Art Nouveau poster ca. 1900-07
First Design iterations
I have begun work on the preliminary mural design this weekend. I have yet to secure any photographic reference, but after holding the brainstorming session on February 15, I had starting forming a composition for the piece in my mind. The mural site wall itself is 26 feet high by 36 feet wide, so I chose to make my design 26 by 36 inches. I had a vision of a group of central figures standing on a round surface-possibly the earth itself-arranged much like a poster from the 1936 World’s Fair. I have always been a fan of that old poster artwork, but for this piece I am going to need to step back a few years to 1907 if I want to relate to UCA’s Centennial.
The figures are completely made up-stand-ins, if you will for the actual persons mentioned in the brainstorming session. They are intentionally dark and silhouette-like right now, as they merely hold the place of actual portraits. I do, however, want the central figure to be a female teacher from Conway’s past. We talked about many past female teachers as we brainstormed, and it seemed that this was symbolic, but also a very concrete and important idea to include. I am going to do some more research, talk to some more Conway folks and figure out who these figures should be. I think that they should span the century, and I also may want to include a small child on the right side to further symbolize education, and the hope for the future. I like the central figure now, subtly holding a book (or lesson plans)…after the fact, her coloring, visage and stance is beginning to remind me of the Statue of Liberty…
In researching some old (pre-) art nouveau posters from around 1900, I found a lot of interesting filigree work that I was looking for—to add to the “earth” beneath the figures. This is my first stab at it, and I believe that I may pull some of the flowers that are sticking above back down to be contained inside the hemisphere, but I am really enjoying these connotations to past posters and advertisements (a bit of nostalgia), and the symbolism of new growth or rebirth sprouting from the past…
If you sort of squint your eyes, you may see that the hemisphere below the figures is replicated above them in the form of a separation in the clouds revealing a night sky filled with stars. I truly don’t know where this came from, but I was painting it right after the figures-before I went to anything else. I kept it because it also seems like a symbol of the future to me (space, the final frontier…) but also because the half-circle above and below together with the figure group almost seem to form the shape of an hourglass…which is also pretty interesting, as long as I don’t eventually deem it to be hokey, in which case I will remove it.
I have also begun playing with the pixilation idea from the brainstorming session-on the right side of the mural. I am going to make them differentiate further in size, but wanted to start with larger blocks. Again, this is symbolic of the present and/or future but I am hoping that it will also allow me to insert “screens” within the grid, possibly adding portraits or pictures of some prominent figures and symbols. Conversely, on the left side I am going to try to mimic the pixel-grid with some form of fabric swatch from around 1907. It will most likely be of the same yellow-orange of the sky, but I am working on finding some fabric that is reminiscent of southern culture, maybe grid, quilt or gingham-like that may also allow me to insert old photographs from the area, much like the screens within the pixels. My only fear is that these additions will complicate the design too much, but that is why I will digitize my design and play on the computer before resuming painting.
I like the fabric, hourglass, filigree, gradient sky and the pixilation thus far because I am trying to destroy the regular rectangle of the wall. I have often chosen to push the boundaries of the wall itself and with the push and pull of the light and dark of the canvas make the wall seem as if it is another shape-or no regular shape at all. I think this will make the piece even more striking as the viewer approaches by car or on foot, but will also make the piece “breathe” a little…I want the finished piece to feel light-weight, not heavy at all-but still retain the various layers that I am planning on adding.
Morton Brown, 2-26-07
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