Welcome to Visual Hierarchy, an online visual playground. Gathered here are pictures I make. Visual Hierarchy is a laboratory. Research is done in a wide variety of mediums.
Jason Lanka’s massive drawings and photos are now on display in the Atrium space in the Union. They will be up for several weeks. Here are some images of his work and some information about his work.
Boundary; something that marks or fixes a limit (as of territory). The line that divides one area of land from another.
The space at which our culture comes in contact with the environment inspires my creative work. Much can be understood about the nature of how our society defines its role and place within the natural world by the observation of this boundary.
I seek to address the demarcation of our species’ relationship with the land. Am I of the land or in the land? Each piece made within a lineage of exploration has set out to answer this question. Our identity as people and a nation are so often defined by our place within our environment and how we view our relationship with the natural world.
My brain is dripping out through my ears. After screen gazing for days on end I’ve basically finished a compilation of all the artwork I’ve done since birth. Whew.
The next project for Visual Hierarchy is the inclusion of a new Etsy store featuring inexpensive current works.
Completed several weeks ago was an art trade between Nick Hartley and I. After receiving a work of epic narrative, mysterious events, and sweeping lines I gave to him an attempt at humor through line, acrylic washes, and a .50 millimeter gatling gun tearing at a beach ball.
Below is the organization of a near complete archive of all my artistic production from birth to now. There are over 940 images within these archives. Despite a mild obsession with photo documentation many images have either been left out because they are boring, too incomplete, have been lost, or have escaped my notice. A big THANK YOU to my Mother who saved so many of my early works and continues to allow me storage space for some of my artwork.
At the Bottom of this page is a link to my flickr account which holds every image found on this website. Every image here can be downloaded off my flickr and used for anything except commercial purposes.
I upload an image almost every single day so this archive is a growing entity, be sure to check my blog to see today’s Daily Img and for news on current projects, upcoming shows, and posts on other artists/things. Also, please feel free to share your opinion/critique of these works by posting comments!
I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading on consumerism, the environment, and agriculture of late. My studio classes this semester are pretty research oriented and I’m really digging it. I love learning about “non-art” subjects and making them into art. Here are some sketches just laying some ideas about.
Some questions I have been asking are: Can the earth sustain humankind’s growth? What are some ways to increase the efficiency of agriculture in an Urban context? How do our manufactured environments effect us?
Several long lost chapters of my artwork have now resurfaced. This past weekend in Madison I was able to gather up work both from my childhood, but also from my drawing classes a couple years ago.
Yesterday I scanned in over 200 images and am slowly chipping away at them; editing, cropping, web readying them. For now, here are the best images from my Spring 2007/Fall 2007 drawing semesters:
*visual hierarchy is the result of an cyberstellar collision between my Blogger website artocalypse and seanbodley.com 2.0 [both sites are currently in cyber stasis].
The lull reached a point where my only option was to draw. It was a grand reception, the crowds of thousands stood motionless as the pair approached the city gates. Flags and banners swam in the wind. The portcullis was drawn and the reunion began.
Forgetting my backpack I put the illuminated “menuscript” in one of my hoodie pockets calculating the physics of the winds. We finished closing the restaurant and I sped off, anticipating the mind ripping blaze that awaited me nearby.
My heart a furious drummer banging against my other organs. My lungs and diaphragm heaved creating an organic mosh pit inside me. Checking my pocked I pondered the flaw of my wind calculations. The drawing was gone. It was a good drawing, but perhaps this was a good thing. I began to think of the possibilities. Could a continual sacrifice of my linear efforts be something beautiful?
Today Alliance 414 had its 2nd critique. As with the last critique there were only 4 of us and it turned out great. I learned quite a bit about what direction I want to take with some of my drawings and what to do. The most important thing is that I need to make more. I need to drill and practice and practice and practice and practice some more. Beware, if you’re not an art nerd you might not find the text below interesting (its mostly notes to self):
I drew this the other night spontaneously. The strengths in it overall are line quality, and a good sense of space. My peer’s opinions helped me realize the benefits of the composition. The two vertical bars negate the space outside the door frame and encourage the viewer inwards. The image has some good depth from value. Spots of high contrast move the eye around.
This piece I enjoy, but I think it is not as strong as the one I did earlier the other day. This one really helped me understand certain things about line (the handles below the sink for instance, I was able to use 2-3 lines to describe it). A couple of suggestions from my class mates that were helpful. The value is pretty constant, there are not areas that really pop from light or dark. In this image the drawing goes all the way to the edge of the page, which creates a kind of wall as opposed to the funnel effect in the last drawing. Perhaps letting the drawing dissolve onto a white (or black or grey) background would be a good idea? Someone suggested making the back room lighter and the front area much darker, thus pulling the viewer out of the dark and into the light.
![Goya Copy [Cronos Devouring one of his Children], Charcoal, 11 x 20 inches](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3578/3327024927_31465f58d2_s.jpg "Goya Copy [Cronos Devouring one of his Children], Charcoal, 11 x 20 inches")
![Guardians of Gaia [Anavasthaa], Charcoal and Acrylic, 18 x 24 inches](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2523/4037554028_2d0d0abbfa_s.jpg "Guardians of Gaia [Anavasthaa], Charcoal and Acrylic, 18 x 24 inches")
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