Yin & Yang, 2019
graphite & acrylic spray on 75" x 29" scroll
Final work of art for Kristine Schomaker's Perceive Me project and catalogue.
This is a traveling exhibit with 58 other figurative artists starting
at the Ronald H Silverman Gallery, Cal State Univ LA
Jan 21 - Feb 24, 2020
Reception: Saturday, Jan 25, 5 - 8 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/728378240994787/
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My Scroll Process & Meaning of Yin & Yang
I order my scrolls from China. Thank-you to the hardworking laborers in China for making these.
They come as one piece with the fabric and paper. I start with the graphite portrait and render it very lightly, building up my darker tones as erasing is minimal due to the fact the paper can tear so easily.
I hand design and cut my stencils for the layering of the acrylic spray sections.
The golden halo right above her head has 5 different stencils in just that small area alone.
Since hours have already gone into the graphite portrait, using the spray paint is stressful as mistakes are not an option at this point of the creative process with these fragile materials. The stencil for the small, black, beaded section took hours to cut by hand, but felt so good when I lifted the stencil off the paper, after spraying it black, and nothing had smudged on her breasts as it was my final stencil
and I was holding my breath right up to the end!
There is symbolism within this piece of artwork from the sacred number 7 being represented in various imagery to my love of the Venus de Willendorf and her fertile, bountiful beauty, which is estimated to have been created in 30,000 BCE. I love that she was created to be held in the palm of ones hand and has braided hair and bracelets; and was used perhaps as a ritual for female empowerment and fertility.
The Yin & Yang comes from my admiration of eastern thought and philosophies and that we live in a world where opposites are part of the game of life thus the checker board pattern.... and just as we deal with outside forces of good and evil so we battle the inner voices that honor and dishonor us 24-7.
And of course the honeycomb pattern above and below because our lofty lives depend on the lowly female bee working so hard pollinating for us, enabling our health and well-being....while also heralding and bringing awareness to the plight of the bees globally and the colony collapse disorder.
The sacred female pelvis is floating on its own energy as a powerful life giving force and has the green honeycomb pattern in celebration of woman as life givers, Mother Earth preservers and formidable, multi-tasking worker bees. Kristine is a phenomenal worker bee.
None of us would be here or be able to give life if not for the female presence.
The peace sphere is a copy of Kristine's favorite piece of jewelry she wears to shows and
peace is what we have to create in a world of contrasts and chaos for balance and healing.
The 3-circles creating triangular designs at the very top of 6 clover-like stencils equal 18,
which is another sacred number for life or chai and are also created with the green honeycomb pattern as our lives are dependent on us nurturing life and the environment, as if a crown above our heads.
The stunning Perceive Me art catalogue is a compilation of all of the 58 artists' works
selected by artist & curator Kristine Schomaker, publisher of Art and Cake,
and can be ordered by going the link below
https://www.kristineschomaker.net/post/perceive-me-soft-cover-catalogs-now-available