Everyday environments can be the scariest things. Things that are supposed to comfort us turned around can cause the most fear.
I wanted to create a piece that I could flow with and not worry about if the form was smooth or bumpy. I allowed the clay to shift and move with an organic feel. It was important for me not to have any precise lines and to allow the glaze to fall and splatter. The shape alludes to human form and the imperfections add to this form.
This piece shows the struggle of acquiring insight about oneself via the tradition of tattoos and the freedom it brings.
I chose a black and white palette because it shows the highest contrast which I felt describes stress very well. With the explosion being the reaction and the smoke in the background to help fill the composition and show potential stressors.
This is the habit of hesitation. Hesitating before opening doors, specifically. This could also be about the hesitation you get before starting friendships/meaningful relationships (opening doors as a metaphor)
These are four of 24 small sections of different Botticelli paintings that I reproduced on 4″ x 4″ panels. They will eventually be laid out in a grid that will take up a whole wall, much like the large panels of the original paintings. Because the sections are from different paintings, there will be no complete image of a single Botticelli, but will be coherent because his painting style and palettes are so iconic.
I have been working with abstract forms and colors. The exaggerated anatomy of the toucan paired with the bold indistinct forms in the background make this piece an excellent representation of both those explorations.
Honorable Mention – Drawing
I enjoy using charcoal because it’s messy, and for most of my charcoal pieces, I use them to express mental imperfections that others may not be able to. There are many mental health issues out there that are never addressed because people think they’ll be judged or ridiculed. This piece shows a blindfold over a woman’s eyes which to me is a form of hiding. I’ve always felt that you can tell a lot about a person from their eyes, and the blindfold being placed there represents the attempt to hide the imperfections beneath it. I made this piece within a fifteen minute time period. I wanted to do something quick, but something that made me feel something when I looked at it. My hope is that when people see my piece, they feel what I felt when I made it.
This piece is inspired by the plant deadly nightshade. One of the deadliest plants, the deadly nightshade has pushed itself into a human form to protect itself. Just as it did when it made itself poisonous, the plant adapted to protect itself from the one thing that can eradicate its population. Humans.
2nd Place – Communication Arts / Graphic Design
This piece was inspired by the Toni Morrison novel, “Beloved.” It’s part of a series of work I have done responding to different manifestations of grief.
2nd Place – Drawing
This piece displays the fear of spiders that plague many people’s worst nightmares. In this piece, the close up of the spider’s hair serves as a disturbing framework for the reflection of fearful onlookers in the glassy eyes of the arachnid.
