This piece was inspired by Pawel Kuczynski’s satirical art about the environment. The microwave represents global warming and the technologie made by humanity that is causing it. The word help on the microwave is to show bad of a situation this is, it is bad enough to be asking for help. The hand is yellow because emoji hands are yellow and emojis area very recognizable and universal part of technologie. The hand is about to press the start button on the microwave because if us humans continue as we are now then the earth will surely die, but if we stop and make changes then there is a chance.

This piece is inspired by various pop artists. It’s a youthful face blooming out of a chrysanthemum (mum), with the sun shining on its face and petals. It is about the process of becoming a better person and starting over. I chose to work with a flower because plants grow at a very organic/natural pace, which is how humans grow mentally and emotionally also. I wanted to communicate when you let go of negative traits, it improves yourself as a person.

I had never used acrylic paint before this piece and I am very happy with using this new medium. I love how much easier it is to work with than watercolor and just the overall richness of color/value. I was able to achieve detail I had never imagined. My reference photo I actually took when I was down in Utah last summer apprenticing with a horse trainer, and to be able to freeze a moment of those memories is really special.

I created a triptych depicting three separate figures. As the pieces progress from left to right, I broke down the complexity of the person. I used this to show emotional extremes and how that could lead to emotional deterioration. I used three different color schemes, two of them being analogous. I used this to show the monotony of emotional extremes. The entire piece relates to the struggle of head vs. heart and the emotions associated with those two things.