The paintings that I witnessed at the Guggenheim Museum impressed me with their scale. It seemed to me as though Hilma af Klint tried to capture the entire universe in her artwork. When I stood right in front of her work, I felt as though I’m inside on them, floating around between the shapes and immersed in colors. I found it interesting that according to the Frieze article, “During that period, women’s subject matter was circumscribed by the mundane, the domestic worlds of animals and flowers, to which they were forcibly confined. In operating as a medium, however, af Klint was able to work on a cosmic scale.” I found it fascinating how Klint was able to break away from stereotypes that women were subjected to even in the field like art, where it seems to be a lot of freedom. Her work challenges the audience in a sense that it captures all of your attention with its scale. It’s not only about flowers, it’s about capturing and showing the spiritual side of her identity, and also embracing the flow of consciousness, channeled by the universe. According to the article by Guggenheim, Quaytman notes of af Klint’s work, “If you . . . didn’t know anything, you’d think these paintings were made ten or twenty years ago. You would not know how old they were. And what’s so thrilling about her work, I find, is how contemporary it feels.” Klint’s artwork seems contemporary, which allows her artwork to become truly timeless, speaking to any year, including the future.
I was inspired by the idea of the automatic drawing that Klint incorporated in her paintings. I want to explore this idea in my self-portrait, mainly because in my artwork and during designing phases, I embrace the inner energy that I put into the creation of my work. I allow my brain to spill over the page. I enjoy looking within myself for the answers to any design problem, and the first thing I do is just go for it, without any planning. Hilma af Klint inspired me to embrace my way of creating and my process. In my self-portrait I plan to include things that I don’t think about, but actually use and which play role in my life. Example: text messages, tickets, flyers, notes, my handwriting. All of these and more are part of my daily routine, which comes together to my life as a whole. Unlike Klint, I want my self-portrait to be reflective of the era, which I live in now. Metro Cards, train tickets, newspapers, might not be a part of the future, but they are part of my consumer culture now. Hilma af Klint also inspired me to consider going large scale, make a full body portrait with extremely small details to challenge the viewer and make them walk and observe around, just like I did in front of af Klint’s artwork.
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