Period Piece Assignment

Detached Shrimp

For this Period Piece Assignment, my art period was Allianz (arts) 1937-1950s Switzerland and my noun was shrimp.

My goal from this project was to go out of my comfort zone and experiment in a new way. This included
using acrylic paint which I normally don’t use. Outside of my comfort zone also included using abstract, flat and
distinct shapes and steering away from my usual more realistic images.
The first thing I did during the brainstorming process was to research the Allianz art movement. Allianz was
an art movement which took place between 1937-1950 mainly out of Switzerland. I learned that Allianz was primarily
a movement of concrete art forms that have a strong focus on geometric abstraction with the goal to simulate a more
modern, urban, industrial environment. I did not have any luck finding much information at first, but once I
researched members of the Allianz art movement I found a lot more information. The artist that really stood out for
me was the work by John Konstantin Hansegger. I was inspired by Hansegger’s use of shapes and abstraction, this
included paintings of multiple roosters; many with an abstract representation. Hansegger’s use of vibrant bold
colours and strong shapes was something I wanted to experiment with within my own project. Like Hansegger’s
roosters, I was drawn towards using key, repetitive shapes to accentuate the shrimp in relation to its home; the ocean.
The next step I took for my piece was to research shrimp. I began by looking up the word shrimp and
discovering that the word has a few meanings. The first meaning is that of an ocean crustacean and the second
meaning refers to something being small, tiny or unimportant, relating to size. When I clicked on images of shrimp,
mostly seafood came up, which I wasn't very interested in. I wanted to know more about live shrimp including the
different types. I ended up finding shrimp to be extremely interesting. This led to another challenge, I had to learn the
difference between a shrimp and a prawn. Comparing and contrasting between the two helped accent the correct and
unique shapes within the shrimp and it’s body. I began to think about the life of a shrimp and its relationship to the
ocean which further reflected on the following questions: Do they swim alone? Do they have families? How can I
accurately incorporate shrimp in their environment? This is when I started to deconstruct printed images of shrimp to
think deeper about the abstract shapes I would like to use. I came up with the following noticeable shapes due to what
they represent in relation to shrimp. For instance, a raindrop shape was used to symbolize water, surfboards to
symbolize play within the ocean, bubbles to symbolize sea creatures breathing underwater, a house shape to symbol
the ocean as the shrimps’ home, a peanut shape to symbolize the shrimp’s smallness, a moon shape symbolizes the
moon and how it guides the tides, the lightning bolt head symbolizes their quick speed, an igloo symbolizes coldness
of water temperatures, small circles to symbolize pebbles and sand, and lastly shapes in the legs to symbolize the
waves from distance. After brainstorming shapes, I began to create multiple sketches as my references for possible
layouts. I purposefully chose a deep blue background to highlight the shapes through contrast and to represent the
depth of the ocean. I positioned my painting in a way that makes the viewer read my painting from left to right and
think about the smallness of the shrimp. I wanted to send the message that it's ok to feel small, because everyone is
different. Before painting I mixed all my colours by hand to have authenticity as an artist and to have control over my
colours. I named the piece, Detached Shrimp, due to how the detached shapes and flow which created this abstract
image. I really enjoyed the process due to it stretching my comfort zone. Abstract has typically been unfamiliar to me.
However, I found spending time researching the Allianz art movement encouraged me to expand my willingness and
truly appreciate more abstract and industrial works. I feel the use of simple shapes, unusual colours, and my process
was helpful and worked to create an end product that I'm pleased with. The process allowed me to be more creative
and think outside my box. The use of simple shapes and unusual colours ended up being a positive way of providing a
deeper meaning (symbols) within the piece. The contrast between the background and the shrimp colours I feel is
aesthetically pleasing and allows the viewer to really notice the shrimp.
I think if I was to redo this project I would prefer a larger canvas in order for the shapes to be sharper and
more distinct. If I had more time, I would like to have repositioned the shrimp differently; to put more thought on
their location in relation to each other. I felt that it was difficult to replicate the same size and shapes of the two
smaller shrimp. But overall, I learned from this project about being more abstract and simplistic within my piece, and
also re-found my skills of painting.
Detached Shrimp