cage=restriction

From birdcages i am going to move on to look at restriction. In all areas of freedom there are also restrictions, this is the theme and outgoing idea for my final installation.

Below are my brainstorming thoughts on 'restriction'

i looked into birdhuts/birdnests/birdcages. Artists that i have used to show inspiration and possibilities for further ideas are Joost Bakker and an installation in Sydney Lane called 'songs of forgotton birds'.They both consist of a series of hanging birdcages to create a floating effect, i take from this both freedom and restriction;

- restriction represented by the cage itself.

-freedom represented by how the cages are displayed, as if they are floating.

.

as i initially started with the idea of birds to represent freedom, i want to keep my starting point strong throughout the project. Birds flying are freedom, and birds fly home so i will look at the idea of home and birds 'home' e.g bird huts/nests/cages.

-my art pieces on birds and home

'i have a dream'

in my research i included political issues, particularly that of Martin Luther King, Jr. who was an american clergyman and the prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. I was focusing on his 'i have a dream' speech, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination.

freedom of youth artwork..

To add more depth to my project i got a little 5yr old dude to create some drawings and then i would take certain parts of the drawings and create my own artwork from these. I really liked the results, i feel they portray the feeling and freedom of youth well. They where full of colours, scribbles and bright and bold images. Below is an example of the work:I created these screen prints above from one of the drawings. I chose this drawing because the image of the big happy face portrays for me how youth is freedom as when we are young we dont have any worries and are happy. I will most likey use this in my final piece in some way are other to represent freedom of youth.

inspiration....sabrina ward harisson

For this project and for all of my art, my biggest inspiration is Sabrina Ward Harrisson.

.

I got alot of influences for ideas from her book 'Spilling Open' which is about a journey of finding yourself. I am using this as a contextual reference for my project. I feel her art and this book in particular links to my project and speaks of expressing yourself, childhood, adults, travel and everyday life. All these areas are what i am looking at to look at freedom and also restriction.

i scanned in pages from her book 'spilling open' to show links to freedom of expressing yourself, childhood and travel.

freedom of youth :)

I think we are all mostly free when we were young. Our youth is a time of fun, adventure, little worries and expression. with this freedom there are restrictions, i know, but i feel the freedom overrules the restrictions of youth.

First hand research to link with youth, i am also looking at play parks for 1st hand images and drawings. Below is a piece of graphics work linking with youth.

thoughts and inspirations on youth created using fabrics, papers, stencils.

teenage freedom.

I looked at teenage years to represent freedom to a certain level, because its a time of rebellion, finding yourself, doing your own thing, finding independance and trying new things.

Most of our teenage lives is about thinking your 'it' because you are disobeying, chilled and carefree towards most things. I was on the thought level of not having your parents do everything for you, making decisions for yourself...partying and even learning to drive! this is what the collage i created is about....in many ways free to find who you are..freedom to express.

I am also keeping in mind that with all the areas i'm looking at there are also restrictions, especially with our teenage years.

lifes a beach (:

most of my research is personal and comes from places or thoughts on which remind me of freedom. i am free at the beach, not all the time but sometimes :) this is what this post is about. I used a b&w slr and took some shots of a local beach, i was really happy with the outcome.

freedom research....freedom to travel

to show a wide depth and range to my research i am looking at a number of areas that hit me as being free. I always think to just go and travel the world is being free... free from stress, free from the ordianary and everyday stuff that restricts us....free from yourself...free to discover.

Freedom to travel....travel to discover freedom. freedom to rise and go...

i found this poem about travel from an old child book of mine, this is where i got my inspiration for looking at travel.

When creating artwork to show my thoughts on travel i was drawn to the area of maps, and old postcards that my mum kept from when she was young. I also used images of pictures ive taken from different cities and places around the world. I also was looking at the idea of stamps.

.we should all travel.

The day i kissed my cat

It was a sunny winters day on the 32nd of Febuary 1990 and i looked out my window. and to my suprise there was a dog. I called him sunny cause it was sunny outside. 2 days later we found out it was girl, so we called it sunnyrella... then we found out she was preggers. soo then 2 weeks later she had 34 kittens. I kissed one.
Fin.

freedom to express/..

for my 1st hand research i took photos of my class holding the word freedom and expressing the word how they liked...

if i was free..

research.

where is freedom....what is freedom....

freedom is.. youth. blue skies. travelling. rebelling. birds. flying. expressing. faith. running. being alone. happy. white. clear. colourful. fun. fearless. bold. ease. uplifting. free.

..my thoughts on freedom which i am recording in my book.

freedom quotes. songs. poems

I found alot of my inspiration and research from looking at quotes and song lyrics. The main words that inspired me were, Martin Luther King, Nelly furtado and Baz Luhrmann.

Am I dreaming
Can I dream of - of being a free bird.
I will jump with joy, give loud cries of glee
I will dance and dance as I will be free.
I will do what I like which is nothing much
I will laugh and laugh because I am as such.
I will live life queen-size I will do as I please
I will set my own pace I will live a life of ease.

But all this will come If I were a free bird
"Open your eyes, day-dreamer! late for office, you nerd."
Oh, these pressures, routine, when will I do my own thing
Getting late, skip breakfast, comb, dress, be on a wing.
Dreams will never cease, daily routines will never ease.
I will never be a free bird, as I belong to 21st century world.

house + home

the idea of the birdhouses and birds has come from a previous project to do with house and home. I started of looking at comforts of the home and then ended up looking at different houses around the world. i concentrated on Tipi huts and created a mini installation piece using waxed knit.