Postmodern Mixed Media Project Visual Analysis

The medium for the piece was paint, ink, and printed images on Bristol board. The composition is balanced by using a triangle shape. The focal point of the piece is the photoshopped collage of famous classical portraits that forms the inside of a mouth. When looking at the piece, one's eye travels from the focal point side to side similar to the shape of the larger painted smiling lips. I edited the printed collages so that they are highly saturated to give then an almost glowing appearance. In addition, these images are primarily composed of warm colors. The chosen color scheme is complementary colors. The chosen complements are orange-yellow and blue, red and green, and purple and yellow. The painted lips are similar to the lips on the printed collages in regards to shape and color. Though unlike the printed lips, the painted lips have more purple tones incorporated within them to follow the complementary color scheme. In addition, following the color scheme, the skin tone has orange-yellow tones within it. The skin tones colors are not as saturated as the lips because the lips are the focal point. The ink surrounds the bottom part of the painted lips to create a three-dimensional more modern effect and shadow. When hung, the ink makes the piece appear rounded so that there is even more depth.

The piece is inspired by Jean Baudrillard's quotation, which states, "Americans may have no identity, but they do have wonderful teeth". To further explore this concept of lacking identity, I chose to utilize renowned portraits that many people, even those without formal training in art, will likely recognize. The artificial saturated colors of these portraits make them look bleached like the fake smiles posted on top of each one. These model perfect smiles exemplify Americans "wonderful teeth".  Suddenly with the same perfect set of teeth, these once distinctive masterpieces lose some of their overall uniqueness. Together, these edited portraits form a collage that acts as the "teeth" of a larger mouth. The larger lips are a similar pink color to the printed out lips. Having them the same color creates a uniformity making the portraits appear less original and unique. There are no eyes that go with the painted nose and lips making it appear like a mask that anyone can wear. The mask represents how the American identity has become like a cookie cutter, almost manufactured. In addition, it comments on the fact that Americans values are skin deep. This mask has no identity, but it will give the one who wears it a pair of perfect teeth.