Paper tree

For one of my last project I am creating a bonsai tree out of paper balls. The crumbled paper will be hung by string from a wire grid which will be hidden by a board of wood of the same size as the base. I chose to make an organic, natural object out of man made materials. Also this reflects how we should all recycle. So far the most challenging aspect of this project was creating the wired grid, the finished grid is quite morphed. So far I have not found anymore trouble, but I suspect a major concern would be creating an identifiable shape of a tree with the paper balls. 

Parallel thinking

For this next project we are creating a piece of art which reflects a news article. So I decided I am going to paint his photograph of a middle eastern boy, in black and white, and paint a kiss mark on his cheek of a colored American flag. This is in protest of the unnecessary drone strikes which slaughter innocent civilians in the hope of killing one man. 

Finished Time piece

A tedious problem I faced was finding a way to combine and bend the sticks to form the shape I wanted them to flow in. I began by tying a string to both ends of a twig and tightening it until it became the shape I wanted. I then tied other sticks to that one formed stick. When I was finished I had to reform the group of sticks by doing the same thing to the group of twigs as I did to the first. I ended up with a simpler flow than I had anticipated and became fond of the new concept. 

       I have never done this before and I consider this a risk I decided to take. I was happy with the final product. 

Flowers of time.

How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?

Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?

For my next project, I was given the objective if time as an element. So what stuck out most to me was the transition between seasons, not because it is an obvious example of time, but because it is something which I constantly observe and brings back old memories of seasons past. A few weeks ago, my family and I, visited the mall. While we were there, my parents were searching for a chandelier, so while traveling from store to store I decided I was better off making them my own design of a chandelier. I began to piece together the concept in my head and within a few moments worked out my final design. I decided to gather flexible twigs and fashion them into somewhat of a helix. And traveling down the sides would be metallic flowers, leaves, and buds in which I would crest out of aluminum foil (as seen below). My idea was to hang this contraption from the ceiling. The design for which I formed the flowers and leaves was my own. I plan on having 100 metallic pieces in total, 50 leaves, 30 buds, and 20 flowers. 

Floating Islands

Update

This is how far I have current gone on my project. I have decided to center the brass keys in the center and have them slowly transition into the chrome keys. 

Heart strings tangle the keys.

For my first post, I will display my current project. The challenge was to use "unconventional" materials to create a work of art. So I decided to hang keys from string in a formation where it will form a heart which can only be seen by one direction.