Rachael Graham: Blogging Assignment 2

At first, I was not sure exactly what to take from the collection of pieces in Claire Rau's exhibit. Of course, it was very interesting to see a variety of silk screen pieces! I am very excited to start silk screening, so I was happy to see some professional examples. After listening to Rau's explanation of her inspiration and her ideas for the exhibit , I more easily understood the reasoning behind the organization of her exhibit. Rau used her family military background to create many pieces in a representation of different kinds of "booby traps" and pieces related to capture, etc. Also, Rau also expressed that she loves to "make stuff" and go through the process of creating art as an outlet for emotional stress and anger at times!

I loved to look at the silk screen titled, smoke and Oakum. I was drawn to its very bright colors, such as red, orange, yellow, combined with greys related to smoke color, and a twinge of lime green. The piece consisted of colorful plumes of smoke, greys and bright colors intertwined, seemingly blowing away from a large fire. The plumes of smoke were very smooth and rounded, but seemingly rough looking at the same time due to the combination of colors!

As I described Smoke and Oakum formally, I realized at that time, that Rau may have been very stressed or angry at the time she created Smoke and Oakum. Since the piece has "fiery" and bright colors, I would interpret that she had been angry. Just the plain fact the the print depicts smoke and fire blowing in the wind, she may have been literally depicting a fiery or angry mood right on paper - A fire blowing away in the wind. I think it is so neat how she makes such a concept so apparen.