RP-Department of Art and Design

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Browsing RP-Department of Art and Design by Subject "Bizarre"

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    Drawing With My Students’ - The Role of Surrealism in Self-Expression among University Art Students. Analysis of Selected Surrealistic Work by Fourth Year Students at Kenyatta University
    (International Journal of Advanced Research, 2021-02) Dr. Wango, Kamau
    Surrealistic art is one of the most engaging and intriguing art genres. Surrealism itself is considered to have been the most influential art movement of the 20th century. Started in the 1920s as a literary movement that eventually took on a visual dimension, its foundational principles have continued to influence the thought process and style of many modern artists in the realm of self-expression. In their studies of many disciplines in the art including genres of painting, drawing and sculpture, students of art at the University usually find the concept of surrealism initially difficult to decipher mainly because of the uniqueness of its own description. The dream-like imageries of surrealism are derived from dreams and the unconscious mind; hence, the students have to contend with the derivation of subject matter from an unusual source. This is challenging for most of them since they are used to formulating subject matter from a purely academic perspective and from themes that they ordinarily relate to in their environment or can easily reference. Although students embark on drawing from their first year of study, they are introduced to surrealistic drawing as a unit in their final year. With their drawing background, it is presumed that by their final year, they have attained adequate levels of drawing skills for application in any artistic challenge. This study examines, through analysis of selected works, firstly, the extent to which students are able to internalise the concept of surrealism and apply it in the construction of the artistic composition, and secondly whether their drawings demonstrate an individual capacity for self-expression and the derivation of meaning, through dream-like imageries drawn from the unconscious mind. The students were exposed to preliminary studies and examination of surrealistic work, discussions of subject matter, origination, style and technique in the course of their unit programme. For the purpose of uniformity of medium, they were instructed to work only in pencil. They were subsequently accorded adequate time and space to embark on their work with class presentations and discussions at prescribed intervals. The resultant drawings were many and varied and the ones selected are those that displayed good artistic execution and/or displayed a certain profoundness of meaning or interpretation.
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    Interpretation of Surrealism among University Fine Art Students - Analysis of Selected Surrealist Work by Fourth Year Students at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
    (ENSO, 2022-04) Wango, Kamau
    Surrealism, whether in drawing or painting, remains an engaging and fascinating Art style and continues to be of great influence in the way artists, including students of Art, perceive self-expression and generation of new meaning in their work. Surrealism is considered among the most influential artistic movements of the 20th Century. It started in the 1920s as a literary movement that eventually took on a visual dimension, its foundational principles have continued to influence the thought process and styles of many modern artists in the realm of self-expression. Though students at the University undertake drawing in the context of a number of units in their undergraduate programme, surrealism is introduced as a fourth-year unit since they are expected to have adequately mastered drawing and consolidated an expressive individual style over time. This study examines, through analysis of selected works, the extent to which students are able to, firstly, internalize the concept and visual tenets of surrealism such as distortion, abstraction, and juxtaposition of forms and apply these tenets in the composition of new artistic work of their own. Secondly, the study sought to determine whether their drawings demonstrated individual capacity for self-expression and the derivation of meaning that appealed to the audience. The students were introduced to surrealism through examination and discussion of examples of previous students’ surrealist work, analysis of the subject matter, the origination of ideas, and style of execution in pencil as a manipulative tool. The students were also introduced to rendering surrealist images from various sources into artistic compositions that are interpretable by the audience and, therefore, bear the ability to generate artistic meaning. This being a drawing unit and for the purpose of uniformity of medium, they were instructed to work in pencil on A3 drawing paper. They were expected to internalize each other’s work through class presentations and focused critiques. The students, subsequently, produced a large body of drawings that were sampled and selected in terms of artistic execution and/or display of a significant impetus for self-expression. They were ultimately expected to demonstrate the ability to interpret the meaning of imageries derived from the unconscious mind or whatever dreamlike sources they may have referenced. The work was analysed in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the analytical framework.