Final Project: Symbolic PortraitBy: Julie Stiltz

Creating a symbolic portrait…My main exploration as an artist is

portraiture. Typically I am painting them with oil on canvas in a very literal way. In this project however, my goal is to characterize a specific person with imagery, symbols, color, words, photos, etc that I feel represent the individual. The goal is to give a depiction of the subject free from judgment and rich in symbolism.

Capturing Character…

In this piece I’d like to study a person I admire very much. I will be exploring the life and essence of my mother-in-law Deborah Rolig. No matter how close we get, I know the depths of her are so complex they will never be fully revealed to me. She is a known painter and avid yoga instructor, full of self knowledge and spiritual framework. In this portrait, I will use several symbols including cupie doll heads, catholic and Buddhist depictions, eagles, a snake, skulls, and images of Deb’s actual artwork. The design and color choices will be strategic as well as I am aiming to load this piece with symbolism as I have tried in my other projects.

While the idea is to create a symbolic portrait, I will also use literal portraiture including photos of Deb and my own drawings of her compounded with the related objects and photos. Essentially, it will be a digital collage.In order to most accurately depict Deb, I have been asking her lots of questions about her life, her paintings, her children, ideas of spirituality/higher power as well as goals and dreams not yet actualized. I also have collected careful observations from her close friends and family as well as regulars at her yoga classes.This project will contain my emotion and passion about its topic. In creating this, I hope to learn more about her, appreciate her life, and hopefully be able to give it to her/her family as a gift.

Swoon

John Heartfield

Brownell McGrew

Influential Artists…*Swoon has been a huge inspiration to me. She creates

intricate portraits involving line work and cutouts which reflect the person’s daily life. Her work is typically street art- a combination of wheat paste cutouts and drawing/painting.

*The work of John Heartfield is extremely expressive. His compositional choices alone can say everything he is trying to express. I also like his used of collaged objects to speak to the person he’s depicting.

*Brownell McGrew’s portraits were introduced to me by my advisor who saw similarities in our attention to abstract backgrounds- Since then I’ve admire his use of color and reflected light to capture the subjects in his paintings.

Here are some quick sketches of my proposed project designs…