3D to 2D

Artist Statement

My favorite project to work on was the balsa wood sculptures. For this image I chose to recreate my balsa wood sculpture. What I loved about the original was that I was able to simulate motion through rhythm. I enjoy how one object appears to influence another, despite it being frozen or stagnant. There is a beautiful irony. The picture depicts movement, yet the picture does nothing. I feel the picture replicates how people get into a motion and go through their lives being stuck in a rhythm, and despite this motion they arn't moving anywhere. It is easier to get into rhythm than to challenge yourself. The color purple is the color of wisdom. Though rhythm can be safe it does not challenge the self and is therefor unwise. Furthermore, each image appears to fall, which symbolizes how easily it is to fall into a cycle of repetition. 

Memento

Materials

• Epoxy 
• Rust scraped from a metal chair

Dimensions

Height: 1.5'

Width: 1'

Artist Statement

This piece is representative of Easter with my family. As a child, my little cousin and I would jump into my grandfather's rusted wheelbarrow and my grandfather, who I called Papa, would wheel us all around the forest looking for our easter eggs. I used rust, that I found on a metal chair to represent the wheelbarrow and used epoxy to create the shape of the egg. The egg is not perfect. There are dips and edges and there it has a weathered appreance. However, these imperfections symbolize how time can weather a memory, but still leave it intact so that it may be cherished. 

Map Relief

Artist Inspiration 

Serene Ng

Howard Hersch

Jan Albers

Artist Statement

The first level on my map appears hilly this is to represent the bumps in life or the ups and downs one will experience in life. The following layers are meant to represent growth or change as one grows older. The focal point, which is a hill with frays, represents the people along the way. I chose orange to cover the frayed white area because orange is a social color and I use the color to represents how people impact the individual. The separate circle off to the side represents the secrets, or the life we keep hidden away from the people we love, basically the circle is what we are not willing to share with the world.

Overall, the map is a friendship map and it details relationships lost and gained. I chose the vibrant color scheme because these relationships are more positive then negative. It is better to have lost than to have nothing to start with. Therefore any relationship even if it ended poorly or ended prematurely is meaningful and should represented with joy, at least in my opinion.  

Balsa Wood Sculpture

Rhythm 

Materials 

• Balsa Wood
• Wood Glue 
• Brown Paper Bag 

Dimensions 
Length: 7'
Width: 3'
Height: 5'

Soap Carving

Materials 

• Soap

Dimensions
Length: 3'
Width: 1'
Height: 1.5'

Masking Tape Shoes

Materials 

• Masking tape 

Dimensions 
Length: 10'
Width: 3.5'
Height: 4.5'

Masked Identity

Inspiration

Sally-Anne Kelly

Eaton Nott

Gladys Paulus

Artist Statement

As a child I had a dragonfly necklace that I wore everywhere. after doing my research I learned that the dragonfly symbolizes free will. The idea that I wore a symbol of free will around my neck for years seems fitting. I was a rebellious child. I had a speech impediment and a few learning learning disabilities. I was told that I needed special attention. I didn't want to be babied. I would skip meetings with my special needs tutor. By middle school a woman was assigned to follow me so that I couldn't skip. I was horribly cruel to the women who impeded my freedom. the woman who kept me from my potential. I know it was her job, but I didn't feel any different then any of the other children. I rebelled. I did everything they said I wouldn't achieve. By high school I enrolled in AP classes and by the end of high school I graduated with a 3.6 gpa and was moving to Florida to pursue a degree in media production and graphic design. My mask represents the movement of the dragon fly wings. The gold/ copper tones on the mask represent the earth and how I am, for the most part, grounded. I set a solid foundation, but in the end I do what I want and need to do to get where I need to go. The wearer of the mask is powerful, which is symbolized by the gold leaf she can make appear and wield at her discretion. 

Longing Assignment

The Body is the Primary Mode of Perceiving 

In my first art class, in college, I spent many hours examining human form. The body is a starting point when we begin to perceive the world and recreate it through our own eyes. The body is a canvas while also being a tool to that transfers what we perceive to canvas. The eyes deduce content, our brain deciphers meaning, and our words and physical movements are the result of us perceiving the world.

Capacity of Objects Serves as Traces of Authentic Experience  

Here I stand in front of the iconic Bean of Chicago. Though one cannot hold The Bean anyone can take it with them: with the help of photography. The massive structure serves as ones' authentic experience in the windy city. By looking back at pictures it is easy, for me, to recall memories made in Chicago. I can feel the brisk winter air on my cheek or recall the dress my cousin wore in her wedding, which took place across the street from the iconic structure. Authentic modern Chicago includes deep dish pizza, Chicago dogs, Gangster history, jazz music and The Bean. As humans we leave traces of our authentic experience everywhere we go and we take our experience with us. Everyone's authentic experience is different and beautiful in its own way. 

The Souvenir Reduces the Public, the Monumental, and the Three Dimensional into Miniature, that which can be Enveloped

This is the famous lock bridge of Paris. Each miniature lock breaks down a much more monumental scope of meaning. It is here where a couple shared their first kiss or walked by as a newlyweds. The locks represent two people joining together their love of each other to the city of love. Each lock has a story. The locks simplify each individual story into one of love and connection. 

Nostalgia Cannot be Sustained Without Loss

This is a very nostalgic picture for me for the fact that Chester, pictured above, was a cat that found me after Hurricane Mathew. Chester's previous family had abandoned him and their house after Mathew. One day the cat walked into the house and decided to adopt my roommates and I.  Chester stayed with us for one year until he went missing. Losing Chester created nostalgia that I connect with this photo.

To Have a Souvenir of the Exotic is to Possess both a Specimen and Trophy

Gasperilla is a pirate parade held every year in Tampa Florida. In the picture above, my friends and I show off our trophies from the parade. The more beads, the bigger and more unique the beads the more popular you seem to become. Much like Kings in times long ago showed power through possessions so do the people of Gasperilla. If a king were to show one something they had not seen before their power was said to outshine the power of their guest because they lay claim to possessions far beyond anyone else. Same is true with Gasperilla. People will pull extraordinary stunts to receive beads. Some individuals will even trade alcohol for beads worth a few cents because in that place and that moment the beads represent far more than their plastic and string may suggest. The beads become trophies: the more exotic one's collection results in more pride and popularity on the day of Gasperilla.  

Touch Assignment

Touch can equate a sense of companionship: through touch we feel. We acknowledge each other and reassure the other they are not alone in this world. Touch is especially important during times of hardship. In my photo the handprint is positioned on the dark half of the piece—symbolizing hardship in life. Behind the light hand there is a darker hand replicating a reflection of one’s self. The darker handprint, behind the first, is the reflection of their inner feelings, or demons that reflect despite surface happiness or outward appearance. As humans we need touch to feel love, my piece symbolizes how, as humans, we seek out touch to feel a sense of community and purpose and a lack thereof can lead to harmful thought. 

For the picture above I chose a single handprint. There is only one hand to represent loneliness and the color blue emphasis the melancholy of the lack of touch. One chapter I deduced to create my piece was Speaking of Touch. In this chapter one learns touch as a metaphor. For example, emotions are referred to as feelings. Interactions with people metaphorically touch emotions and thus create a feeling. A lack of touch leads to more negative feelings. I then used the chapter, First Touches, to explain the phenomena of how a lack of touch leads to a sense of isolation. In First Touches, one learns that children whom are cradled often, as babies, will develop quicker than babies whom received a very little amount of human contact. Simple touches like one from a waitress tapping a customer’s shoulder can result in a higher tip or elevated positive emotions toward said person. Without the reassurance of touch people can become isolated. It is this pining for touch that inspired my piece.