The Actor (L'acteur)

photographed by: caro ramirez (website | blog | flickr); inspiration: the actor (l'acteur) by pablo picasso; image source: wikipedia

Pablo Picasso is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable artists of the 20th century and all time. He is most well known for co-founding the Cubist Movement with Georges Braques, but my favorite paintings of his are from his Blue Period (Le Noces de Pierrette and Portrait of Suzanne Bloch) and Rose Period (Garçon à la pipe and The Actor) and I am haunted and completely enamored by Guernica, the painting that portrays the horrific tragedies of the bombing of Guernica in 1937. I also love Le Rêve, which is reminiscent to the Fauvist moment (my favorite Fauvist painting is Woman with a Hat by Henri Matisse).

The Actor is one of the most recognized figures in 20th century art. When I came across The Actor, I was in awe of the acrobat's pose. Of course, I'm mesmerized by the color palette and that shade of pink, but the pose is so dramatic and awkward. Honestly, it was hard to mimic this pose, because it's so distorted and awkward, but I tried my best to imitate it. His expression is so dark and ambiguous. This painting is haunting, but oddly romantic at the same time. I love it when art can make me feel multiple and sometimes oppositional emotions. Harlequins and circus performers appear frequently in the Rose Period, but they will dominate Picasso's painting in various stages throughout the rest of his artistic career.

This painting makes me miss acting and the theater. Throughout boarding school, I participated in plays and took L.A.M.D.A. lessons and only in my last year, I discovered my passion for theater. I studied sound design and although it was a lot of more simplified compared to film sound design, I enjoyed learning something new and outside my comfort zone. Our play was set during World War II when children were evacuated from London to the countryside, it was centered on an autistic girl and her relationship with the other children. I used the soundtrack of Donnie Darko as a key thematic score and manipulated it for our play. I still miss acting and would consider acting for fun, but I don't think I could be a film actress, because I would be too self conscious in front of a motion picture camera.

Color is a symbolic visual device that can clearly convey a certain emotion, which is demonstrated in Picasso's Blue and Rose Period. Color theory is hugely important to people in the visual and arts field. I'm a photographer and enjoy cinematography, so color is a very significant factor to me. I respond to more muted and pastel colors rather than a bright color palette, which is probably quite evident in the way I dress. Although, once in a while I enjoy a pop of color here and there, depending on the object or item.

When I was younger, I decided that (if and) when I make feature films, I want each film to have a certain color palette with a specific theme in mind. When conceptualizing the look of the film, there are so many aspects to consider: warm or cool color palette, light or dark and this applies to the look of the film in terms of cinematography and production design. If I make it as an independent filmmaker, I want my films to have a distinctive look in terms of cinematography, think Amélie (Bruno Delbonnel), American Beauty (Conrad L. Hall), Requiem for a Dream (Matthew Libatique), A Single Man (Eduard Grau). But simplicity is also effective, which is demonstrated in Woody Allen's films and Gordon Willis' cinematography.