Strokes of discrimination

Society can be cruel to those who differ from the social norms. An example of this would be the unfair treatment between whites and blacks, gays and lesbians, racism towards colored people, prejudice towards certain groups, you name it. This is what our community is like sadly. We have made small steps in history to now in creating a more accepting environment for everyone to feel safe.

For the next two paintings I created, I used the idea of segregation from the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver and as for the second painting I connected the social justice issue of sexual and gender identities to portray the actions of those against LGBTQ communities.

For the picture below, I used duck tape to assure there will be less paint seeping through the bottom to create paint marks in the white lines. This technique I used was not used in the book but I know from personal experience that masking tape isn't the best to work with when trying to create paintings with geometric shapes. 

 

Taping design process 

Painting and color choice process

For the choice of colors, I decided to stick with three simple and dark colors that hold special and deep meanings behind them. Black is a dark shade; we often interpret this color and connect it to sorrow, death, mystery, and grief. The color red is bold and vibrant. Right away we often think either simple things in life that are red or cynically to connect with blood, power, romance, and excitement. Finally purple is a subtle more calming shade that often sparks a more calming and civilized state of mind. Often connects to the scent and calming look of lavender. Sometimes the shade could be seen as a state of frustration and confusion. When I chose these three colors, I wanted to assure that there is a subtle side of how the painting appears in the end.  According to the book "The Painter's Eye Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art" , "The colors speak of moods-a precise arrangement of sounds...Bands of color unfolding like a melody."  (Greenberg and Jordan 49). This meaning, every color has a purpose in art. 

Roads of Segregation 

I named this painting "Roads of Segregation" because of the dividing lines and the different colors represent the sad and heart breaking idea of inequity between white and black people. The three colors have a deep meaning of depressing memories and I wanted to connect this to the novel The Bean Trees during the 1980s. Segregation was introduced in the novel The Bean Trees when Taylor was driving across the border to get Estevan and Esperanza safe to the Orthodox Church. "We must have been getting closer to the heart of the Cherokee Nation, whatever or wherever it was, because as we drove east we saw fewer and fewer white people." (Kingsolver 215).
To interpret this painting all at once, the lines represent the roads that segregate the differences of others mostly connected to racial indifference's for a communities' culture. Each color is a separate county but the colors code for the hatred of each group and the absence of acceptance of one another to become one whole county.

For my sixth painting, I decided to link the interpretation with the criticism against same-sex marriage and LGBTQ communities. I personally find this topic very unnecessary for people to disapprove and complain about. Our country was made for the point of having freedom yet some believe those of the LGBTQ community should be punished and harassed for whom they are. Since this topic is still pretty new, I figured I should depict how I feel towards our society and how gays and lesbians are treated.

Process of painting

Pictured on the left is the process of how I started my painting. For the visual effects, I was inspired from my book. I took part of the visual from a painting names Fez I. I slight messed up since I didn't think too much on the design, but I used duck tape to assure that paint would not go through masking tape and leave unwanted marks. I used the colors Crimson and Black instead of Forest Green and Lime Yellow because each color has a meaning and I wanted the colors to depict our society. The visual is not as noticeable in my painting because the lines do not meet in the center and I made a slight mistake of the color per line.

Frank Stella, Fez I, 1964 

As I read the book, I came across the Target with Four faces painting and my ideas instantly came to mind of finding the perfect representation of gay and lesbians. Seeing the target I thought of it as a way of being prey for hate groups against LGBTQ followers.
So after seeing that, I decided to make a target with seven rings to have each round represent the colors of the rainbow in support of each individual subsection for LGBTQ. So for the final painting, it came out to be a mixture of Fez I and Target with Four Faces. I wanted to emphasize this painting by showing fear and inequity of human beings and the book helped me describe this feeling in my paint by accenting highlighted features.

" A target can be found at a rifle range as well as in a shooting gallery." (Greenberg and Jordan 62)

Jasper Johns, Target w/ Four Faces,1955

That line from the book made me think of the final outcome of the painting by adding emphasis and bits of ridges to express the negative twist the painting portrays towards hating gays and lesbians.

I named my final painting "Target of Reality" because this is how I see our community treating others of LGBTQ members. The firsts positive movement of accepting those in the community was when some states in the U/S allowed same-sex marriage. This law was significant and helpful to others to feel free about expressing themselves without feeling ashamed. Not all states have approved this law. This has affected teens and adults who get bullied doe their sexuality based on pressure from the community, cultural beliefs, and family. Personally I don't judge others because I don't see what they are doing is a sin. To create the dramatic effect, I used an arrow to show that the Crimson and Black lines are people in society who attack and harass those who are different from the social norm. Four years later has not changed much and leading causes of depression and suicide is from the stereotypes, jokes, and assumptions humans make and hurt others mentally.

Target of Reality

To the left is the final painting. Crimson or Red showing the blood and wars that people fight through when bullied or being harassed. The color also shows dominance, meaning it can be interpreted as a way of peer pressure from other people. Black meaning death shows the sorrow and upsetting time period we have come to today for not accepting others for who they are.






Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan. The Painter's Eye: Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art. New York: Delacorte, 1991. Print

Although my fifth painting wasn't inspired from the book, I am going to try and move away from social justice issue topics to other topics that are not as intense and heavy on the mind to connect more with how to book sees art as a part of our daily lives.

If the only hint I gave for these two paintings were "society", how would you have interpreted the paintings? Is "Target of Reality" a pretty simple interpretation?

Leave a comment down below on what topics you think I should focus on next! :)