Mid Point Review June 17, 2013

MPR 2013-2014 slideshow

           Mid-Point Review 2013-2014               Name: Ala’a Beseiso

                                                                                    Date: June 17, 2013

Hello everyone, I will start my presentation by giving a quick brief about my project proposal followed by explaining how my work developed. My project proposal is about aesthetics in art creation. I wanted to learn more about aesthetics in general and aesthetics of nature in particular, so my work is an investigation of aesthetics of natural effects in nature and man-made objects, and how these visual experiences are reflected by different media. The content of my artworks is very important too, therefore I want my audience to experience the complexity of nature  explored with paint yet take a journey within the simplicity of the content. First, for the theoretical aspect, I did some research and did some reading about aesthetics throughout history, resulting in enriching my knowledge and providing me with a solid base to start exploring my practical experimentation. I analyzed all the information by adding highlights along with my reflection on it. Secondly, I wanted to enrich my digital knowledge by using a variety of soft wares. This way I was capable to integrate the theoretical aspect with the practical one, so I uploaded three different photo editing soft wares on my mobile along with Photoshop, and took one on one Photoshop tutorials for beginners, documenting every step I learned and applying it into my work. I must say that using digital technology to manipulate my work has been an extremely enjoyable experience, which has allowed me to go beyond any limitations, experiencing unlimited creative options. I will start presenting my work, starting with the beginning of the course until today!

      Primary digital manipulations on some of my artworks using Photoshop

Furthermore, I wanted to incorporate Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy into my new work because I am fascinated by its beauty, so I decided to learn about Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy by doing some research and read about Islamic aesthetics and their history and different Arabic scripts. I produced a watercolour painting of a portrait and four mosaic pieces done with this Islamic style. Moreover, I practiced writing with different scripts, and I realized that it is not as easy as I thought at all!

  

Reflections, Mixed media on paper,50x40cm

  

‘Blessed is He in Whose hand is the Sovereignty, and, He is Able to do all things’ Al Mulk, The Holy Quran     

Tile mosaic on wood board, 120x100cm

       Tile mosaic on wood board, 30x25cm

This was a turning point in which we had to update our project proposal and become more focused, so I decided to integrate Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy with aesthetics of nature weather its natural environment or natural effects on man-made objects. This was the first attempt to produce an expressionist art piece that is inspired by an aesthetic experience of nature with Arabic calligraphy…inspired by the Mediterranean (Gaza coast). A poetic phrase in an abstract form.

We Will Return One Day, acrylic on canvas, 100x75cm We will return, the Nightingale told me… 

Digitally modified pieces.

Then in my second piece, I wanted to explore a natural scenery of a flat surfaced rock that I took a picture of and felt had a unique appealing beauty, and in which an inspirational verse from the holy Quran was added on the foreground. I primed some areas with sand in order to develop natural effects. Digital manipulations were also done for all my pieces, but few were the ones I was 100% pleased with their result.

 

Acrylic on canvas, 80x80cm “Strive hard in God’s cause with your possessions and your lives” Al-Tawba verse 41, The Holy Quran

  

Digitally modified pieces.

Then I made this oil painting:

Oil on canvas,40x40cm. “But Give Good Tidings to the Believers” The Holy Quran

   

Digitally modified pieces.

Then this was my fourth attempt:

 

Oil on canvas,40x40cm. “And Give Good Tidings to the Patients” The Holy Quran.

 

Digitally modified pieces.

   

And more…

 

Moreover, I found pleasure in finding the power of inverted colors, were I realized that there beauty comes from their existence in nature:

Watercolor on paper, 45x30cm “If you have a content heart, you are equalized with the person who possess the world”

Invert Colours results: This was accomplished by adding different effects to the picture then invert its colors:

   

   

Finally, in my latest piece, I began to focus my attention on ideas concerning humanitarian issues, so this one is about the war in Palestine with a natural scenery, which is the Mediterranean, along with Arabic calligraphy of a popular Palestinian saying: Our festival is our return.  I wanted intentionally to utilize the language with the expressionist painting in order to add depth and value, and also to attain a sense of visual poetic message through paint.

Acrylic on canvas, 50x40cm, Our festival is our return

I also added several digital modifications to the painting…but I am mostly pleased with this one:

Thank you!