Creative Final for art

1. Elvia Gonzalez
Professor Medina
CREATIVE PROJECT FINAL
ARTS APPRECIATION 1301-61006

2. MY PHOTOGRAPH

The photograph I chose, for comparison
is the picture of the Quinceañera tiara. I
chose this picture because of the strong
symbolism behind Sweet Fifteen tiaras.
The whole subject matter of a traditional
Quinceañera is to celebrate the transition
for girls from puberty to women. A
Quinceañera traditionally starts with a
religious ceremony, and is followed by a
banquet reception at a ballroom. After the
banquet, Quinceañera get presented to
society as women and is given special
gifts on a pillow. However, the most
important gift is the tiara because it
allows the Quinceañera to be considered
the queen/princess of the night. After all,
the whole purpose of the Quinceañera is
to celebrate her transformation to being
classified as women by society.

3. THE ARTIST WORK

Basket, 1890-1910. 7” diameter. Promo Tribe.
The photograph of the Quinceañera can be
compared to Promo tribe, Basket, dated
1890-1910. There is a strong symbolism
behind the Basket's as well as in the
Quinceañera tiara. However, the subject
matter of the Promo tribe is slightly different
than that of a Quinceañera. The difference is
that the Basket celebrates the transition in
the girls' life, like from birth or puberty. The
Basket is elaborated by the Promo tribe girl's
mother and is given to them in special
ceremonial gifts (Schlesier). The Promo tribe
girls are supposed to treasure the basket
through the rest of their lives and are
supposed to be buried with the basket
(Schlesier). Hence, this practice is still
celebrated by Promo tribe's mothers in
California (Schlesier).

4. THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN SIMILARITIES

Basket, 1890-1910. 7” diameter. Promo Tribe.
Moreover, considering the art
elements and the principles of
design, there are many similarities in
both of the art work and the
photograph. For example, in the
photograph value of the area around
the tiara and the pillow is very dull
which emphasis the viewer to focus
on the tiara. Consequently, picture
has a one point focus which is the
tiara. Just like the photograph the
main focus of the Basket, is the area
outside which is often decorated with
a value of bright intensity. The
dullness area inside the Basket
allows it to be emphasized on the
outside allowing it to have one main
focus.

5. THE MEDIA DIFFERENCES

Basket, 1890-1910. 7” diameter. Promo Tribe.
However, there are several
differences in my photograph and the
Basket. For instance, the media used
in the Basket is physical real material
like feathers, paint, weaving, vessels,
and beads. The media used in the
photograph was a camera and this
doesn't allow the three dimensional
view as the Basket because it is a
photograph. Considering the
manufactures of the art work and the
content of the photograph there is a
big difference in the media as well.
The mothers of the girls whom own
the basket made it physically for
them and the photograph was taken
by someone who did not make the
tiara. The tiara manufacture doesn't
have any sentimental connections
with the girl owning it.

6. THE CULTURAL LIVING TRADITIONS TODAY

Basket, 1890-1910. 7” diameter. Promo Tribe.
The historical periods of both the
photograph and the Basket are
the same because both where
originated by cultural traditions
that have passed down from
generation to generation till the
present day. Today, there are still
some Promo tribes mothers in
California that still practice this
tradition. There are still today
some Tejano people that still
continue the Mexican tradition
and celebrate Quinceañeras.
However, the geographically
location is different Promo tribes
are located in California and the
photograph was taken in Texas
where Tejanos are located.

7. WORKS CITED

Lazzari, Margaret and Dona Schlesier.
Exploring Art- A Global, Thematic Approach.
Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2012. Print.