Woman with a Hat (La Femme au Chapeau)

photographed by: caro ramirez (website | blog | flickr); inspiration: woman with a hat by henri matisse; image source: wikipedia

Fauvism is the style of les Fauves ("the wild beasts" in French), it was a short-lived movement characterized by painterly qualities and strong bold colors. The leaders of the movement were Henri Matisse and André Derain. I have expressed my preference for pastel and muted colors, so it would seem unlikely of me to admire paintings from this movement that are characterized and recognized for its bright color palette. I fell in love with Woman with a Hat the moment I saw it or learned about it in class. What I love is that it resides at the SFMOMA; I can stare at this painting for hours if I had the time (that also applies to Mark Rothko's Untitled No. 14, 1960, one time I stared at it for an hour). There is something so beautiful and joyous about the colors and paint strokes. I also love that it is believed that the woman in the painting was Matisse's wife, Amelie.

Initially, I thought we would find a colorful wall in San Francisco to represent the colorful background of Woman with a Hat, but then I had an epiphany: paint the background myself! I am so in love with the result! I had fun recreating the colors and painting it! I think I will try to do more of this, incorporating painting into my outfit photos. This will require me to improve my Photoshop skills, but it's a good thing, because there is so much I have to learn!

As much as I am enamored by the Renaissance paintings and then there was Baroque, Neoclassicism, Enlightenment and Rococo, but I will always love Modern Art and my love for Modern Art is different from my admiration for traditional art. Many people don't appreciate or embrace modern art and I can understand how someone can get lost by the concept behind modern art. I think modern art is a representation of radical and revolutionary thought by modern human beings. Modern artists perceive the world in their own unique way and they conceptualize a new painting or artistic style to portray that. I wish I could come up with my own unique way to portray how I view the world. I hope I can do that one day through my films. I love impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism, surrealism, minimalism, pop art, abstract expression, color field painting. I love all these modern art movements. I could talk about Marchel Duchamp's Fountain all day. Modern art starts conversations, it allows the viewer to interpret, it starts arguments and debates and that's what makes modern art so incredible and relatable.

I have every intention of finding a job and working during my OPT (Optional Practical Training) and hopefully I will find a company to sponsor me. After working for a bit, I absolutely want to go back to school and do a Master's in Art History. I think I would love it so much and I think it would be such a great way to continue my education. Art history has helped me open my eyes and learn more about the world and I just love the feeling I get when I'm learning about all art forms. As much as I want to find a job and work in the film industry (and pay taxes), I want to study art history and maybe curate for a bit or work for Sotheby's or Christie's. Am I being too ambitious? I guess I'll just focus on finding a job for now and then I can think about a Master's in three or four years time.

And what more can I say? I love hats!