Attempt Two, December 2016
A common thread through all my pieces is an exploration of identity. How is it constructed? What is its effect? Where does identity begin and end? Is there a beginning and an ending like that of childhood to adulthood or does it flow and loop between? The composition of my pieces reflect this investigation in several ways. For one, much of my drawings of people have at least one person without eyes or a face mainly to serve the question laid out regarding how identity is constructed. Is identity constructed through the eyes? It’s always said that eyes are the window the soul...and yet the absence of eyes I feel offers more to the identity of the individual I am portraying than having eyes. However, it is interesting to note that in my childhood to adulthood piece, inspired by Marco Mazzoni and his own colored pencil works that leave women without eyes, many claimed the gaping, white space where eyes should have been was “Scary”. I don’t see this comment as a criticism, in fact it is far from it, it seems an audience desperately wants there to be this thing on a face they are used to, and the absence of it forces them to look inside themselves to see it was their own beliefs superimposed on my piece.
My fingerprint print ;P is an investigation of identity in the digital age. A fingerprint, feels like small and insignificant part of our body mainly because in order to understand its complexity we have to examine it deeply. Yet the issue in the digital age is that we have started to look less and less deeply into the world around us, we want everything in small, seven second blips that we can watch and forget about, what has happened to us? Our identity has turned into how quickly can I absorb information that is presented to me without recognizing these complexities that are naturally around us. My piece examines this dilemma using a fingerprint because it is this link between identity and digital media. My own iPhone opens up to my fingerprint, and that print alone, it connects me to the digital world, and yet it is this contradiction where this complex part of me is unlocking superficial information derived from social media and the internet, which gives the illusion that these websites and my presence on them are the source of my identity. However, in reality my actual identity is more complex much like a fingerprint. Ultimately, the print is printed on a mirror, a symbol for this superficial identity drawn from online presence that requires deeper introspection and investigation just like an individual’s fingerprint.
A common thread through all my pieces is an exploration of identity. How is it constructed? What is its effect? Where does identity begin and end? Is there a beginning and an ending like that of childhood to adulthood or does it flow and loop between? The composition of my pieces reflect this investigation in several ways. For one, much of my drawings of people have at least one person without eyes or a face mainly to serve the question laid out regarding how identity is constructed. Is identity constructed through the eyes? It’s always said that eyes are the window the soul...and yet the absence of eyes I feel offers more to the identity of the individual I am portraying than having eyes. However, it is interesting to note that in my childhood to adulthood piece, inspired by Marco Mazzoni and his own colored pencil works that leave women without eyes, many claimed the gaping, white space where eyes should have been was “Scary”. I don’t see this comment as a criticism, in fact it is far from it, it seems an audience desperately wants there to be this thing on a face they are used to, and the absence of it forces them to look inside themselves to see it was their own beliefs superimposed on my piece.
The works of Cy Twombly have greatly impacted how I view art. When I showed Ms. Whitty one of his works (Shield of Achilles) her comment was “Those are just a bunch of scribbles on a paper”, to which I responded, “But isn’t that all art? Just scribbles on a paper?”. It wasn’t till after this comment that I truly understood what Twombly was trying to do, he really was forcing us to question what is art and how is a composition that does seem to just be lines and scribbles, turn into something that is called art? What causes that change? How do we control it?
At the beginning of the year I wrote to myself how this was my last first day of highschool, and though that is sad, people like to look at the lasts rather than the firsts. Seeing that now makes me realize that I am still stuck in looking at the lasts. I want to see my last application done, see a grade go in etc. and need to still push myself to focus on firsts, because they are equally cause for celebration and force myself to look at the positives that come with endings...
A common thread through all my pieces is an exploration of identity. How is it constructed? What is its effect? Where does identity begin and end? Is there a beginning and an ending like that of childhood to adulthood or does it flow and loop between? The composition of my pieces reflect this investigation in several ways. For one, much of my drawings of people have at least one person without eyes or a face mainly to serve the question laid out regarding how identity is constructed. Is identity constructed through the eyes? It’s always said that eyes are the window the soul...and yet the absence of eyes I feel offers more to the identity of the individual I am portraying than having eyes. However, it is interesting to note that in my childhood to adulthood piece, inspired by Marco Mazzoni and his own colored pencil works that leave women without eyes, many claimed the gaping, white space where eyes should have been was “Scary”. I don’t see this comment as a criticism, in fact it is far from it, it seems an audience desperately wants there to be this thing on a face they are used to, and the absence of it forces them to look inside themselves to see it was their own beliefs superimposed on my piece.
My fingerprint print ;P is an investigation of identity in the digital age. A fingerprint, feels like small and insignificant part of our body mainly because in order to understand its complexity we have to examine it deeply. Yet the issue in the digital age is that we have started to look less and less deeply into the world around us, we want everything in small, seven second blips that we can watch and forget about, what has happened to us? Our identity has turned into how quickly can I absorb information that is presented to me without recognizing these complexities that are naturally around us. My piece examines this dilemma using a fingerprint because it is this link between identity and digital media. My own iPhone opens up to my fingerprint, and that print alone, it connects me to the digital world, and yet it is this contradiction where this complex part of me is unlocking superficial information derived from social media and the internet, which gives the illusion that these websites and my presence on them are the source of my identity. However, in reality my actual identity is more complex much like a fingerprint. Ultimately, the print is printed on a mirror, a symbol for this superficial identity drawn from online presence that requires deeper introspection and investigation just like an individual’s fingerprint.
A common thread through all my pieces is an exploration of identity. How is it constructed? What is its effect? Where does identity begin and end? Is there a beginning and an ending like that of childhood to adulthood or does it flow and loop between? The composition of my pieces reflect this investigation in several ways. For one, much of my drawings of people have at least one person without eyes or a face mainly to serve the question laid out regarding how identity is constructed. Is identity constructed through the eyes? It’s always said that eyes are the window the soul...and yet the absence of eyes I feel offers more to the identity of the individual I am portraying than having eyes. However, it is interesting to note that in my childhood to adulthood piece, inspired by Marco Mazzoni and his own colored pencil works that leave women without eyes, many claimed the gaping, white space where eyes should have been was “Scary”. I don’t see this comment as a criticism, in fact it is far from it, it seems an audience desperately wants there to be this thing on a face they are used to, and the absence of it forces them to look inside themselves to see it was their own beliefs superimposed on my piece.
The works of Cy Twombly have greatly impacted how I view art. When I showed Ms. Whitty one of his works (Shield of Achilles) her comment was “Those are just a bunch of scribbles on a paper”, to which I responded, “But isn’t that all art? Just scribbles on a paper?”. It wasn’t till after this comment that I truly understood what Twombly was trying to do, he really was forcing us to question what is art and how is a composition that does seem to just be lines and scribbles, turn into something that is called art? What causes that change? How do we control it?
At the beginning of the year I wrote to myself how this was my last first day of highschool, and though that is sad, people like to look at the lasts rather than the firsts. Seeing that now makes me realize that I am still stuck in looking at the lasts. I want to see my last application done, see a grade go in etc. and need to still push myself to focus on firsts, because they are equally cause for celebration and force myself to look at the positives that come with endings...
Attempt One, May 2016
I am hoping to successfully display a coherent thought visually (god knows I can’t verbally). I want people to question what they see. But at the end of the day I just want people to focus on who I am and who they are after seeing my works. I wanted to convey an idea of “Whatever gets you there”, but I believed I have skewed away from this theme mainly because it is SO broad. Instead the works revolve around emotions taken to the extremes- joy, anger, adventure, curiosity, you can decide the rest. possibly derives from taking any emotion i feel to the max, particularly based on the feelings of those around me. And take it as you will, this can be good or bad.
The road to this point was anything but straight or clear. In fact I wouldn’t even call it a road, it was a dark room where I was expected to find the door while not disabling any metaphorical lasers. I think I may have touched some of the lasers.
But by disabling them, I hope my pieces challenge the way people view simple aspects of our world, ultimately how I see the world, with simple, inherent beauty in all. In a dancer there is unseen joy, made visible by my pastel strokes. This goal to confront the way in which society sees the surface level stems from the way the world looks in my eyes. Particularly I judge the increasing drift from living in the moment, and honoring what comes to us no matter the nature of circumstance. In the same way by not giving the pieces titles the viewer cannot inherently presuppose meaning in the work they are looking at…they stand alone and speak for themselves.
In execution, the exhibit focuses on organic lines and human form in order to create emotion. The use of charcoal aids in the effort greatly. Its lines are pure, with much power behind them drawn from centuries of artists before who bore this product of fire.
Looking at my pieces as a whole, I see my Marco Mazzoni colored pencil woman is my strongest.
When told to describe the unifying theme in my works I froze. Unifying theme? I came into my works this year thinking all my pieces would revolve around “Whatever gets you there”, but it rapidly became- Girl you do you, and just do some art.
As I have experimented I learned that the grid is incredible for replicating the natural world, and charcoal is my medium of choice. The value it creates while simultaneously producing pieces quickly with the elegancy of a monochromatic image.
I am hoping to successfully display a coherent thought visually (god knows I can’t verbally). I want people to question what they see. But at the end of the day I just want people to focus on who I am and who they are after seeing my works. I wanted to convey an idea of “Whatever gets you there”, but I believed I have skewed away from this theme mainly because it is SO broad. Instead the works revolve around emotions taken to the extremes- joy, anger, adventure, curiosity, you can decide the rest. possibly derives from taking any emotion i feel to the max, particularly based on the feelings of those around me. And take it as you will, this can be good or bad.
The road to this point was anything but straight or clear. In fact I wouldn’t even call it a road, it was a dark room where I was expected to find the door while not disabling any metaphorical lasers. I think I may have touched some of the lasers.
But by disabling them, I hope my pieces challenge the way people view simple aspects of our world, ultimately how I see the world, with simple, inherent beauty in all. In a dancer there is unseen joy, made visible by my pastel strokes. This goal to confront the way in which society sees the surface level stems from the way the world looks in my eyes. Particularly I judge the increasing drift from living in the moment, and honoring what comes to us no matter the nature of circumstance. In the same way by not giving the pieces titles the viewer cannot inherently presuppose meaning in the work they are looking at…they stand alone and speak for themselves.
In execution, the exhibit focuses on organic lines and human form in order to create emotion. The use of charcoal aids in the effort greatly. Its lines are pure, with much power behind them drawn from centuries of artists before who bore this product of fire.
Looking at my pieces as a whole, I see my Marco Mazzoni colored pencil woman is my strongest.
When told to describe the unifying theme in my works I froze. Unifying theme? I came into my works this year thinking all my pieces would revolve around “Whatever gets you there”, but it rapidly became- Girl you do you, and just do some art.
As I have experimented I learned that the grid is incredible for replicating the natural world, and charcoal is my medium of choice. The value it creates while simultaneously producing pieces quickly with the elegancy of a monochromatic image.