Response to ICA Visit

        The first exhibit I saw was Ida Applebroog's Mercy Hospital, which I observed to have a rather negative connotation overall. Her journals depict scenes of domestic abuse, rape, harlotry and even murder. I noticed that all of the scenes shown in her work are very private scenes that Applebroog took and made to be very public through her expressive and cartoonish journals and paintings; these scenes can easily be uncomfortable to some viewers for they hit very close to some triggering experiences and feelings. I was especially intrigued with her "BLUE BOOKS" series; she illustrated several domestic dramas utilizing repetition and poetic monologues which prompted me to become fascinated and curious to analyze each of the situations. When observing Appplebroog's large oil paintings, I find that it's interesting how she utilized cartoonish figures to render gruesome hospital scenes. The figures in Ida Applebroog's drawings are very organically formed and bear an eerie resemblance to anatomical human parts; these drawings, coupled with her thought provoking writings become very emotionally charged pieces.
        When looking at the work of Susan Te Kahurangi King, I could feel her impulse to work and create. From a distance, some of her drawings look like typical abstract works, maybe even landscapes, but upon closer inspection I could see that she utilized many cartoonish figures and objects to make up these abstract scenes. Another thing I noted is her artistic transformation throughout her life. Her early works comprised of bold colors and forms, then they gradually started to become less colorful to focus on the possible narrations that could be occurring; her recent and later works are almost completely abstract and comprised of the vivid colors once again. After learning that King lost her ability to speak as a child and was diagnosed as severely autistic, I started to look at her work through a different lens and was left with a sense of awe-struck curiosity. I began to ask questions like: What prompted her to start and continue drawing? What must be going through her head as a child for her to start illustrating the way she does (referring to the distorted drawings of Donald Duck)?