Staff Show 2016: Karina Dar Juan

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Emily Bray

In this series, Education Specialist for Public Programs, Emily Bray highlights participants in the 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, on view through September 19, 2016.

Karina Dar Juan,”Day Job Daydream: 2C”

Karina Dar Juan

Karina Dar Juan is Virginia-born with an overseas state of mind. Having received a BA in Philosophy and Art History, followed by an MA in Art Theory and a secondary MA in Museum and Gallery Studies, all in the UK, Karina brings her expertise on European art history and Museum Practice back to the states with the hopes of working full time as a museum professional. Her art backgrounds include graphic design, illustration, makeup and costume Design, hand-knitted clothing and accessories, performance art, and running seminars and panel discussions on art within a broader cultural sphere.

Karina Dar Juan. Photo: Rhiannon Newman

What do you do at The Phillips Collection? Are there any unique/interesting parts about your job that most people might not know about?

Museum Assistant (MA); We see all, we hear all, and we protect all. Fast reflexes are a bonus.

Who are your favorite artists in the collection?

Definitely Wassily Kandinsky and Ferdinand-Victor-Eugene Delacroix; Delacroix because the art historian in me has a soft spot for the Romanticism versus Neoclassicism tension during the Enlightenment period, and Kandinsky because I’m fascinated by synesthesia and Kandinsky’s use of this trait to express his spiritualism.

What is your favorite gallery or space within The Phillips Collection?

I may be the exception to the rule as far as Museum Assistants go, but I usually favor the first floor of the Sant building. While it has a reputation for being cold and uncomfortable, I’ve seen its potential realized in so many different ways. It’s the tallest gallery space, allowing for towering sculptures, and it’s often the space where the most modern art pieces are shown, providing a refreshing place to pause and digest the more traditional exhibitions in the rest of the museum. Also, it’s the room I was posted in for my very first day as an MA.

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2016 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

I’m normally more of a knitter than any other art form, however I was inspired very early on as an MA to make an art piece on a Phillips Collection gallery. I spend all day staring at the same room, and images seem to pop out whenever I let my imagination wander. I wanted to portray the mindset of an artist lapsing into a daydream during a particularly quiet shift. Most of the motifs in my piece are from around my house, such as the plants, and I always include the usual motifs for my sister and brother: my brother as a frog or puzzle piece, and my sister as an acrobat or chipmunk.

Anything else?

Please visit my website at www.facebook.com/KDJ.Design or my Instagram at KDJ.Design.

The 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show is on view August 14 through September 19, 2016.

Phillips-at-Home Summer Series #3: Nature as Beauty

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Experiment Station

Our third project of the Phillips-at-Home Summer Series features the artist Franz Marc and his work Deer in the Forest I. For this art activity, you are going to create an animal sculpture. What is a sculpture? A sculpture is a piece of artwork that can be viewed from any angle.

Franz Marc, Deer in Forest 1, 1913, Oil on canvas, Framed: 43 in x 44 1/2 in x 2 3/4 in, Gift from the estate of Katherine S. Dreier 1953, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Franz Marc, Deer in Forest I, 1913, Oil on canvas, Framed: 43 in x 44 1/2 in x 2 3/4 in, Gift from the estate of Katherine S. Dreier 1953, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Look closely: What do you notice in this painting? Franz Marc believed that colors could stir deep emotions. How do the colors make you feel? Is this a place you would like to visit? Why or why not?

About the Artist:

Franz Marc was born in Munich, Germany on February 8,1880. At the age of 20, he abandoned his studies in theology and philosophy to pursue a career in art at the Munich Academy (1900 to 1903). He travelled around Europe for several years until he settled in Sindelsdorf, Upper Bavaria (modern day Munich, Germany), in 1909. Two years later, Marc joined his friend and fellow artist Wassily Kandinsky as a member of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München, (New Artists’ Association, Munich). However, both artists resigned that same year and began planning the 1911 Blaue Reiter exhibition. During this planning period, Marc created his own personal color symbolism in which “Blue is the male principle, astringent and spiritual. Yellow is the female principle, gentle, gay and spiritual. Red is matter, brutal and heavy and always the color to be opposed and overcome by the other two.” How does knowing this information change your understanding of the painting? Marc’s promising career ended abruptly when he volunteered for military service at the beginning of World War 1. The Phillips Collection has one painting by Franz Marc.

Materials needed

WHAT YOU NEED:

Model Magic
Markers
1 sheet of construction paper

SUGGESTED AGE:

Ages 4 and up

TIME FRAME:

1-2 hours to make; 2 days for your Model Magic to harden

STEPS:

1. Choose an animal that you would like to make into a sculpture. It can be anything from the forest animals that Franz Marc paints, to your favorite creature, to an imaginary creature.

2. Take the Model Magic out of the wrapper and break off a third of it. This piece will become the head of your creature. Put this smaller piece aside for later.

Step 2

3. Begin molding the body of your creature with your hands; think about what your animal looks like. If you need help, refer to an image of your animal in a book or on the internet. Keep in mind: Does your animal have legs? Fins? A tail? Mold all of the features of your animal’s body.

Step 3

4. Set the body aside and begin to mold the head. Does your animal have eyes? Ears? A big nose or a little nose? Once you have molded the head to your liking, gently apply pressure and attach it to the body of your animal. Does your animal have a neck? Smooth out the edges while thinking about how long your animal’s neck is.

Step 4

5. You can either wait a day and a half or so for your Model Magic to harden in order to color it, or you can gently use your markers immediately. What color would you like your animal to be? Use those colored markers and begin applying it to your animal. As you are coloring your sculpture, think about details your animal might have, such as fur or stripes. Remember to color your entire animal since you can see a sculpture from all angles; you may have to allow the marker to dry for a couple of minutes before you pick up your animal.

Step 5

6. Once you have colored your animal, set it aside. A great next step is creating your animal’s environment. Looking at Franz Marc’s approach, choose a piece of construction paper. You can begin creating organic shapes with your markers. What are organic shapes? They are shapes that look natural and maybe contain a variety of curvy and straight lines. Fill your paper with any environment you wish to have for your animal. If you have extra Model Magic, feel free to apply it to your environment on the paper and color it as well.

Step 6

Step 6

7. When you have finished your animal and its environment, place your animal in its new home!

Step 7, The Final Piece

New Creature, New Home, Artwork: Julia Kron

A nice complement to this art project is Eric Carle’s The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse.

Tune in regularly for another great art activity inspired by The Phillips Collection!

Julia Kron, K12 Education Intern

Kandinsky Plays the Music of the Soul

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Experiment Station

Artist Richard Chartier and Curator Elsa Smithgall discuss Kandinsky's Painting with White Border. Photo: Evelyn Gardett

Artist Richard Chartier recently participated in a public talk on Kandinsky’s Painting with White Border with Curator Elsa Smithgall. Here he reflects on the experience and shares his meditations on the painting. Learn more about Richard on his website.

When I first agreed to do an artist talk/conversation in connection with the Kandinsky exhibition I was unsure. I didn’t feel I had much connection to his early work.

Having said that, when I arrived and actually saw the painting I was to discuss, Painting with the White Border, in person I was astounded. There is a certain magic to this work.

Kandinsky created so many sketches and preparatory works for this one painting, and it shows. He spoke frequently of his desire to “paint the color of sound.” His initial drawings gave me the impression of graphic scores a contemporary composer might create for a piece of music. He thought of these shapes and colors and forms as elements in a symphony. It truly is a work that pulls you in and moves you around in a continuous swirl.

After talking with the curator Elsa Smithgall for almost two hours preparing our discussion, I went to see the Rothko Room. I spent some contemplative time there and then returned to sit in front of Painting with the White Border. I found myself having distinctly different but similar synaesthetic reactions. In both the Rothko paintings and this swirl of a painting by Kandinsky I found myself being pulled in and thinking about sound. Whereas the Rothkos were sumptuous understated drones, the Kandinsky was a musical tempest, a wild symphony for the eyes. The color, the density, the vibrant interactions make the surface of the painting almost uniform in its movement, but the one thing that keeps your eye moving back into the painting is that fascinating, almost undulating, white border.

Kandinsky wrote: “Color is the keyboard, the eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many strings.” This painting knows exactly how to play the soul.

–Richard Chartier, artist