(2nd Place – Mixed Media)
Title of Art Piece: The Tree Of Everyday Life
Category: Mixed Media
Student/Artist’s Name: Rachel Emrick
School: Palmer High School
Grade: 12th
Artist Statement: This year, I have been making art around the theme of “Who We Are.” For this particular piece, I worked with the idea of how every situation gone through in life shapes who we become. I chose to use mixed media because I wanted this piece to be very textural. I have been noticing the beauty of trees, and how they are so often taken for granted, leaving their intricacy overlooked. I used embroidery because I have been working with that medium repeatedly and have been trying to find ways to create different textures with it. I wanted to do something a little bit more intricate with it, so I decided to use it for the tree’s bark. The blue, made with watercolors, represents the never ending nature of time, feeding life. I tried to make the trunk of the tree look like it had a difficult life, by adding knots, a hole, and a twisted section in the bark. Each of these are representative of hard life situations, which become part of us. For the leaves, I used paper cutting techniques on cloth which I hand dyed. I wanted them to be bright and flourishing to show the perseverance and triumph over life circumstances. I made the tree off center and crooked, because I wanted it to be imperfect, as we all are.
Large Photo: http://artalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_3413.jpg
