Translation/Abstraction Project

Niki Ravari

ART 318

For my project, I wanted to use one of the teddy bears from my collection to make abstract marks onto drawing paper. First, I experimented with mixing acrylic paint and water to create the pigment for mark making, but found that mixing the paint with water made the color less vibrant. I decided to use the acrylic mixture in red for just a small section of the piece to add a pop of color and used India ink for the majority of it. I found that India ink was the best medium for mark making because it is so pigmented while being wet enough to easily paint onto the teddy bear. I applied the ink onto the ‘fur’ of the stuffed animal with a brush then lightly pressed the fur onto the paper to create a repeating pattern. I continued layering these marks until I was happy with the composition. Once I was happy with the piece and let it dry, I trimmed the edges making the final piece 14” x 20".

Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist whose abstract paintings stand out to me. He incorporates various textures by layering many colors into each piece. He has a fascinating way of using colors, overlapping them in a way to give the piece depth using many unique colors. His use of color is what led me to decide to incorporate red into my piece, rather than using only black India ink.

Christine Ay Tjoe is another abstract artist whose work I wanted to mention. My favorite work by Tjoe is titled Small Flies and Other Wings (2013) and contains an abundance of chaotic marks that create a grand composition, mainly in pink. The piece seems to contain many different mediums and layers, making it much more interesting to uncover. This is a very special work for me and inspires me to want to create more abstract works, which I don’t normally do.