as the subject m
atter of her com
positions to produce works like A
rrow: H
omage to Tim
es Square (1958) (figure 9), Letter “T” (1959), and the Three A
rrows (1960). C
hryssa didn’t limit herself to just lexicons, she also started
to use fragments of new
spaper articles to use in a series of paintings to accomplish outcom
es similar to
those of her other works (Schultz).
Chryssa w
rote: “Since 1957, I have worked in fragm
ents. Entire areas of my new
spaper paintings were
covered with fragm
ents of printed materials. I repeat these fragm
ents and in their entity I reach reality. Ic over the entire area w
ith a fragment repeated precisely. this is the w
ay my m
ind works, it has m
any intersections and im
pacts. Diagram
s occur between the conscious and the unconscious, instinctive
directions” (Schultz). To fully realise a complete sculptural piece, C
hryssa made several prelim
inary w
orks that lead to her one work. D
eveloping a abstract vocabulary for herself, Chryssa defined her ow
n visual system
of expression. Using these m
otifs, she created her “masterw
ork” (Schultz), The Gates to
Times Square (figure 11), possibly one of m
ost well-know
n pieces made by C
hryssa.
Cents Sign Travelling from
Broadw
ay to Africa via G
uadeloupe (1968), was a result of the intense
process Chryssa w
ent through on a daily basis. For this piece, Chryssa w
as still inspired by the lights and billboards in Tim
e Square, New
York city. She used the symbolism
of a cent sign, which could hold
several interpretations as to why she chose this sym
bol. How
ever, even more unique than the
symbolism
of this piece is the title of the piece, Cents Sign Travelling from
Broadway to Africa via
Guadeloupe. Analysis of the title w
ould suggest that during this time, C
hryssa was som
ehow talking
about the events happening in Africa, quite possibly, the decolonisations after the World W
ar II. G
uadeloupe, a french colonised island in the Caribbean, resem
bles a butterfly, maybe that’s w
hy C
hryssa used it in the title of this piece. Linking the symbolism
of cents to the title of the piece makes
more sense. D
uring the decolonisation of Africa, people were agitated for “independence and colonial
powers”. Som
ething that money sym
bolises. Maybe this is som
ething Chryssa w
as trying to say with
this piece.
11
figure 9
Cu
ltural S
ign
ificance
: Ce
nts S
ign
Travellin
g
from
Bro
adw
ay to A
frica via Gu
ade
lou
pe
The greek artist, Chryssa Vardea-M
avromichali, w
as born in Athens in 1933. On the
recomm
endation of “a leading art critic” (Schultz), Chryssa’s parents sent her to Paris to
study art. Later, at the age of 22, Chryssa m
oved to San Francisco where she studied Fine
Arts at the California School of Fine Arts. She then m
oved to New
York, where she becam
e an Am
erican citizen and spent the rest of her days producing some great art pieces.
Much like M
ondrian, Chryssa too w
as inspired by the dazzling lights of New
York city (Schultz). W
hilst Mondrian focused m
ore on the lifestyle in New
York city, Chryssa w
as heavily influenced by the city’s urbanism
. She inspired and derived her visual language from
the huge glass and steel towers, flam
boyant neon billboards, sculptured symbols and the
tremendous
scale of
almost
everything. C
hryssa said:
“America
is very
stimulating,
intoxicating to me. Believe m
e when I say there is w
isdom, indeed, in the flashing lights of
Times Square, the sky is like the gold background of Byzantine m
osaics of icons” (Schultz). U
sing these elements as inspiration, C
hryssa started making paintings, prints and m
ost substantially her sculptures.
Being accredited with truly originally creating the m
edium of using neon tube lights in a
sculpture, Chryssa used her ow
n tailored European sense of style, creating works that are “in
their very essence, American in their heroic scale and technical audacity” (Schultz). C
hryssa originally started w
ith creating paintings of repeating fragments. She used rubber stam
ps from
the printing presses of The New
York Times, by m
ethodically and precisely creating repetitions on the canvas, a technique that Andy W
arhol would then later show
case in his ow
n work. W
hen Chryssa began w
orking on sculptures, she made num
erous model pieces,
sort of experiments, that w
ork are now know
n as the sculpture series, The Gates.
Although it appears as if the symbols and fragm
ents that Chryssa uses in her w
ork, are unrelated, som
e may argue that she indeed, had a hidden m
essage behind each icon.
12figure 11
Formal Comparison:
Use
or p
rima
ry co
lou
rs
Ab
stract
So
lid C
olo
urs
Use
of n
eg
ative
sp
ace
Oil o
n C
an
vas
Grid
Layo
ut
Kandinsky vs Mondrian vs Chryssa
Use
of stra
igh
t, strict co
rne
rs
Use
of C
urve
d
Line
s
Glo
win
g Eff
ect
Bo
ld u
se o
f Bla
ck
Inte
rsectin
g a
nd
O
verla
pp
ing
ele
me
nts
Ma
ke
s use
of
mu
ltiple
sha
pe
s (circle
s, squ
are
s, tria
ng
le)
Ma
ke
s use
of o
nly
straig
ht lin
es a
nd
sq
ua
res
Ma
ke
s use
of N
eo
n
tub
ing
an
d p
lexig
lass.
3D
Scu
lptu
re
2D
Pa
intin
g
Use
of G
ree
n
13
Cultural and Functional Comparison:
Ab
stract
Sym
bo
lism
Aim
s to m
ak
e n
on
-re
pre
sen
tative
art
Visu
alisa
tion
o
f Mu
sic
Kandinsky vs Mondrian vs Chryssa
Visu
alisa
tion
of
ma
n m
ad
e
ob
jects a
nd
n
igh
tlife o
f NY
C
N/A
Visu
alisa
tion
of N
ew
Y
ork
City —
grid
la
you
t of th
e city a
nd
n
igh
t ligh
ts
Visu
alisa
tion
of m
on
ey
— ce
nts sym
bo
l is see
n
Visu
alisa
tion
of n
atu
re
— re
fere
nce
s to su
n,
mo
un
tain
an
d
atm
osp
he
re
14
Am
erica
n
Cu
rren
cy - Ce
nts
Gre
ek-A
me
rican
P
ain
ter &
Scu
lpto
r
De
velo
pe
d b
y in
flu
en
ces o
f the
co
lou
r the
ory
Ka
nd
insk
y wa
s w
ork
ing
on
Ru
ssian
Pa
inte
r
Sh
ow
s the
Ne
w
Yo
rk city g
rid a
nd
ye
llow
cab
sDu
tch P
ain
ter
Insp
ired
by e
lem
en
ts fro
m N
ew
Yo
rk city
Infl
ue
nce
s from
A
me
rican
Cu
lture
Influ
en
ce o
n P
erso
nal W
ork
Composition VIII (1923)
Oil on Canvas
Wassily Kandinsky
140x201 cm
The Time Travelling O
wl (2014)
Acrylic on CanvasShivam
SinhaInspired by W
assily Kandinsky 15
fig
ure
12
Initia
l Insp
iratio
n: T
he
Pe
rsisten
ce o
f Me
mo
ryTo
find
a c
entra
l them
e fo
r my p
iece, I fo
und
insp
iratio
n fro
m th
e w
ell kn
ow
n
pie
ce; T
he P
ersiste
nce o
f Mem
ory b
y Salva
do
r Dali. I w
as a
westru
ck b
y the
deep
hid
den m
eanin
g b
y the p
iece. T
he c
oncep
t of tim
e d
idn’t a
ctu
ally e
xist. It w
as a
co
ncep
t that h
um
ans d
eve
lop
ed
to ke
ep
track o
f the c
onsta
nt
chang
e th
at ta
kes p
lace. M
y inte
rpre
tatio
ns o
f time w
ere
alte
red
the m
ore
I th
oug
ht a
bo
ut th
e c
oncep
t. Afte
r seve
ral ite
ratio
ns o
f my th
eo
ry, I cam
e to
th
e c
onclu
sion th
at tim
e is a
n e
nd
less c
ycle
of life
and
death
.
I need
ed
to e
xpre
ss this id
ea o
f time, h
ow
eve
r, I did
n’t w
ant to
just g
ive th
e
idea a
way u
sing
som
eth
ing
mund
ane a
nd
straig
ht-fo
rward
. I decid
ed
to u
se
a fo
rm o
f ab
stractio
n to
intro
duce th
e id
ea to
the vie
wers a
nd
then le
t them
in
terp
ret th
eir o
wn m
eanin
g o
f time. I sta
rted
loo
king
at d
iffere
nt a
rtwo
rks th
at w
ere
co
mm
end
ed
thro
ug
ho
ut h
istory fo
r their a
bstra
ct vo
cab
ula
ry. All
the a
bstra
ct a
rtwo
rk that I lo
oke
d a
t were
bo
th visu
ally a
pp
ealin
g a
nd
had
a
hid
den m
eanin
g o
r som
eth
ing
to e
xpre
ss behin
d th
em
. But to
me, th
e m
ost
inte
restin
g w
as th
e w
ork o
f Wassily K
and
insky. T
he w
ay h
e a
chie
ved
bala
nce
with
his
seem
ing
ly ra
nd
om
la
yout
intrig
ued
and
in
spire
d m
e.
There
w
as
som
eth
ing
were
peacefu
l and
calm
ab
out h
is use
of c
olo
ur a
nd
textu
re.
What a
pp
eale
d to
me th
e m
ost h
ow
eve
r, was th
e u
se o
f geo
metric
shap
es
and
“gestu
ral” m
arks to
geth
er to
form
som
eth
ing
mechanic
ally p
erfe
ct b
ut
with
a slig
htly m
ore
“hum
an” e
lem
ent.
16
figure 10
Th
e P
roce
ss: Th
e T
ime
Travellin
g O
wl
The goal with the painting w
as to express the meaning of tim
e in a completely new
and different w
ay. To express this meaning of tim
e, I chose the symbolism
of the owl to
express this ‘cycle of life’ and therefore expressing the meaning of tim
e. The owl to m
e, is a fascinating bird that lends itself to diverse treatm
ent much like it's significance in various
cultures.
Around the world, the ow
l has various symbols and m
eanings. For example, in G
reece and Rom
e, the owl holds the sym
bol of wisdom
, knowledge, fem
ininity and guardianship. Contrastingly, in Am
erica and Europe, the owl holds the sym
bol of death while in other
parts of the world, the ow
l is related to the night, which also sym
bolises mystery, m
agic and darkness. Finally, in India, the ow
l holds a prominent sym
bol of stupidity. Such contrasting sym
bols for the owl, in m
y mind, clearly form
s the different stages of life we all
go through. Birth, knowledge, stupidity, w
isdom, death (“O
wl Anim
al Symbolism
”).
I began working on geom
etric designs to represent the owl. M
y initial attempts involved
using dry pastels (figure 1A) to achieve the texture that Kandinsky originally used in his Com
position VIII. However, although I liked the effect the pastels created, they w
ere hard to control, m
essy and overall made a design that I w
asn’t too happy with. W
hilst experim
enting with designs, I w
as also considering a three-dimensional m
edium. I found
caps of various diameters, laid them
on top of each other and tried to make different
aspects of the owl using these m
aterials (Figure 2A, 3A). This attempt failed how
ever, painting the objects, or covering them
with canvas proved to be very diffi
cult. I therefore, continued to w
ork with the original designs, adding and subtract shapes, playing w
ith the layout and the colours. I arrived at one final design from
the four I originally started with.
The new design (figure 12) used one m
ain circle to hold the rest of the shapes, which
came together to form
the different visual characteristics of the owl including the eyes,
eyebrows and the beak. The circle could represent a sim
ple clock or even the “cycle of life” and show
how w
e come back to w
ere we begin.
17
Fig
ure
1A
Fig
ure
2A
Fig
ure
3A
Influence on Personal WorkThe Final Outcome
Use
of sim
ilar
an
d so
lid co
lou
rs
Ab
stract
Sym
bo
lism
Ge
om
etric d
esig
n —
u
se o
f simila
r sh
ap
es
Use
of n
eg
ative
sp
ace
Se
em
ing
ly ran
do
m
layo
ut
Ce
ntric La
you
t
Use
of b
old
bla
ck lin
es
Use
of th
in b
lack
line
s
Ele
me
nts a
re sp
rea
d o
ut
all o
ver th
e ca
nva
s
Ele
me
nts a
re fo
cusse
d a
t th
e ce
ntre
of th
e ca
nva
s
Glo
w/B
lur e
ffe
ctN
o G
low
/Blu
r eff
ect
Op
en
/Inco
mp
lete
S
ha
pe
sC
lose
d/C
om
ple
te
Sh
ap
es
This final piece was intentionally and purposefully inspired by the w
orks of Wassily Kandinsky’s Com
position VIII. Much like
Kandinsky’s choice of geometric elem
ents, this piece maintains a strict sym
metrical and geom
etrical design (in terms of the
main circle). In addition to this design, I chose to use a flat colour schem
e with a sm
ooth and plain texture, much like that of
Mondrian’s w
ork. The colours chosen for this piece, like Kandinsky and Mondrian, are harm
onious and subtle, that create a m
ood of peacefulness and calmness. How
ever, The front sided design’s main focus point is the jarring concentric eyes that
look the audience in the eye, conveying both anger and distress. This is clearly juxtaposed with the calm
and peaceful colour tones. The background elem
ents of the piece, are directly inspired by Kandinsky’s work, and are present not only to m
ake the piece m
ore visually interesting, but also to clearly show the inspiration that this piece is derived from
. Culturally, although, both Kandinsky and M
ondrian derived their inspiration from m
usic and their surroundings, this piece derives its inspiration from
my personal interpretation of tim
e.
18
Bib
liog
raph
y:
19
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