Finding Focus in 2021
Today we open our submissions for the 5th issue of Radx Magazine. The theme is FOCUS, an action important for creators and something that is constantly in our minds. Submit here
We often ask artists about their focus as it’s important to better understand their practice and goals. An artist typically has an overarching focus or goal in mind with creating, but individual works can have their own focus as well.
Focus is all about having clarity. When you have a purpose in creating, your vision becomes clear and attainable. Last issue, we interviewed creator and art educator Erin Kendrick, who creates with a specific intention. Kendrick’s work focuses on Black women, exploring the personality and nuance behind portraiture, breaking stereotypes that have persisted for too long.
“Very seldom do we get to be all things good and bad at once, very seldom do we get to be publicly human. So in my artwork I really wanted to bring about as much humanness as possible.”
– Erin Kendrick
Read below an excerpt from Radx Magazine, Vol. IV, Elevate written by Justin Smith regarding Kendrick’s focus and process.
“Kendrick’s goal with her pieces has always remained consistent. Her paintings are centered on African-American women, their voices, faces and personality. Some of the people that she is inspired to paint are women she has in mind while others are reflective of her. Kendrick’s specialty is acrylic ink. To bring the template in her mind to life she applies water to the canvas and then with an eyedropper she subtly adds ink. Being that the water makes the paint run, it creates a collage of luminous colors flowing into each other. Although she wields the brush, she lacks full control over the colors. The symbolic layers of the colors signify the totality of what makes someone who they are.”
The process she has adapted has helped support her focus and guide her forward.
For these reasons, we’ve decided to have two separate prompts for submissions in this issue.
Artistic Focus: Create a work that shows your artistic direction, your mantra, your focus.
This would be a visual representation of what keeps you going, what gets your head in the game, what drives you forward. You don’t have to overthink it! It can be vague or specific. The goal is to know what brings you clarity and purpose in creating. Tell us a little about the meaning behind your submission(s) as well!
Subject Focus: Create a work with a subject in clear focus and a more muted background, or vice versa, a work with a blurry subject and a clear background in focus.
Keeping with our theme, we are looking specifically for works that have focus. As a simple example, let’s take a wooden chair and place it in a living room. In the submitted work, either the chair would be in focus/clear and the living room would be blurry/out of focus, OR the chair would be blurry and the living room would be in focus and clear. Tell us about the meaning behind your submission(s) as well.
THE FEED
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