True Colors Workshop

2.7-2.8 2019
California College of the Arts

THEME

The theme of this workshop is color symbolism. As visual communicators we are translating abstract ideas through visual means. Although we hope for an universal understanding, perception and understanding always happens on an individual level. This basic formula of signal and reception can be further problematized by colors, because each color has a different meaning and history. For example, the color red doesn’t only mean love, but also good fortune in Chinese culture. This workshop will utilize the color restrictions of the RISOgraph printing process to confirm, amplify, reflect, define, rearrange, subvert, test and question the different ways we interpret colors.

CLARIFICATIONS

“The personal is political” — feminist slogan
“The personal is geopolitical” — Metahaven

Color is a powerful tool that engages both our brains and physical senses. Color makes us think, and feel, a certain way. But not everyone understands, or even sees, color in the same way. The goal of this workshop is to embrace the subjectivity of how color is understood, to reveal more of ourselves and the diverse personalities, talents, thoughts, cultures and ideas present in this group.

Therefore, I’m inviting each student to be open to sharing their stories, and the different interpretations of them. The ‘personal’ does not necessarily mean intimate, rather it can be something mundane and commonplace, as long as it is representative of the individual. Also, the method that each student chooses to visualize the ‘personal’ does not have to be direct, abstraction and codes can also convey the message.