Kruger, Barbara. Your Body is a Battleground. 1989. Photographic silkscreen on vinyl. The Broad Art Foundation , Santa Monica.
Title: My Brother and I Size: 60.96 x 91.44cm. Medium: Collage September 2015 Exhibition Text: My collage is based on my brother who has autism, but also to spread the message and show support for Autism Awareness and people with disabilities in general. The artist that I was inspired by was Barbara Kruger, she expressed strong emotions and messages that she believed in. My message is to support or at least not discriminate people with autism or with any disabilities.
Meaning of the Piece: For my digital collage, I wanted to do something with my brother who has Autism. I want to spread the Autism Awareness so that people can be more understanding and accepting with other people who have Autism or disabilities in general. My artistic inspiration for this piece was Barbara Kruger. Primarily because she used blown up images and confrontational messages to express the emotion of the piece. For example, her piece "Your body is a battleground" is explaining the internal and external struggles in life. In my piece, I have Autism Awareness through the middle of the of my collage. My personal struggle is having a brother who has autism. I love my brother and I try to help him out any way that I can. There are frustrating and joyous moments. I would like to see people more understanding and aware for people like my brother. In my collage, I wanted to spread the message of Autism Awareness, to make people at least think about supporting people specifically with Autism, but disabilities in general.
Process: The image to the left was my original quick sketch of what I wanted to make my collage look like. I made changes to it to better fit the tools and features on Photoshop. I think that I improved my idea from the original sketch to the finished collage. I wanted something that wasn't over the top, but I wanted something creative and with a statement with what I personally stand up for and what I support. Which in this case is Autism Awareness.
This image on the left is a screenshot of my progress in photo shop on my computer screen. This screenshot is the almost finished collage, before I finished the background. I used the same puzzle piece that I took a picture of. I wanted to make the puzzle pieces look like they were overlapping each other. I fixed the position of the photos that I used to adjust the look of the collage. I did this to make the collage look a little more balanced and to still incorporate the final ideas and adjustments that I wanted to put into the collage. This is though my finalized base without the background.
This picture is my finalized collage. I added the overlapping puzzle piece background that I mentioned before. Which was basically my final touch to finish the collage. I also changed the position and location of a few of the pictures, to add more balance to the collage. The reason why I made it this way was because it was a good way to represent the message that I'm trying to spread. It was also a way for the piece to represent my brother and I to show the bond that we have. For the puzzle pieces in the background, it symbolizes Autism, but I also wanted to symbolize how important he is in my family and how perfect of a fit he is in my family.
Reflection: In my piece, I wanted to incorporate the message of Autism Awareness. I think that I was able to effectively create a piece, that had the ability to express the message of the piece. I think that it turned out good, I liked how I was able to create a piece of art that incorporated my brother and I. It was an overall fun project to do, and it was a learning experience with the photo shop features. I think that I could have done this collage a couple different ways, but this was the best format that I planned out, and it worked.