Undergraduate Traditional & DIGITAL Art, 2011-2015:
As a student as Young Harris College, I earned a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Art. Browse this collection to see my selection of work completed for college assignments.
I AM NOT A WOMAN:
Finished in spring 2015 for a senior undergrad project, this mixed media painting makes you think about gender stereotypes in order to discern/question the gender of the subject. Acrylic, charcoal and white conte on wood and encyclopedia pages. Approximately 3x2'.
BOY TOY:
Another painting in my gender studies series. Completed in spring of 2015, this piece pictures a young boy examining a naked Barbie doll. The viewer is meant to ponder what kind of man this boy will grow up to be. Acrylic on wood, approximately 4x4'.
SOCIETY RULES:
Finished for undergrad in spring 2014, Society Rules is a digital photo-manipulation project about stereotypes and the mark they leave on people. We are most impressionable as children, and the words we hear regularly, whether negative or positive, will impact how we think and how we treat others. The words in the artwork appear as if they have been imprinted into the children's identities. If you look closely, you'll see that the girl has male stereotypes attached to her and the boy has female stereotypes attached to him. These words they use to label the other, and those labels effect their expectations of each other.
BUY ME A DRINK:
Finished in fall of 2014 for a senior undergrad project, this digital painting is a more lighthearted comment on gender stereotypes, specifically about women's tendencies to label men based off of their looks aka facial hair. While a man's facial hair may speak toward his looks it says very little about his character. The jack card is a play off of "jack-ass," while the king of hearts is the "ideal."
INADEQUATE:
Inadequate is a 3-D piece installed in a wooden shadow box. Painted in Adobe Photoshop and then printed and cut, the background piece (which shows a whole face) is collaged into the back of the box while the foreground cutout is attached to the opening. When the viewer stands at the proper angle in front of the artwork, the foreground and background align.
Due to extremely photoshopped pictures, social media influences, and idolized stars, the subject feels "inadequate" and is constantly comparing herself to the "perfect" women she sees in magazines and the like. She sees her imperfections as problems and doesn't realize that her end goal is not one that can be achieved. Every person has flaws, even those most worshiped in media and advertising. For all of us, whether male or female, positive body image begins in the mind when we realize that the goal isn't to be "perfect," but rather to be perfectly imperfect.
Finished in fall 2014 during my undergrad studies. This piece was also published in the 2014-2015 edition of the Corn Creek Review magazine.
IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN:
Finished for a senior undergrad project in fall 2014, this digital piece references a popular poster from the mid-1900s which portrays a woman dressed in a naval suit saying, "Gee I wish I were a man! I'd join the navy." This is a comedic/satirical piece commenting on the way women have been portrayed in the past, all bodies and no brains.
SKIN DEEP:
Finished in fall of 2014 for a senior undergrad project, this photo-manipulation is a self-portrait and commentary on beauty. Looks only make up a part of who we are. Without our personalities, desires, goals, dreams, likes, dislikes, character, morals, etc... we would be a shell -- a lifeless thing with no ability for human connection, emotion or character.
BRINK:
Finished in fall of 2014 for my senior undergrad course, this digital painting evokes an eerie feeling mixed with fear and panic. Trapped underwater, the subject is on the cusp between fighting or giving up. His or her eyes are hidden, symbolizing a loss of vision, purpose, or identity. This painting visualizes that critical moment a person experiences in the midst of a crisis.
FREEDOM:
On a lighter note, Freedom features a white horse breaking out of mechanical bonds. This piece can apply differently to each viewer. Whatever is holding us back, we there is always hope for freedom. Acrylic on canvas. Inspired by steam punk and my childhood love of horses. 8'x4'. Finished in spring of 2014. Piece is for sale.
SELF-PORTRAIT:
Completed fall of 2013. Acrylic on canvas.
INHALE, EXHALE:
Inhale, Exhale is a mixed media piece about coal mining and its effects on the human body. The coal miner himself seems content--still youthful and not yet touched by the dangers. Whether he is aware of the risk or not, he has no choice but to continue on in order to provide for himself and his family. In the background, we see burning embers and a mining entrance. In the early to mid 1900s, accidental explosions and roof collapses were daily threats to coal miners, along with severe respiratory issues. Even with modern technologies, coal miners still risk their health and well being. In the foreground of the artwork is a pair of lungs that have begun to blacken, referencing the common disease called "The Black Lung."
The miner is painted on a wood canvas that was covered with newpaper. the arches and lungs were drawn separately with charcoal and pastels, cut out, and then collaged onto the canvas. Finished in fall of 2013.
This piece was published in the Corn Creek Review, 2012-2013 edition.
ASPHYXIATE:
This acrylic painting on wood depicts death in a beautiful way. Whether the woman is falling or drowning, it's up to the viewer. This painting is huge: 12'x4' on two separate wood panels. I completed this for an undergrad course in which our theme was "death." So I decided to make it a beautiful death.
RETURN TO ME:
This one of my first college art pieces; it won 1st place in the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition. Completed in spring 2012, it's a mixed media art piece inspired by World War II and depicts a young woman holding a letter from her loved one fighting in the war. She wishes him to return to her safely. The media includes acrylic paint, fabric and oil pastels on paper. Approximately 10' tall.
CAT & MOUSE:
This lighthearted digital painting depicts a cat and mouse in a loving friendship. The unlikeliest of friends, they have overcome their nature and created a bond. Created using Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. Finished spring 2012.
VARIOUS POSTERS:
Left to right --> War is Peace, depicting the Cold War, Philly, a comedic piece on the city of Philadelphia, Rent, for a college musical, and Fences, for a college play.
ONE WORLD, DIVIDED:
Finished during undergrad in fall 2013, this is a 12-piece drawing on old scrapbook paper and wood titled One World, Divided. Meant to make the viewer uncomfortable, it contrasts two extremes...privilege versus poverty and security versus slavery. The child on the left is sucking on the iPad he has no ability to even use, while the child on the right has already realized the cruelties of the world around him. The piece evokes the question of who these children will become in the future. Will they both survive? Will they cross paths and seek to close the divide between them, or will they continue on the divided paths chosen for them by society and its surroundings?
AGOWATIHA:
Agowatiha is a triptych that captures hardship, love, and loss faced by Native Americans during the Trail of Tears. The title itself is the Cherokee verb meaning "to see," and it reflects not only the physical pain seen and felt by the subject, but the care shown for loved ones as well.
In the far left painting, viewers see the cracked and worn feet of the traveler holding on to the hand of a child. Whether that child is literal or a metaphor for the traveler's desire to return to his/her childhood is up for interpretation. If the child is literal, then viewers feel a sense of sadness knowing either or both of them may not survive the journey. If metaphorical, we understand the traveler's desire to return to a child-like state of innocence and naivety -- a time when all the world seemed good. He or she must distract himself/herself in order to escape the cruel reality of the journey ahead.
In the middle painting, viewers see the age of the traveler, whose gender is intended to be ambiguous. The traveler is ragged, worn, and tired, with age lines and wrinkles. Viewers see a sense of hopelessness in the traveler's eyes, which relates back to the title of the triptych.
In the right painting, we see a close up act of affection. The traveler is putting his or her needs aside by carrying a child on his or her shoulders. The child's foot is smooth and not cracked like the traveler's, meaning the child has been carried most of the way so far. Whether the viewer believes this is a metaphorical reiteration of the left panting or literal, both reveal that the traveler is clinging to a small, child-like hope that he or she will survive the journey.
These paintings were published in the spring 2013 issue of Echoes magazine. See below:
