P.V. (Personal Values from my Point of View)

This artwork is by Rene Magritte, titled Personal Values or Les Valuers Personelles. The artwork is done in 1952, depicting the interior of a bedroom. There are seven main items depicted: The comb, the bed, the shaving brush, the armoire, the soap, the glass and the matchstick. The bed is neatly made in one corner of the bedroom, a large patterned comb resting on it, an armoire in the other corner with a shaving brush resting on top of it, a piece of soap in front of the armoire, a turquoise wine glass in the foreground and a matchstick lying on the ground beside it. The wooden bedroom floor is carpeted, the walls are painted to look like the sky, and a window can be seen reflected in the mirror of the armoire. Though the objects seen in the room seem ordinary, they are painted into strange sizes and warped proportions, with the comb, matchstick, wine glass, shaving brush and soap appearing larger than the bed and the armoire. 

In this work, the subject matter is about the value of such everyday objects than about the objects themselves. The exaggerated size of the objects could reflect on the value it holds to the artist. The comb, shaving brush and soap are all items used for personal care. The soap is used for personal hygiene, while the comb and shaving brush are used to groom oneself for one's appearance in society. This is why these three items are depicted larger in size as compared to the rest of the room, because they are considered to be 'more important'. However, the careless placement of the shaving brush atop the armoire suggests that the artist still feels the need to be more free within his own personal room, while away from the eyes of the society. 

The walls of the room are painted to depict the sky outside. The sky is light blue with fluffy white clouds, and it represents the boundless imagination of a person that cannot be trapped within an enclosed space. The painted sky contributes to the slightly dream-like and surreal feel of the painting, along with the distorted proportions of the objects in the room. As the room is painted very realistically, with invisible well-blended brushstrokes and shadows that give the painting depth, the strange unreal sizes of the objects in the room is further emphasized. The room somewhat reminds one of a dollhouse with doll-sized bed and armoire, but with the inclusion of real, normal sized everyday items (the comb, matchstick, shaving brush, wine glass and soap), which, in this context, seems invasive as they grace the room with their intimidating size and seemingly unwelcomed presence. The room also somewhat reminds one of a scene from Alice in Wonderland, with weird, almost-nonsensical, random, surrealistic and disproportionate composition.

Below is my version of Personal Values:

This is a photoshop-ed (I know, my photoshop is quite fail) picture of my (very messy) desk. Most of the items depicted in the photo are of normal size, except for seven chosen items which I value more than the other stuff on the desk. Their arrangement is of no particular order as they are all more or less of the equal importance to me. The first is the white clock. It is a time-keeper of sorts and keeping time is important in the life of a student. In fact, time is important for many, student or not. Meeting deadlines and punctuality are important aspects of a person living in today's society. The second item is the calendar, which serves a similar purpose with the clock. It helps me keep track of deadlines, test dates, competition dates, appointments, birthdays etc. These keepers of time helps one keep up with the fast pace of life in this century. The third item is the piece of yellow post-it note. The post-it note serves as a reminder, a memo for me. I write many notes of various content on similar post-its, from lists of song titles I should check up on to ideas I have for art to keeping track of my pocket money and my expenditure. As such, it is quite important to me, because I tend to be rather forgetful at times.

The fourth item is the red pencil. This piece of stationery is one of the most useful items I could have as it has many uses. The pencil can be used for writing, arts and maths. As a student who likes art, the pencil is very useful and of great value. The pencil records down ideas, inspirations and many more. Plus, pencil lead can be erased while pen ink cannot. The fifth item is the eraser which is as equally useful as the pencil. It allows one to erase one's mistake. That in itself, is enough of an explanation for why it is so valued by me. Without the eraser, my work (art or otherwise) would be a mess and full of flaws. The sixth item(s) are my notebooks. They are slightly different from post-its as post-its are more temporary. My notebooks store my notes which I will require for exam revision. The notebook with the orchid print is my pineapple notebook, also my AEP notebook. It stores my AEP notes as well as all of my pineapple drawings, which are some of my prized possessions (and artwork/"masterpiece"). The last and seventh item is the set of color pencils. They too, are part of my collection of valued stationery. They lend color and life to my plain black and white drawings, helping me turn my rough sketches into proper artworks. It is surprising how much a plain old set of color pencils can do. They may not be oil paint (a medium which the great artists seem to always use), but they serve me well enough.

Eyes and Hearts

Spying Lens is an artwork done by Lucia Hartini in 1989. In the foreground, there is a woman curled in a fetal position and enveloped in silky azure blue cloth. in front of her, there is a diagonal brick wall that is half-broken. Below her is what seems to be a cracked stone ground, and it can be seen that she is floating in midair. The cloth that wraps around her floats, drifts and twirls throughout the painting, over the zig-zag walls that continue from the foreground all the way into the background where it vanishes, seeming to imply that it continues on forever into the horizon. In the mid ground and background, a gloomy dark blue ultramarine sky can be seen, with red tinted clouds drifting around the walls and turning into white mist and it seeps into the walls towards the woman. Disembodied eyes with emitting light beams from their pupils can also be seen floating around the woman, watching her as she sleeps. 

The entire painting is painted rather realistically, in the sense that the woman looks like a real woman, the cloth looks real, the brick wall looks real, and even the disembodied eyes look like real eyes (albeit eyes from some horror movie). The brushstrokes are fine and carefully blended to appear invisible, and the painting isn't abstract in terms of composition, with appropriate shadows painted to give the painting some three-dimensionality. In the painting, the zig-zagging walls that recede into the background gives the painting a sense of space perspective.  The soft flowy edges of the blue cloth contrasts with the hard angular edges of said brick walls. However, the colors she used seem somewhat arbitrary, with an intense color scheme comprising mostly of blue, red and orange.  coupled with the realistic way she has painted the painting, the painting seems suite surreal and reminiscent of a dream (not a very pleasant one, it seems.) 

In this painting, Lucia Hartini has used Symbolism to subtly express her emotions and thoughts through her painting. The woman in the painting seem to represent herself, trapped in a vulnerable position with the zig-zagging brick walls representing the rules of her society confining her. The eyes that can be seen floating about, watching the woman in the painting creepily, represent the watchful and scrutinizing gaze of her society on her behavior and actions. In the background, the bleak and dark sky reflects the artist's outlook on her life, while it could also mean a distant freedom out of reach. 

Below is another painting, this one done by Frida Kahlo:

This artwork is called The Two Fridas, done in 1939, after her divorce with Diego. This artwork is believed to be an expression of Frida's feelings at the time. The first Frida depicts her heartbroken self, the Frida that Diego no longer loves, with the ripped bodice of the rejected Frida exposes a broken, damaged heart. The surgical pincers held by the unwanted Frida staunches the blood flow of the open vein that could possibly be the vein representing her ties to Diego. In this sense, it can be seen that she has tried to sever these emotional ties. Blood drips onto her crisp white European dress, a possible reminder of her abortions, miscarriages and many surgeries, as well as the physical pain felt at the loss of Diego. The second Frida is the Frida that Diego still loves and is dressed in clean traditional Mexican clothes. In her lap, she holds a miniature portrait of Diego. This Frida has her heart superimposed on her chest which appears whole and healthy, unlike the heart of the other Frida. The two hearts are linked by a blood vessel, representing the link between Frida's two selves, and the background is gloomy with ominous clouds. This could also suggest at the dark atmosphere around Frida's life after her divorce.

Like Lucia Hartini's Spying Lens, this artwork also seems surrealistic and makes use of Symbolism. Both artists use symbols in their artworks to convey their feelings into their canvas and both artworks are rather negative. Spying Lens' main message is of Lucia Hartini's trapped position in her society while The Two Fridas main message is of her divorce. The symbols used in both artworks are also slightly similar, as Lucia Hartini used eyes to represent the watchful gaze of the society while Frida Kahlo used hearts (another organ) to represent her love. These two symbols are also more obvious and direct and viewers can understand the artworks and the artists through these symbols. Both artworks also have compositions with a dark sky in the background to emphasize on the bleakness of the artists' situation.

On a side note: I chose The Two Fridas because, as some of you may know by now, I like this sort of morbid stuff. It is evident in my pineapple drawings too. And my caesar salad.