Cultural and Identity blogpost – Static image

Kia ora today I will be talking about what we’ve been doing these past few weeks in WGA and what I’ve done so far. I chose to do a static image because I like to do art and it seemed fun to do! Showing some of my culture and identity was my main goal in the static image I created, I made sure to try and put as much details as I could into the image so I can get the 3 NCEA credits or to at least pass. I will further explain the details in my static image below.

This is my static image. The girl/girls is supposed to represent me, I drew  the character in my art style and how I like to dress in real life. Fashion and how I dress is really important to me, this is why I decided to do these types of clothes rather then the traditional Filipiniana to show my culture. Originally I wanted to do more traditional clothes, although mid start of my art I wasn’t enjoying it at all. So I did it “my way”. She’s wearing baggy jeans which is something I wear in real life, also a the top might be something i’d also wear. I’d say I enjoyed making this art more then what I was trying to do, forcefully creating art that I disliked.

On the pants and top, you can tell that there are “camo” looking patterns on her clothes. These are actually the Philippines and New Zealand outline that is found on the globe. You may also see the little plane about to come across from the pants to the shirt, that represents my move from Philippines to New Zealand! While looking at the pants you may also notice that there are animal silhouettes, these are some of my favourites animals ; Pandas and bunnies!

Looking at the shirt, you may notice the three stars. These stars are actually supposed to typify the three stars on the Philippine flag symbolising Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the three biggest island groups in the Philippines.

The colouring theme on the background (different shades of blue) is representing the colour blue on our Philippines flag, the colour means peace, truth and justice. I thought it’d be a good idea to add it in since it is what I believe in. You may also notice in the background that there are music notes (I also added in headphones to my character), this is to show my love for music. Sadly I do not play musical instruments but I love listening to music, It helps me relax and focus on what i’m doing. Music has helped many people in many ways. If you looked close enough you may see “Faye” that’s my name, I added it in because my name is part of who I am / my identity.

Another thing that I decided to add onto my art is half of the Philippines sun, the sun represents liberty and its eight rays represent the first eight provinces that revolted against Spain.

At the top right corner you may see a star sign/constellation, that’s mine! I’m Libra born on 2007, October 9.

The wings on my character represent development and growth, sort of initiating that i’m able to “fly” on my own. This shows that i’ve “grown up” in my opinion.

I quote this work as “Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey!”. This is because, throughout my work you may notice that it’s mostly about me and how far i’ve come and developed as a person. An example for that is the wings detail that I added or how I mentioned my style and how it changed . I’m still developing in my journey each day. But I never forget to have as much fun as I can during that journey, it’s always better to enjoy rather than being dull, nonchalant and not doing the things you want to do.

That’s all for today, thank you!