Expressing Inner States.

Bird discusses how artwork developed the process of expressing inner states through spiritual, romanticism, and other content throughout time. It is most well known through the expressionists in the 1920's, specifically those avante garde groups of Germany. He specifically mentions Kandinsky and how visually representing such abstract ideas requires great dependence and respect for both line quality and color as metaphor. For example, Bacon didn't just realistically paint someone's portrait but tried to represent the inner relationship or influence he had with that person through abstraction, mark making, and color.

The idea of this subject relates to other chapters we have discussed so far such as narrative and the unconscious. Why? They're all about the content and the importance of it in artwork. This specific chapter focuses on making that artwork extremely personal and internal by expressing your inner self. This means visually representing a wide range of visual states which is difficult, but vital to do. Personally, I believe this is necessary for my students to do in order to learn coping mechanisms and find their artistic voice to say what they need to say about their own lives. Sadly, most children or adolescents aren't given this opportunity enough.

In the art world it can be challenging to visually represent one's inner self. For my students I think this is where an artistic journal can be greatly important. When a student (or myself) is stuck on how to make work, I start with the process:
1.) What is going on in my life? And I list everything I am feeling from the good, the bad, and the ugly.
2.) What is striking me as what I would like to talk about the most?
3.) How can I visually represent that message?

This is where the hard part comes in. I would tell my students it can be a challenge, but possible to represent these intangible emotions through various art practices such as:

• Relying on color to represent a mood
• Relying on mark making to represent a mood
• Should their mark making be done by hand only, or involve the entire body?
• Relying on a figure's body language to represent a mood
• Relying on a figure's action to represent a situation that typically evokes a mood
• Relying on the surface of your materials to represent a mood
• Exposing details of a figure's body to represent a mood (Biting fingernails, pulling hair)
• Integrating text to guide the viewer towards the mood depicted
• Altering the frame in which the artwork is bound
• Including images that are aggressively to the point or others that are subtle in content, or a combination.

Students should be encouraged to think thoroughly about the emotions or internal states the experience  What triggers them? When do they feel that way? What do they wish they could do when they feel that way? Is it when they are alone or with others, and why? What other situations cause them to feel that way? If they were to pick a color scheme for that mood, what would it be and why?