Visual Art Majors DYP: My Body of Work

This work of art was created with a variety of media. I worked on a piece of white fabric and printed the figure of the woman, hands, and hair onto the surface of the fabric with a relief print. I also printed various prints of a hand in various colors and attached these by sewing onto the fabric. Finally, I sewed onto the fabric with a turquoise and yellow thread that interconnects all separate images floating on the surface. This piece presented a fun and interesting challenge since it required so many different materials to bring it together. It is a work of art that is very personal and I hope that the viewer is interested in figuring out what it is about.

Haymee Salas, mixed media on fabric

There is an iconography that I started working with in college, that has followed me into my current work. It consists of a list of objects that are used repeatedly to occupy the spaces of my work. There are objects that are highly personal and are attached to an experience or an emotion. Hair in particular is a strong symbol of beauty and power, while thread is know to have spiritual and psychic powers when used in a certain way. In addition thread is used to sew up wounds, clothes, and even the dead.

In this close up of the work, there are strands of hair that are cut and falling. The cutting of hair has marked important and often painful moments in my life. The cutting of hair has signified an impulse to rid myself of long hair as a symbol of beauty, thus, the decision to cut it off is a marked intention to be rid of the signs that make one beautiful or attractive. In many cultures as well, the cutting of ones hair signifies sacrifice or renunciation, while cutting hair in the military is done to subjugate the individual, and therefore to become invisible.

The thread that winds out of the woman's womb is becoming more and more entangled as it flows out and creates knots. This thread is not painted on but actually sewn on. The process of having to sew each stitch in the piece is an important part of its significance. Many of my pieces take a great deal of time to make. This time consuming process is crucial to its final meaning. When presented with the choice to make short cuts like using a sewing machine, I always choose to work by completely by hand. The touch of the hand on the work is sacred in preserving its meaning and value.

In my work I explore the theme of the body from the experience of being a woman. The body of the woman stands as a kind of self-portrait as well as a universal symbol for all women. The allegorical qualities in these works of art reference shared and unique experiences that are particular to being a woman. In addition, the objects of cups and strings serve to illustrate emptiness and loss, connection and attachment.

Haymee Salas, Acrylic on canvas, 2008

This piece draws inspiration from Hindu deities such as Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity, and beauty. The woman here has four arms but no head. In her belly sits an empty bowl. Her body stands with two arms folded in non-action, while the other two arms dip their hands (unseen) in waves of water. Water is a powerful symbol as the giver of life while at the same time a great destructor. This painting is as much a representation of what is gained as what is also lost. It is about the precarious position anyone is in when alive and experiencing joy and pain. The form is large on the canvas to appear powerful and strong, yet at the same time, the bowl in the belly remains empty, indicating that there is a lack of something or the loss of something.

Haymee Salas, Acrylic on canvas, 2008

Thread is a recurring symbol that appears as a positive attachment or a symbol of entanglement. As people we form attachments to things and to other people. These can become positive anchors that tie us down to our roots or negative associations that we struggle to free ourselves from. Here there are two hands that hold the thread as it sits inside the chest of the woman body that is again headless and sitting in a body of water. The thread is made of gold, a color of value, as much as it is tied in knots. It is unknown whether the woman will eventually succumb to the water that surrounds her and drown as a consequence of these knots and strings that pull her in different directions and demonstrate inner struggles.

This page represents my own artistic exploration of current ideas, big and small, that I am working with at the moment. There is no artistic creation too great or small. Each event is an experience that is strung together to form a creative path or journey.

The pieces below are "drawings" done in watercolor, using a simple line. Each piece was created on a small oval or round canvas. The pieces were created in one day to work in tandem. The purpose of creating these was to fill the blank wall in my apartment that frames the dining room table. I chose to depict simple everyday objects such as eating utensils, and my favorite tea cup filled with tea.