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Ayla Morten's Superbulb - The Open College of the Arts

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Ayla Morten's Superbulb thumb

Ayla Morten's Superbulb

This is a post from the weareoca.com archive. Information contained within it may now be out of date.
 

Ayla Morten has just sent her first assignment in for Exploring Concepts which included this beautiful drawing of a garlic bulb which I wanted to share with the wider student body. The assignment is an exploration of detailed observation, so called ‘photorealism’ and surrealism.
Ayla has made a detailed drawing of this garlic bulb and the result is stunning. The drawing goes beyond and any sense of direct observation as simple binary translation and creates a thing of real beauty and radiance.
I find the forms slightly reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe, but from my perspective Ayla’s drawing is much more interesting as the reference to the lyrical or transcendent is so much more subtle and woven into the still life genre.
The extreme clarity of the use of colour allows for an almost illuminated effect (my efforts at photography unfortunately do not convey the glowing colours) and despite what must have been a very labour intensive process there is no loss of flow or rhythm in the lines of the cloves. The opposite is true in fact and the arcs and parabolas are more perfectly taut than seems wholly natural. However conscious or unconscious this editing process was I think in this drawing Ayla has managed to get to the heart of what the course author was aiming for in this first chapter about the potentially transformative effect of close attention to detail and what can happen when totally believable realism is tweaked so that we are faced with a believable unreality.


Posted by author: Emma Drye

23 thoughts on “Ayla Morten's Superbulb

  • I completely agree- this is a thing of beauty. The papery translucence is caught perfectly.
    Thank you for sharing, and reminding me of the beauty all around us if we simply stop and look. Obviously Ayla has done exactly that.

  • This is lovely. As my Drawing 1 styudents will n o doubt testify, I’m always banging on about composition and how shadows, negative space and proximity of the ‘subject’ to the edge contibute to that.
    The delicately coloured shadows add another element to the work which anchors the object in an otherwise blank space. The way those shadows create complex shapes – different from the curves in the object – and interact with the blank, negatice space, creates tension and interest.
    The other thing I’m always saying – to pretty much anyone who’ll listen – is that artists are making things that are worth looking at in their own right and not just as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ versions of something in the world. Drawings, sculpturesand paintings become something in the world. This drawing stakes a claim for itself and not for garlic per se.

  • It has a lot to do with the quality of the “seeing” in the first place, I think. I have just had a quick look at a garlic bulb in my kitchen, and certainly didn’t see it in the same way that Ayla did. There is a sense in Ayal’s drawing of seeing in a deeper way, a real contemplation of “garlic bulb-ness”. Exploring it from the inside in a way.

    • That’s a very good point Linda. The potential of art to synthesize such a variety of experiences and ideas so fluently is enormous.

    • I agree Catherine. I think many students feel a bit uninspired by the photorealism brief for this course but hopefully this blog (or rather Ayla) will give people a boost to invest a bit more into it.

  • How beautiful. For me, you’ve encapsulated what art should be about. I find your work truly inspirational.

  • This is exquisite. As a Drawing 1 student I would be interested to know the size of the original drawing. Also what drawing materials have been used to create those magical colours. Is there anywhere I can see other examples of Ayla’s work?

      • Hi Jo,
        This drawing was indeed A2 size and was completed in coloured pencil. It took a lot of layers which i had to build up lightly as the coloured pencils have a slightly waxy coating that prevented the colours being layered when applied with pressure. There are some of my other works on my student page. (see link above)

  • I don’t normally enjoy looking at photorealism, but this is different. The status of the humble (but beautiful) garlic bulb is lifted completely to become as poetic as a flower.

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