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.
