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Who are Sal and Gabe?
Sal and Gabe have been long time family friends. They live in New York City, my birthplace, and have been a connection for me to the area for the past four years. Sal writes official letters for companies, and Gabe manages a team of people who help facilitate foreign language education. When applying to the Academy, Sal helped me write my admissions essay. He also gave me the central idea for my college essay. The two of them have been not only more than generous to me, but many others. For this, they are truly beloved by most who have had the pleasure to meet them.
For me, they've demonstrated a version of success that doesn't involve putting others down. I've always appreciated their sense of humor, even when life has faced them with immense difficulties. Growing up, I felt I lacked a lot of positive role-models when it came to committed relationships. My own family became a defunct state at the age of three. Many of the couples I saw argued, bickered, and in general seemed to not enjoy each others company. Sal and Gabe demonstrated to me that while by no means you have to always be perfect around one another, you can be kind, and more importantly understanding. Not only does their relationship color my aspirations for my future, but as do their personalities and outlooks. I wish to be as generous, inclusive, and committed as an adult as they are.
Gabe, Sal, and I in the elevator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Path Towards Completion
The Path Towards Completion
Symbolic Meaning
Symbolic Meaning
The end piece was an allusion to "The Lovers I" by René Magritte. I thought it was an apt peice to base the composition on, given the very subtle fact that they are indeed, lovers. Also, this piece is housed in the MoMa in New York City. One of the things I like about René's Lovers paintings is the fact that it could be anyone. Anyone could love anyone. I feel Something I've always really appreciated is the perspective Sal and Gabe have been able to give me through the opportunities of the city. The museums, the art, all of it has been really influential, and so I figured it was something worth including into the portrait. I Obviously, while we're already on the topic of NYC, I repeated the city outline in the background. The phone screen is a reference to a joke Gabe made one time, and many other times subsequently. He took a photo of some art piece in a pizza place and we took turns using his eyes as our own. The butterflies relate to a story Sal told me one about his late dog, Bella.
Reflection
Reflection
Obviously the end product differed a lot from the prototype. The scale was just too large, and so I wanted to just focus on something more easy to finish within my time frame. I think theres a lot of things I would do different. Firstly Gabes hand is a disaster. Secondly, I think I would have instead of doing yellow butterflies, done yellow windows for the buildings of the background. I think I'd still incorporate a butterfly, but probably just one or a few. Out of all of the three role models portraits I definetly feel like I rushed this one the most because I saved it to work on last. I wish I had started it at the same time as the others so it could get more of the attention it deserves. Sal and Gabe look right to me, but it's not how they look in real life-- if that makes sense. To be honest, I feel like every aspect could use a little more time and attention to detail. That said, I'm still proud of what I did within the given circumstances.
Sal and Gabe perfereed to answer their questions in writing. So no audio file here... sucka!
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