artist statement
For me, artwork is a way to momentarily make peace with oneself, to explore and appreciate the aspects of the self that truly define us. The concept of art is an open door to me, when I create I throw myself and what I perceive to be my life into each piece. It's a way to acknowledge my strengths and weaknesses, my passions and my concerns, all in one amalgamation of pencil marks. Within each of these pieces I explore a different aspect of who I am and take comfort in my self expression. My pieces mainly focus on texture and emotion, bringing the pieces to life, and conveying feelings with my compositions. I want the people who view my art to form a connection with the piece, to feel the emotion behind it and realize the need for reflection on one's own passions & fears.
The four years that I have spent creating artwork at Oliver Ames are the reason why I am confident in my art skills, and why I feel strong when I say “I’m an artist.” Most every piece I’ve created in Art 1 through 4, including sketchbook assignments, have made me very proud of myself and my abilities. Coming from a family of artists, (my Dad and 3 of my uncles being incredibly talented artists and having been professional artists at one point) art is more important to me than I can explain. It's been a huge part of my life since birth, and being able to hone my skills and truly delve into the reaches of my ability in school has been a journey I couldn’t be more thankful for. Ms. Shea has been a huge inspiration to me throughout my high school career, and I simply would not be able to thank her enough for all of her encouragement and aid in making my portfolio. I will be attending the University of Rhode island come the Fall, and I will continue to study art and focus on my creativity. I can’t wait to see what I’ll make in the future!! Thank you Ms. Shea for teaching me my skills, and for being an incredible teacher of my favorite class!
Yin Yang
“Yin Yang” is a self portrait that portrays dramatic lighting, casting half of my face in pure shadow. This piece was incredibly fun to create, the contrast on the hair and the texture of the sweater were interesting to explore. Within the portrait I have a somewhat soft look on my face, and the fuzzy sweater and the fluffy hair add to the overall softness of the piece. This clashes with the harsh lighting, giving the piece a serious yet calming vibe. I believe this is a look into my personality, which is a complete battle between calm and intense. The use of charcoal was a bit difficult, but working with charcoal allows for a vibrant display of shadow that really gives the piece life.
“Yin Yang” is a self portrait that portrays dramatic lighting, casting half of my face in pure shadow. This piece was incredibly fun to create, the contrast on the hair and the texture of the sweater were interesting to explore. Within the portrait I have a somewhat soft look on my face, and the fuzzy sweater and the fluffy hair add to the overall softness of the piece. This clashes with the harsh lighting, giving the piece a serious yet calming vibe. I believe this is a look into my personality, which is a complete battle between calm and intense. The use of charcoal was a bit difficult, but working with charcoal allows for a vibrant display of shadow that really gives the piece life.
Frosty
When we were given the instructions to create a composition based on something that has been the nectar of our existence thus far, I immediately knew that I would be drawing my puppy. My colored pencil drawing entitled, “Frosty,” is by far my favorite piece I have ever created, and I am convinced it will remain my favorite. This piece means so much to me, because it depicts my best friend in the entire world, my dog Koda. This piece was an absolute blast to create, colored pencil is my preferred medium and I utilized its smoothness to create texture in my dogs fur. I played with the lighting a lot, making the blues and yellows much more vibrant than in the original picture, in order to breathe more life into the piece. I employed the use of color and negative space (in the background) to really emphasize Koda. I wanted to put emotion into this piece, I believe I captured both my love for my dog and his adorable puppy face with the glassy texture of his eyes and expression. I have a very huge love of all animals, especially dogs, and especially this dog, so this piece depicts a vital part of who I am.
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alarm
My pen micrography drawing entitled, “Alarm,” is a depiction of myself staring out into a scene that the viewer cannot see from behind an object. The expression on my face is one of fear, of caution. For this piece, I used only 10 words to create the final product, the entire composition being repeated writings of words such as “anxiety,” “panic,” “alarm,” and “unrest.” It was a very enjoyable experience to make art by simply writing words over and over again, I would layer words on top of each other to create value and follow the shapes of my face with the writing. I really aimed to portray the feeling of unrest, for the viewers to look into the eyes of the piece and understand the uneasiness emanating from them. I am a rather anxious person by nature, and alarm is an emotion I feel everyday. In order to gain comfort with this side of me, I put it on full display with this piece. The texture of my hair and the form and shape of the face were main focuses of mine, to show that the picture is clearly of me and to illuminate the emotion further.
Deterioration
My last piece entitled, “Deterioration,” depicts an issue that I care about deeply. The composition entails of the skeletons of dead fish swimming around in a polluted coral reef, portraying the effects of pollution on the ocean. This piece was drawn and shaded in pen, and washed over in water color to highlight the dreariness of the piece. I emphasized skulls of the fish by outlining them in bold lines, and I exaggerated the grotesque look of their faces and bodies in order to make them appear monstrous. The ocean is an essential part of who I am, I’ve admired marine life and every sea organism since I could think. The creatures of coral reefs are so fascinating to me, and watching them die off due to their habitats being polluted and killed by global climate change is agonizing. While I can’t do much to change this yet, I can depict it by drawing the effect.
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