Still Doing Art

2013 Wild Flowers Drawing - Toni Chanakas

From the time I was in elementary and junior high school, I excelled in art classes. I remember creating ornaments from brown paper that I still have. They were brilliantly colored in great detail – a gingerbread man and angel. I am biased so I can honestly say they still look pretty good for a young kid’s artistic ability.

I used to love to color. I couldn’t wait until the first day of school when my parents bought me that box of 64-crayons. My favorite color was periwinkle that I could barely pronounce. My eyes scanned all the beautiful colors but I kept focusing on periwinkle - that weird blueish, purple color. What I loved about it was its uniqueness from all the other colors. I felt special just by using it.

One afternoon, I went to my mother’s house where I knew some of my old art projects were stowed away in an old, white metal cabinet. Way back in the cabinet, I found a batik (a dye process where different areas are waxed then you dye colors that aren’t waxed) project that I did in Junior High. It was a three color ladybug piece: brown, red and yellow. I retrieved it from its tomb and it is currently in my spare bedroom (art room) on the floor. When I moved however, I never felt like going through that old stuff; suddenly I needed it. In the back of my mind, however, I wanted to get back to drawing and creating art. I’ve got the bug back.

In my art room, I have a few sculptures that I did: one of a plastered head in a straight jacket and a carved wood piece with a dress. These pieces can be construed as “contemporary” where conceptual thought came into play. The straight jacket piece was a two step process. First we were to mold a head (by a model) using traditional methods - clay. After the head was molded, it was made into a cast; plaster was then poured into the cast. Lastly, the cast was chiseled away into the finished piece. The second step entailed creating a sculpture with the head or, specifically what statement are you trying to say?

I thought long and hard about how I was going to finish it. I must have been in a melancholy mood so a crazy thought of a straight jacket came into my head. I knew I wanted to sew. I created the jacket where I patterned it after my own body. It gave it a personal element. Moreover, I wanted the piece to be monochromatic, low key where the craftsmanship is the focal point. I chose to paint the head white that mimicked the whiteness of the straight jacket. Brilliant!

The other piece I chiseled into a long, scalloped form, where I was thinking about the modern sculptor, Brancusi. After the straight jacket piece, I wanted to sew again since it was easy for me. Hence, I added a dress where like Freud, I named it “penis envy.” The concept was: as a female sculptor where I need to be recognized as an artist just as if I was a man per-say. Women are just as capable as men.

I adore contemporary art because of an artists’ thinking process. I had a graduate sculpture student as an instructor that did some ingenious pieces. He created glass shoes: one shoe was filled with honey obviously making fun of people who constantly refer to women as “honey.” Another shoe was filled with sweet, red syrup, referring to “sweetie.” Brilliant.

The other reason I love contemporary art is everyone shies away from it. I don’t get it, is the normal response. Well, I ask. How does the piece make you feel? Art causes a reaction, an emotion in some way. Either you love it or hate it. Not all pieces I love but I can respect the artist’s thinking process. A contemporary piece at the Cleveland Art Museum, I cherish is Rothko – three bands of horizontal color. That’s it. For me it congers up Rothko’s emotions as he chooses specific colors. The horizontal color bleeds and runs; its not perfect.

Or, Mondrian that creates painting in rigid, grid form using only primary colors. Why is it mostly white with a specs of “red, blue and yellow” in the corners? As a graphic professional, my interpretation is that it keeps the eye moving as in any graphical piece. What is the hierarchy? What do you concentrate on first, second or last? I think that’s his goal; plus creating a painting that is stripped from anything identifiable or "non-objective" paintings.

Art is what you make it out to be. It makes your home more lively and livable. Is there a focal point in your room, does it promote discussion? What I enjoy most about art is the discussion. How does one feel? What conversation does it evoke, which to me constitutes a successful art piece.

Why have I strayed from my own art? I’m not sure. My positive New Year’s resolution is producing more drawings and thinking about the world that may not be so cut and dry. I dragged out my drawing table that was in my basement for twelve years. And, I am beginning to draw again. It helps me become more observant; how forms are interrelated, and connected. Linking things that aren’t necessarily related. Who knows but I’m excited to create on my drawing table that overlooks my backyard.

Please stop by the Cleveland Museum of Art, MOCA Cleveland and the new Transformer Station so you can have an enlightening discussion or view great art.


Cleveland Museum of Art
http://www.clevelandart.org/

MOCA Cleveland 


http://www.mocacleveland.org/


Transformer Station
http://www.transformerstation.org/