My piece; "Entwined, Lonely and Alone Together" is actually based around a novel that we had to read in my IB Literature Class called; "Everything Inside" by Edwidge Danticat, specifically her first story named "Dosas." The title correlates to the quote from Elise in Dosas. In my Literature class we were given the choice of creating some art based around the novel, so I chose the story 'Dosas' and decided to create a piece of art conveying the global issue statement; "You can trust your family and friends but in the end, you won’t ever know someone completely." This piece is primarily supposed to be portraying betrayal, specifically from Elise's point of view, since she was the one who had gotten betrayed by her husband, Blaise and her ex-friend, Olivia.
Inspirations:
#1) Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat
Novel by Edwidge Danticat that tells short stories about community, family and even love. Primarily speaks about Haitian women as well and stories about them.
Planning
Beginning my planning, I really wanted to paint the same thing as Peisi Thanatos. I wanted this painting to sort of be a self portrait of the main character in 'Dosas' Elise. I wanted her emotions and thoughts to be conveyed in a self portrait of herself. So, I knew I needed to include money in the background since her ex-husband used her for money in the story. I wanted the money to be in the background to convey how she'll even give her money to her husband in hopes of him wanting her. I also wanted to include a broken marriage ring to show how the relationship with her ex-husband is broken and won't ever be fixed.
Critique:
Similarites:
-Some similarities would overall have to be the topic.We may not know what type of pain since there is no description of her painting, but it's still conveying internal pain. My self portrait of Elise (Everything Inside) is conveying the same type of intense pain. Her pain is in regards to her broken marriage that will never be fixed.
Differences:
-On the terms of my painting inspiration, but also slightly different in some places. I included a broken ring to convey how the marriage/relationship between Elise and her husband will never be the same again. It will never work out. I also included money in the background to convey the specific scene in the story of how Elise was willing to giver her ex-husband money in deep hopes of him actually coming back and loving her again.
Reflection:
Overall this was a very fun project to make for my IB Literature class. I've never really created any sort of art based off of a story and having this new experience of creating art primarily just from a story was actually highly enjoyable and very exciting as well. It kind of allowed me to take control of how I was going to convey the emotions/feelings/thoughts that were told in a story with writing, all into a painting with no words, no writing. Doing this was of course challenging, it was difficult. I faced a lot of setbacks for this being my first time doing this. I continuously was trying to think hard of; "How am I going to portray this characters history, emotions, without it being too straightforward? To convey a deeper meaning to have viewers think a little harder when viewing my painting?" It was challenging, but in the end I am proud of what I was able to create and come up with. It was extremely fun and I would love to do this again with another story.
ACT Connections:
) Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My main inspirations had a very great cause/effect relationship between my inspiration and my artwork. My inspiration, Peisi Thanatos can be evident in the self portrait I created. Instead of the self-portrait being me, it's our main character from 'Dosas' in the novel "Everything Inside" by Edwidge Danticat.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I feel as though Danticat would highly appreciate my topic and my piece of art because I am able to accurately convey the emotions/feelings of Elise and able to really represent that betrayal. Almost being able to convey the whole story of Dosas all in one self portrait.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Some things that I've discovered about people, and culture are primarily about Haitian immigrants. Since the novel "Everything Inside' tells us the stories of immigrant Haitian women, I've been able to really understand more about their culture, and what they experience as well.
4) What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The overall central theme around my inspirational research is primarily of Betrayal. Since the short story I chose was 'Dosas' chapter one, this story primarily discusses the overall central theme of betrayal, especially in relationships. Since I am making a self-portrait of Elise, I have to convey how her betrayal from her ex-husband had a significant affect on her as a person.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences I made while reading some of the research of the topic of betrayal, I just continuously saw this pattern of just broken hearts, a stab to the back, etc. Although these are great ways to portray betrayal, I wanted my art piece to have a much deeper meaning to it.
MLA Citations:
Novel: Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat 'Dosas' short story Chapter 1 “Peisi Thanatos.” Saatchi Art, https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1506875.