(SW14)+Egyptian+Imprisionment

Studio Work # 14 **Egyptian Imprisonment **

** Media: ** Digital, **Size:** A4, **Month of completion:** January 2012
 * Description: ** This is a photograph of someone's face with a lock locking the mouth and an Egyptian Flag over the face. I edited this photo on Photoshop to have this accumulated photograph that symbolizes how a lot of Egyptians are not free. The lock symbolizes imprisonment because a lock is what restricts and limits the freedom. I used my imagination to visually show how a lot of Egyptians don't have freedom of speech. A lot of Egyptian citizens have no voice in this country therefore I edited this photograph to show people how they feel.

I used Photoshop to edit my own photographs. I took photographs of my sister's face and a lock. I then edited them on Photoshop to create a realistic final photograph of a face with its mouth locked in white and black. The last thing I did is adding other layer, which is the Egyptian flag, over the photograph to have a black and white face under a transparent colored Egyptian flag. I used a lot of advice form my technology teacher, Mr. Tennant that used to teach me in grade ten. He showed me every single step that I had to go over on Photoshop to edit my two photographs of the lock and the face. He taught me those techniques during the previous project but I them knew more techniques as I used Photoshop for longer time. Something that I don't like about this painting is the shape of the lock; it was also the only lock I found. I don’t like the squared edges of the lock because they look sharp even though I smudged the edges. Something that I would like to improve in is applying the flag on the face itself so that it looks like as if the flag is painted on the face. Something that I really like about this piece is how the black and white contrasts with the colored flag. It shows how imprisonment is a dull and a negative feeling especially in Egypt the colorful and the most enjoyable county. Something else that is strong in this piece is how people get the idea once they see it. They get to know that there is a lot of oppression in Egypt. I want to continue relating my art pieces with the Egyptian culture. I want to use a different media that is not acrylic or on Photoshop.
 * Analysis: ** ** What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project? **** Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style. ** The artist that I was influenced by is Renne Magritte who is a surrealist who used his fantasy and his imagination to show a message of reality. Since this project is almost the same as the previous one but with another media, Magritte was also my artist influence. I was influenced by his surrealism idea. The reality of this piece shows how Egyptians have bared a lot of suffering and it is the time for them to speak and be heard. They were always ignored until they protested in Tahrir Square for freedom. There is another anonymous artist that has photographs of one person and in every photograph there is a different flag on the kid's face. The flag on the kid's face looked like it was actually painted on his face.
 * What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how? **
 * How do you think you have responded to advice and criticism during this project (and during the term), both from fellow students and the teacher. Did you actively seek advice? If so, was it useful? **
 * Clearly explain the weaknesses/areas for improvement - **
 * Clearly explain the strengths of the piece – **
 * What could you take through to the next project and develop further? This could be anything, from a technique to an idea, not necessarily just the theme. **