Pátria Amada BraZil - Adriana

Pátria Amada BraZil

MEANING AND MAKING

    I had the original idea of making a project of an iceberg showing the way I am perceived contrasting with the way I perceive myself. However, as I started to work on the project, I had a complete change of ideas. I decided that my project should reflect what I left behind in Brasil, compared to where I am now. Much like Frida Khalo, my identity is shaped by the country I was raised in. However, a new perceived identity has arisen after my five years of being in the United States, a personality that is much different than the one I used to have back in my country. This contrast can be attributed to the large difference in settings I endured while leaving a nearly all-rural Brazilian state and going to live next to one of the biggest metropolises of the world. As I began cutting my images and looking at the iceberg canvas I prepared, I got stuck. My block led me to search for inspiration in the readings and videos about our unit, which inspired me to use the automatistic approach. 

    The automatistic approach reflected the core values of surrealism, where individuals would let the materials available and psychic thoughts guide them in their art while free of concerns about aesthetics or logical reasoning. I embraced this idea and gathered all the art supplies I could find lying around my dorm, along with some borrowed magazines, and placed them all on a table to see where I would be led:

PART I- Choosing the Medium and Shape:

• I chose the shape of an iceberg to reflect the idea of one scientist which inspired Brenton to conceptualize automatism, Froid. Froid believed that the psyche could be divided into conscious, preconscious, and subconscious. I used his iceberg depiction of this mind division to show the conscious (represented by how I chose to portray myself in the United States along with how I am perceived here) and unconscious (which is the real personality I was raised with along with my core values).
• For the medium, I chose this styrofoam canvas because I did not want to use paper, and I have issues touching cardboard. 

PART II- Making the Background:

• I began by trying to neatly cut the green paper to carefully cover my bottom iceberg piece, but I got frustrated really fast when perfection did not come along and I ripped the paper out of spite. I then continued to rip the paper and realized it was a good idea to have the bottom piece be composed of destroyed papers matching the colors of my country flag as they would be a good symbol for my heartbreak after leaving my home. I played around with the arrangement of the torn pieces until I had a nearly covered bottom half,
• I looked around for red paper for the upper part which would represent the United States, but I could not find any. I saw I had an old Christmas decoration box and cut the table cloth to serve as a wrapping.
• This specific tablecloth has more significance than what meets the eye. It serves the purpose of imitating the American flag's red color, but its significance is much deeper. 
• This is the tablecloth I decorated my dorm with during the four years I lived in the U.S. and could not spend Christmas with my family, which is a reality that has finally changed this year because my flight is finally bought. I felt great while cutting it. I felt liberated. 
• Thinking about more elements I could use that would have significance and fit the color scheme, I went to the Reslife office and got a bulletin board blue border. 
• This border is what RA’s use to make the monthly boards, and it reflects part of my “new” American personality, as I have to work for housing. 

PART III- The Elements:

A- Bottom Half:

• Beach: represents the crystal clear beaches of Brasil which is something I always think about when I am here. I used to travel to go to the beach back in my country, but I live next to one now and never go in because the ocean is always cold. 
• Samambaia: This plant might not be a samambaia, but in Brasil we give out a very similar plant every time someone has a new home. My parents had a samambaia in our house that they got from my grandparents when they moved out. That plant symbolizes a home. 
• Cat: I had to leave my cat behind when I moved. We were very close. 
• Girl with the cowboy hat picking flowers from a truck: these are wildflowers and I used to pick them on the farm all the time to make big wildflower bouquets. 
• Cow: When I was born, I was given a cow (a customary gift from the region I am from). Her name was Rainha (Queen). Rainha went on to have many babies, allowing me to go to a very good private school (we sold the cows to pay for my education). 
• Galaxy of stars: This represents the starry sky I used to see at the farm. I saw countless stars every night. I don’t see any stars in Jersey City. 
• “The Missing Piece” (puzzle piece): represents the very core of my personality that was taken away when I moved out. 
• Soccer balls: My family was really big on soccer. I was the first grandchild in the family, meaning that I was not only the first-born daughter, I was also the first everything. Because of this, my grandpa went to the hospital where I was born, fully clothed in the soccer team kit (Flamengo). As he held me for the first time there, he sang the Flamengo team song with my mom’s other two brothers. So yes, soccer balls. Not because of me, but because of my family. 
• NATURE: Contrasting to "Science", nature refers to the simple, nature-filled environment I used to live in. It sums up the bottom part of the collage. 

B- Middle: 

• Rocketship: symbolizes travel, and illustrates how far I am from home. More than a plane. 

C- Upper Half:

• Crying Girl: represents the heartbreak and countless anxiety attacks I had over being alone.
• Germs in a Heart: represents my current field of study (microbiology) where I found my passion and recognition. 
• Empire State Building: represents New York City, the metropolis I live near.
• Blueberries: I tried blueberries in the U.S. for the first time, I had no idea they existed. We did not have them in Brasil and I thought they were extremely nice. I now love blueberries. 
• Distorted Taxi: I chose this image because I used to take taxis to my work as a server for a very long time. It was my first job in the U.S.
• “NJCU” letters: The college that offered me a scholarship and education, which I represent by being in the Senior Planning Committee, Public Relations (for Biology, Premedical, and Tribeta clubs), Supplemental Instructor (for Organic Chemistry), and Researcher (going to multiple conferences as a speaker)
• Astronaut 1 (floating around): represents how I was (and am) lost for the longest time. 
• Astronaut 2 (suit with me inside): This represents how I feel like I am in outer space, meaning everything is so different and cold outside my country. My face is serious because I do not have the time, or privilege, to not be serious. 
• Meling Graduation Cap: represents all the meltdowns I had in order to keep my grades up and graduate on top of my class. 
• “Freedom”: represents what is preached about the United States. I came to find that the opposite applies. 
• “SCIENCE”: represents where I live, everything is highly technological with buildings everywhere. I now work in the scientific field. Represents my present. 

D- Hanging Pieces: reflect my country's name spelling in English vs. in Portuguese (Brazil vs. Brasil). They are color-coded. 

INSPIRATIONS

    The iceberg shape was inspired by Froid. The astronaut with my face inside was inspired by Hannah Hoch who also signed one of her pieces with her own face. The "Science" and "Nature" labels to the "quadrants" of the iceberg were also inspired by her labeling of the quadrants in her piece "Cut with a Kitchen Knife". Lastly, the "Freedom" glued to the astronaut's chest was inspired by her form of criticism loaded with irony. Frida Kahlo's work "The Two Frida's" inspired me to do my work on the duality of my personality. Her other work "Self Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States", had a heavy influence on my work by showing the dichotomy between her birth place, and the United States.

 

QUESTIONS:

How does your project address the themes we have been discussing?
My project addresses the themes of immigration, identity, and loss, reflecting the theme portrayed in multiple of Frida Kahlo’s works. In addition, it addresses the social/political criticism shown in the Dada movement by shedding light on how metropolitan environments lack nature and also criticizes and mocks the “Freedom” slogan given to the United States. Finally, the project creation process also aligns with automatism ideals along with a Froid reference.


How does contemporary media play a role in identity, cultural, and societal norms? How do these influence our view of ourselves and each other?
Contemporary media dictates identity and norms in the sense that we have a massive generalization of what is right and what is wrong based on whatever is shown by the media. The media is controlled by powerful people who push us to believe we need their products, need to look a certain way, and be a “productive member of society” (which for them, means someone who works and consumes). Many people fully trust the media, making them radicalized and incapable of proper critical thinking. This might harm many relationships. In addition, the media also tells us what the “ideal body” and “ideal appearance” is. This causes many individuals to have a perturbed sense of self-perception.

How are these themes addressed in the work of the artists we learned?
All of these themes are present in the surrealist artists we learned about. They all use their work to criticize established patterns and to defy traditionalism. An example of this can be seen in Frida’s acceptance of her unibrow along with her work “Self Portrait With Cropped Hair” where she challenges expectations of appearance. Another example is Hannah Hoch, who blatantly criticized the conservative media propaganda in one of her quadrants in the work “Cut with a Kitchen Knife”

How did advertising and fashion images influence or get addressed in your piece? How does your project speak to your identity and your relationship to media images?
I did not address advertising and fashion images in my piece as my focus was elsewhere. My project does not speak about my identity to media images but rather uses media images taken outside of their context where they will mean something bigger. 

QUOTES:

“People have described her as broken and fragile, but she was strong and accomplished a tremendous amount in her lifetime.”
-Frida Kahlo Was a Painter, a Brand Builder, a Survivor. And So Much More.

"If we look closely, Höch’s tiny head appears at the upper left corner of a map showing countries with women’s suffrage"
-Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada Through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany

“But Kahlo did not conceal her pain, revealing her casts and leather braces with metal buckles in her work and turning her plaster corsets into art with elaborate designs of flowers, even a hammer and sickle.”

-Frida Kahlo Was a Painter, a Brand Builder, a Survivor. And So Much More.