EMPTY spaces OPEN places

self portrait

I wanted to create a self portrait with an emphasis on the textures I have collected over time. The background is a composition of 4 layers which I created. A photo of the ocean, an architectural photo of a modern building, a golden rectangle drawing of mine, and an image of a highway in Pittsburgh create the background. The image of me was outlined in illustrator from a photograph of me. I chose textures based on my aesthetic attraction to them as well as their appropriateness in the illustration. Overall, I wanted this image create 2 impacts on the viewer, one on passing by as an illustration, and then upon second inspection a more layered an intricate composition.

Yours, Mine, or OURS?

In questioning copy right and fair use, I began with an image of a CBS billboard. Billboards almost exclusively use copy right protected commercial material to sell or advertise something. Instead of using this for an advertisement, I manipulated it to be a canvas. Within this canvas, I choose to use a combination of other peoples work. For example, two photographs I took of street art in New York and Pittsburgh create the background texture. Over this I used recognizable logos and advertisements which are directly protected under copyright. When collaged together all of these things form a new image that is mine.