final stages

While researching images of shattered glass, I had the idea of glass smashing in reverse- pieces coming together instead of breaking apart. I liked how well this summed up my project, so I found this video so use as inspiration for a final piece.

tests

Here I have done some quick test drawings to see how I might visualise my idea

This is a test for a shard of glass. I like how the light is reflected on it yet i feel it needs to look for transparent.

This is a test for what the gold joinery would look like on various skin tones and in different colours. I prefer the more orange toned gold on the dark skin because the contrast between the two is the most balanced, compared to the light skin and lime gold which is too bright.

This is a test for light reflection. I found a picture of a bubble because it has the exact reflective effect that i want to use in my final piece.

I practiced doing some glitchy backgrounds. I had the idea of using a screen glitch after my spaceman collage when I talked about distortion and visualising fragmented as an emotion rather than an object. I really like the look of these images because I think out of everything I have produced in response to fragmented, I can connect with this the most because it makes me feel fragmented instead of seeing fragmented. the vaporwave effect works well because it shows movement. The unsteady lines show the uneasiness felt when you feel fragmented. I made several images to see which one works best and i think the water textured ones are good because they have a contrast of calm against a glitched background. I stuck with my colour scheme and made certain parts bright and glowing, however I do feel that the brighter colours distract from main focus (figure) and there would be too much to look at.

Here i wanted to see if i could get the same effect that the red text boxes had in my kruger responses, without text. i started with this peachy, soft, bright background that looks quite calm and still. the colours work well and it feels like a positive image. i wanted to disrupt the calmness, in the same way fragmented would so I added a big red glitch in middle. I feel it has the same contrast that the red text did, and is distracting and alarming.

Final Ideas

Here i have tied together all of my ideas and make a few final responses. This is the original idea. My project has been about beauty in broken things and pieces coming together to make a whole. I like this response because it is a positive take on the word fragmented. I have explored negative sides to the word, looking at emptiness and anxiety yet what came out at the end was an idea that feels hopeful and of creation rather than destruction. I think that the journey of my project fits well with my theme in that there were times when it was about loneliness and broken things, but then it was made whole again with this final piece. I think it could be a metaphor for the gold in kintsugi. Also all of the ideas came together, just like the shards of glass come together, to make this piece.

How i have incorporated ideas from the project:

i used rainbow colours like i mentioned on my fragmented page.
I used the gold joinery effect on the skin from the kintsugi page.
The tests i did, like the bubble and skin, really helped because i didn't have to work out how to do it myself, i already knew.
i used the ideas i had on reflection.
i used the ideas i had about pieces coming together to make a person.
I used artist research- starry backgrounds and bold colours taken from Glenn Brown, marta adan's method of working in stages, tatiana and yanjun's art style using soft skin and making it look glossy
its somewhat beautiful- there is beauty in broken things

meaning:

there is a woman, floating in space, surrounded by shards of glass which appear to be gravitating to her as she holds a piece in her cheek. The pieces represent both: pieces of your soul (your personality, life experience, you) and broken pieces being stuck back together. The shards around her are drawn towards her, like gravity, while she floats in space. This idea was taken from my spaceman picture. It symbolises distortion, emptiness and overall fragmented in a negative light. This contrasts with the main focus of the image which is much happier. Some may see it as she is broken and falling apart, but if you see the piece that fits into her face, it looks like she is being formed. The light from under the shard represents the positivity and relief that is felt when another piece fits perfectly and she is one step closer to being whole. This emotion i also tried to express with her facial expression.

The kintsugi effect represents the pieces that have already come together and were 'repaired' with positivity and kindness (like the light from underneath).

However there were still some aspects of my project that i wanted to include that dont fit into this response, so i made a few more:

with other responces say how the colours effect the meaning of it

what does this have to do with fragmented

SEE EXPERIMENT PAGE

This version was linked more to my glitch background with a 3d look to it. To get the look of a screen that has glitched i used the main colours used in tvs - red blue and green. I also cut the image into strips and moved it left or right. The reason i chose to do a glitch style is because it could be interpreted as a metaphor for fragmentation.

I think the colours are a little garish but i like the effect and emotion it gives.

this is a glittery silver version, inspired by my surreal collages. I used a glitter image and put it over the top but i didnt add any detail, i kept it as it is. its very different from my other ideas which makes it more interesting. I like this version because the silver makes her look more like a statue or made of glass, like the kintsugi bowls. I like how the shards could be viewed as breakable glass or splinters of diamond that are joining to form a strong woman. I left the background blue so that the image wouldn't look black and white.

This version is much more colourful . I like the effect of the rainbow against the purple skin, a colour scheme i chose when i made my mood board and decided that fragmented was a colourful, chaotic word. I think that the cracks in her skin are a little less visible in this version and i would maybe go over then in gold and darken the rest of the image.

This version is a nineties vaporwave inspired version with heavily saturated and neon colours. I this is effefective in communicating the theme and i love the look of the image. With the set of images i have so far i feel they would be effective on clothing e.g. a hoodie. because i like how it is a visualisation of an emotion and people like to wear clothing that is an expression of themselves.

I think this is the version that is closest to what i pictured. i took out the shards of glass and used a snow like brush to make the picture feel softer. The colours are more gentle and i reflected the face over a few times.

what worked

colours
reflected faces
gold effect

what didn't

missing pieces
less detail on face
not according to colour scheme