2D Surface Design - Venezuelan Venus

 

Various samples of a 2D surface design inspired by a Pre-Colombian figure called the "Venus of Tacarigua." 

Process

1. Surface Design Scavenger Hunt

 To find inspiration for my surface design, I looked for ornamentation and patterns in clothing, furniture, architecture, interior decor, and more. The first day, I met with a group of classmates and we found design inspiration at the university campus. We took over 50 photos and I included the best ones above.

Throughout the week, I found some of my own examples as well:

I saw some lovely murals downtown and at Deerfoot City. The combination of blues and pinks stood out to me and I decided to incorporate it into my piece.

It takes me 1.5 hours every day to transit to AUArts, and I've never really stopped to look at the designs on the manhole covers near the stations. It was really fun to compare all the different iterations. I felt like I was collecting images of giant coins. Some of the manhole cover designs are included above along with other circular designs I encountered on my walks to school.

2. Sketching & Research

I decided to borrow elements from the manholes to create a piece that goes in line with my previous artwork.

Renacimiento de Venus, 2020

Recently, I've been exploring the Valencioids, a pre-colonial Indigenous group from what is now Valencia, Venezuela. I've been particularly interested in the "Venus of Tacarigua,"

an anthropomorphic figure created by the now-extinct Valencioids. I made a 7ft tall sculpture inspired by this figure a couple of years ago. I want to continue exploring this figure for my 2D surface design.

Research page from my sketchbook

Research page + overlayed collection of sketches

3. Drawing in Rhino

I used the tangent circle tool to create smooth curves between shapes. I also used the offset, rotate, split, mirror, and trim tools. Similar to the manhole covers, I used repeated shapes, included a clear focal point, and combined straight and curvy shapes.

4. Colouring my Design

I spent a lot of time figuring out what colour arrangement best suited my piece. Here are some of the versions I made:

My favourite one is this one:

I'm looking forward to the in-class feedback and I expect that I will make revisions to this design. I really enjoyed this process and can't wait for the next stage.

Until next week! :)