Joseph Cornell

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Artwork

Joseph Cornell

By researching Joseph Cornell, I found out many things, but one was that he was a surrealist. In his words, “Surrealism is a style in which fantastical visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the work logically comprehensible.” Cornell also says he created most of his art from subconscious feelings and thoughts from when he was a child.

Joseph Cornell lived in a frame house, collecting strange items from many sources, and fitting them together to create his boxes. Some of these include: Cockatoos and Corks, a scene in which a stuffed cockatoo sits along with many curious wooden objects, some of which are corks. In Grand Owl Habitat, Cornell constructed a scene of an owl sitting outside under the moon. One observation I made was that Cornell seems to incorporate birds in many of his boxes. My project will be a box like the ones Cornell made, most likely made out of paper mache. It will probably have a bird in it, to go with the birds in many of Cornell’s projects. It will be colorful and creative. A specific piece of art my box will be inspired by is Cockatoos and Corks. In all, Cornell seems to be a very creative, imaginative artist.