Diptych-1

     This is a project from this fall semester (Fall 2010) in a painting class called From Idea to Meaning with Harel. We were to create 2 paintings: one expressive, the other conceptual. They both had to be on the same subject from a list that we created in the beginning of class. My subject was Fashion, and the sub-subject was Fashion as Art.

Painting/Collage by SeungYeon Sarah Lee, RISD '13

  We were to do 2 separate paintings, and so we put our works up separately. Then Harel shouted across the room, "No, no, no. Just put them side by side. Right next to each other." He kept it a secret that we were doing a diptych. 

Diptych : noun. \ˈdip-(ˌ)tik\

1. a picture or series of pictures painted or 

                                                                                    carved on two hinged tablets.

2. a work made up of two matching parts.

   

Expressional Painting

     The piece on the left is the expressional painting. I collaged bits and pieces from fashion magazines, concentrating on designer labels, runway models, and high fashion editorial photos. Then I used a palette knife and scraped dabs of red and black paint all over the place. Some places, I just splattered paint. I did so, not because I hate or look down on fashion, but the opposite. I consider Fashion (yes, with a capital F) as a great form of art. It is most definitely the most extraordinary art; it is the art that every person can interact with in daily lives. However, some people consider it too material or even stupid to love fashion. I wanted to show the injustice and mistreatment that fashion is faced with. People do not recognize fashion as a form of art, and it is clouded by its commercial aspects. Only the eyes on the upper left corner that is painted on top of a pair of sunglasses can understand and appreciate fashion as it should be. 

Conceptual Painting

     On the right is my conceptual painting. Contrary to my expressional painting, I cut out models from a commercial catalog. Because nowadays fashion is considered to be a very commercial and material field, I wanted to use that aspect and reverse that stereotypical aspect. Once I thought of 'commercial,' Andy Warhol came in mind. So I decided to use Andy Warhol's color and adapt his well-known style on the models' faces. Doing so, I intended to transform the commercial aspects of fashion to art as Andy Warhol took commercial objects/celebrities and revolutionized them into art. 

Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe Prints

     As I stood there in College Building room 524 during my critique, I could not help but see a disconnection between the two paintings. I suppose it was inevitable since I did not know that the paintings were meant to be a diptych, but it bothered me so much just to look at them side by side without no connection. After the critique, Harel gave us time and asked us to create any form of connection between the two separate paintings. I decided to drip red paint across my conceptual painting. And I incorporated some pink and blue on the expressional painting as well as a head on the farther left part of the painting. Only then I was able to mend the disconnection between my expressional and conceptual paintings. 

Special Guest: Jin (Hi Jin :D)

P.S. We were assigned to do another diptych painting for our next class, Diptych-2 is coming soon!


materials: acrylic paint, brown paper, magazines,