Contemporary ArtistsNina Katchadourian on Technique

Douglas Bentham on SubjectWangechi Mutu on Media

Nina Katchadourian Technique used is mostly known for her style of experimentation by

dissecting media, especially on maps.

“The first work I ever made had to do with maps, that’s kind of where all my stuff began really. All this art stuff, I’m very fond of maps.” – Nina Katchadourian

Creatively tries to connect pieces of artwork together, literally, using nothing but one medium.

Art is usually intended to be pieces linked together. She uses lines and directional movement to make one massive work of art.

Sometimes uses flat display (2 glass pieces) to bind artwork together to give a cross-sectional view of art.“Dissection of roads allowed the strips to come together to form

smaller knots or clusters, and then placing them between glass or microscopic slides.”

– Nina Katchadourian

AustriaDissected paper map, 6 x 9 inches, 1997, and c-print, 30 x 40 inches,

2000

Uses dissecting technique and dismembered roads from paper maps of Austria and shaped into a 3D heart sculpture.

“Austria describes itself as the heart of Europe.” – Nina Katchadourian

Used two maps: A major AAA road map (finished cutting out roads in 1997), and a c-print of Austria (finished cutting out roads in 2000).

Portrays the element of form & shape by making the roads that were once flat (shape) on a map into a three-dimensional object (form), creating a more interesting viewer perspective to the country.

“… gives an anatomical view that resemble capillaries, veins, and arteries in a map or an area.” – Nina Katchadourian

Mended Spider Web #8 (Fish Patch)

Cibachrome, thread, 20 x 20 inches, 1998

“… I searched for broken spider webs which I repaired using red sewing thread. All of the patches were made by inserting segments one at a time directly into the web… the thread was starched, which made it stiffer and easier to work with… “- Nina Katchadourian

According to a kit the artist posted on her website, she used foam with thread, tweezers, scissors, and glue to securely tie the red thread onto the broken spider webs.

Used the natural realm found around her and took it to an advantage for new creations using her linking technique.

Emphasis was created from the bright red thread against the transparent spider webs.

Douglas Bentham His work involves a great deal of linear rhythm by the

use of sculptures.

In cooperates culture and academic studies into work to create metaphors that develop into themes.

Inspired by Picasso by creating components and pieces that appear abstract to create provoking thoughts.

“I apply a holistic approach to my art making in which juxtapositions of self-similar forms create — like metaphors — a tension composed of similarities and differences between the terms of the sculpture. The more dynamic this tension, the greater the possibility that my sculpture can provoke the brain into wonder and awe, and a sense of unexpected truth or beauty.”

- Douglas Bentham

Origins (Series) Scraps of Metal (Brass and Bronze), 16 x 5 x 5”, 2011

Uses scraps of metals to form a skeletal-like structure to represent the biology of the human body and how evolution has taken a toll to form it the way it is today.

“Bentham sculptures reveal the patterns in which these scattered elements were meant to join. These forms are their story.” - Earle Toppings

Was inspired after a hiatus in his works due to cancer treatment. After cancer treatment, Bentham said he experienced the sensation of “being inside my body completely.”

Unity is created in a complicated form by the way extraneous pieces of metal are used and fit together, like bones and chemical compounds in a human being.

Small Scale (Series)Wood, paper, scraps of metal, tin,

and string, 6.5 x 5 x 5”, 2011

Was greatly impacted by Picasso’s miniature sculptures and the Russian constructivism art philosophy from the 1920s, which was a movement that influenced art with no obvious meaning or theme or importance to human culture.

Art built around everyday objects in a smaller scale to enhance wonder and the way everyday objects are seen in an abstract way, using wood, paper, tin, and string.

Purpose was to create art with concentrated energy that demands to be viewed from many angles to understand its origination and how it was built. Must be viewed from a close distance, and from a farther distance.

“I want them to occupy their own inner realms, coaxing the viewer into a kind of childlike fascination, followed then by a peaceful recognition of many things felt.” – Douglas Bentham

Wangechi Mutu

Part of the feminist art movement.

Famous for mixed media; pieces together magazine imagery with painted surfaces and untraditional materials to create collages using various media.

Her art explores the split nature of cultural identity, colonial history, fashion, the female body, and contemporary African politics.

“… collage tells us not just what cultures have produced but what they have fostered. You can tell what American mainstream culture is thinking by looking at a newsstand. For the most part, there’s a lot of misogynistic material, and a few things that have to do with sports and cars… That’s a little bit what it’s like when I look at media; it’s quickly processed, it’s not the most high-end knowledge but it definitely gives you a cross-section of what is going on.”

- Wangechi Mutu

Backlash BluesInk, acrylic, collaging, contact paper on Mylar, 78 x 47”, 2004

Painted on Mylar, a form of polyester resin that is used to make sheets and heat-resistant plastic films. The result is the paint and ink suspend on the surface, which appears like plastic/vellum, with an unnatural luminosity.

Uses detailed brushwork, airbrushing, controlled spills, and stenciling.

Subtlety uses collaging to bring fine details together and to merge with the paint used (around the face and jewelry).

In cooperates organic patterns and portrays the idea of the over exaggerated business of the fashion industry to support, teach, and encourage primitivism for woman.

A sense of unity is created from the circles on the woman and the soil formed from the ink and the acrylic resisting; shows the image is connected from the aspect of the environment and human nature.

Adult Female Sexual OrgansPacking tape, fur, collage found on medial illustrator paper, 18 x 12”, 2005

Uses extremely simple traditional crafts and various media to tell a personal story. Named artwork after using a Victorian medical diagram as a base.

“Females carry the marks, language and nuances of their culture more than the male. Anything that is desired or despised is always placed on the female body.”- Wangechi Mutu

The head was intentionally a caricatured mask made of packing tape to represent “a cheap ‘quick fix solution’”, as said by the artist.

Depicts the ideal portrayal of a woman’s idea of inner and outer beauty with magazine cutouts. The woman’s face, a racial distortion, is preoccupied with the ‘perfect’ white model from a magazine.

Uses emphasis by drawing the viewer over to the woman’s head by using space, and draws the emphasis to the woman inside and the textured fur.