By: Estefanie H., Andrea C., Nicholas S., and Myura T.
Artist Statement:
We drew inspiration for our flag from the book War Baby / Love Child and its attempt to depict mixed heritage through various forms of art. Our flag shows a male figure in a uniform, this side is in red to represent the lives lost due to war, and also the loss of identity. He also has the moon behind him, that not only represents darkness but also as a motherly figure; the mother is watching over him. The right side of the flag, with a blue background, demonstrates a faceless woman holding a child. Blue typically represents peace, which is ironic due to the fact that women that have children with soldiers sometimes do not find peace for appearing to have “betrayed their race” by mixing with a person that is not of their ethnic background. The faceless woman has a visible tear which can represent sadness for her, for her child’s future or also it can be interpreted as her feeling torn between choosing her child or the man next to her. There is also a visible border between them creating the illusion of being united yet separate. The baby is in red to signify that it is the soldier’s child. The Sun behind her should be warming her, but all she feels is blue, literally and metaphorically.
Learning about different laws that “allowed” these war babies/ love children to find their parents. It made us think about how many parents were not able to cross that border (in between our images) to reunite their children with other family members. The one thing for certain is that they both see the same moon and sun just in different parts of the world.
A very thoughtfully emotional conceptualization of War Babies/Love Child that serves to complicate both dichotomies. Interesting artwork attempts to bring these ideas to form.
ReplyDeleteThere is a nice play of emotions with color contrast and symbols. I wonder why is the soldier's arms are blue? Is it because it is believed that the effort of soldiers are suppose to create peace?
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how you made your flag. It looks very well done and clean. As for the content of the flag, there is quite a bit of complexity and meaning that is shown with the colors and the art. This complexity between love child and war babies brings out a lot of good things about the art that wouldn't otherwise be recognized without the artist statement. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how you made your flag. It looks very well done and clean. As for the content of the flag, there is quite a bit of complexity and meaning that is shown with the colors and the art. This complexity between love child and war babies brings out a lot of good things about the art that wouldn't otherwise be recognized without the artist statement. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting piece of art. When you said blue usually meant peace, I was used to blue usually meaning feeling down and sad. Using color to represent emotions is a wonderful way to portray art. There are a lot of emotions that go on when you are figuring out who you are as a love child/war baby. The statement was well written and was a great way to portray what we learned in lecture last week, and no need for improvement!
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed by the overall presentation of the image and how your artist statement went to describe how the visual came to be. I enjoyed your breakdown of the two worlds, seeing the same moon and sun but in different lands. I liked the use of form and color in particular to represent this war baby/love child dichotomy. Your flag invokes great emotional response, at least that is how I felt while reading your statement and looking at the visual.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about this piece is that it only used two colors; red and blue. This shows that you can portray a lot with using only two colors and it does have a complex meaning behind it. Just by looking at this flag, it does show War Baby/ Love Child. Overall a great piece and no need for improvement.
ReplyDeleteThe concept behind this piece is really profound and engaging. It also reflects the theme and readings of this week which cover war babies and love childs. The flag matches the artists' statement well and it delves deep into many analytical and complex social issues we've talked about in class.
ReplyDeleteFor starters, the image itself is beautiful and clean. I liked how each person portrayed in this didn't have a specific face, so for those in the audience that can relate, it's as though they can put in their own faces. I found it interesting how you guys stated that blue meant peace, I always thought it just meant sadness, which you later stated in your artist statement. When I first saw the piece, I thought that what seemed to be blue fire behind the soldier was the burning of the past he left behind as soldiers typically left behind their Amerasian child after the war. Lovely piece!
ReplyDeleteI thought that your artwork was very strong in that it had a lot of meaning behind it. Your artwork is beautifully designed and matches well with the artist statement. Although you were able to grasp the main idea regarding the struggles of war babies/love children and their family members, one thing to possibly include would be a bit of outside research that was not mentioned in the book. For example, you can elaborate on why the women were sad by talking about how it could have been their choice to not reunite with the men. If we go back and try to understand how war babies even came about, maybe most of the babies were pregnancies the women did not want. Highlighting this point might draw attention to other issues.
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ReplyDeleteTo start, this imagine is extremely powerful. It demonstrates a lot of different meanings overall. I love the use of the blue and red colors to contrast both images and meanings. I think the concept of the sun and moon was very clever. Your artist statement really explained the idea behind the image. I would just like to know what your flag was made of? Overall, it looks really well executed.
ReplyDeleteI like how although it is a flag, it looks like a beautiful artwork that can be used as paintings. The flag itself is very straight forward, and the message it conveys is well expressed in the artist statement. It expressed and analyzed the idea in the book very well. I like how there are contrast between the two sides yet it looks unified as one flag. I also enjoyed that it is from the perspective of the family rather than the mixed race child him/herself. In the artist statement, I wish you can talk more about what it means to you to be an artist, and how this piece shows your belief in art. Overall Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe graphics are very beautiful and they give life to the artist statement. Through further, deeper research, your group could explore how the "war baby" reclaims their agency beyond the binary of tragedy and freedom during wartime.
ReplyDeleteThe artwork in this piece is beautiful. From the color choices to the subject matter, it's also a great display of the juxtaposition between Vietnamese women and the American soldiers who together produce "war babies" and "love children". The symbolism is also well-explained in the artists statement. I'm interested in learning how this was made, it seems to be digital art and not a physical flag. Maybe presenting it as a projection would be really cool. Overall it's a great piece
ReplyDeleteFirst, I thought the graphics were very well done! I was wondering: did you use Photoshop or Illustrator to do this? Second, I love the use of contrasting colors and what they represent. And I like how the images really reflect the War Baby/ Love Child concept. Lastly, the artist statement was well-written. Although, you missed out on what it means to be artist. Other than that, great job guys!
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ReplyDeleteThis is such an artistic project. I love the contrasting yet binary colors chosen. I was wondering, what art software used, very neat and aesthetic. For artist statement, maybe a little further connections could be made to Dr. Dariotis discussion and implication of war/love babies. But overall, great design!
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