Ian Coppage

"My dream is to create the unimaginable. I love the idea of the thoughts or visions you have and molding them into something bigger. My original idea was to create a symbol for a made-up art movement. But as I went on with the series, I wanted it to represent my own message. I want these symbols to represent the idea of creating the impossible. Each piece has an eye in the center of an ‘impossible shape’. The eye represents opening your eyes and the shape around it represents the impossible.

I started this series 2 years ago in my high school class. It started with a simple black and white design, but I wanted to add a bit more meaning to it. I got my inspiration from graffiti. Graffiti is sometimes used to send a message. When someone feels trapped or feels unheard, graffiti is used as an outlet to spread their message. And I loved the idea of that. So, I created my own little message. The first 3 pieces show 3 different symbols spray-painted on a brick wall. I absolutely love the glow and vibrancy in the colors. They harmonize well together. These pieces are very striking and definitely do the symbol justice.

For this competition, I wanted to continue this series. I took the same symbol and made a mural out of it. My fourth piece shows the same symbol but in a more glitchy, digital-looking style. It is very simple but very compelling to look at. The contrast in this piece plays a key role. It focuses your attention towards the center and the repeating symbols help support that. It’s meant to be eye-catching. What makes the simplicity of this piece very successful here is how easy it is to remember at a quick glance. It’s similar to how marketing works. I also added the glitchy symbol by itself for my 5th piece. I wanted to submit this just to show how unique and easy it is to print and spread on digital platforms. This is a well thought out symbol that works very well as a logo.

These symbols may look simple, but they have a lot more meaning behind them. My message is to inspire people and show that creating the impossible is possible and this series defines my passion and love for digital art to a T. I hope I can inspire someone one day and make an impact through my creations."

As of now, none of these pieces are available for purchase.