Paul Minor (HL)

Curatorial Rationale

Throughout my whole life, I have gotten into many sports and hobbies. The one hobby that has stuck with me for the longest time is fishing. Having grown up in the Philippines, fishing is something that can be done so easily in this country. I started fishing as early as the 1st grade, however I started to do it competitively in grade 8. This passion is how I began to love the ocean. I spent up to 12 hours on the ocean while im fishing and I have really come to love the ocean. Whenever I am out on the water I feel so relaxed and calm, it is like the whole world slips away, and I am just living in that moment. This love for the ocean is how I came up with my theme based on the ocean, which I call “Changing Tides”.

Prior to doing IB Art, I haven't had much experience in the art field. The whole journey from last year to this year has been really insightful and very interesting because I was constantly learning new art mediums and how to make them. I have learned so much in my 2 years as a DP Art student. I often found myself just letting my ideas take over and not really thinking so hard about how the final piece would look when making some of my pieces. Doing this has actually produced some of my favorite artworks. The colors that I used in many of my artworks are the colors of the ocean. Throughout these 2 years, I have realized my fondness for abstract artworks. I think abstract art is such a beautiful thing because it is really just the artist's emotions laid out on a canvas. I found that when I was making these abstract art pieces it was very relaxing and the end results were my favorite pieces.

The artwork “Power of the ocean” is inspired by how strong and violent the ocean can be. I used cardboard to creak each stroke because I wanted to lay the paint down very thick. I painted each stroke thick and large so that It would look like the waves on the ocean. The colors that I used are colors that you often see in the ocean. Two shades of blue, which represent the water, white which represents churned up water, and orange which represents a rising sun. This piece was my first big painting and it was really a fun and learning experience making it. I had to experiment with ways to lay the paint on the canvas so that it would stay very thick with a lot of texture. The artwork “Distorted Horizon” is another abstract piece that I made. I made this piece on a small canvas and I used acrylic paint. I used a palette knife to spread the paint on the canvas so that it would leave a lot of texture. The colors overlap and cross over each other. I chose to paint the sun as an orange square that sits over the horizon. I did this because the square matches the vertical lines that were created when I spread the paint. Having the sun sit on top of the horizon really makes it pop and emphasizes that this is an abstract piece. My artwork “Gyotaku” was inspired by my passion for fishing. Gyotaku is the traditional Japanese method of printing fish, a practice which dates back to the mid-1800s. It is done by brushing ink onto the skin of the fish, and then laying the paper on top of the fish so that the ink transfers. I was inspired to do this type of artwork because of the tradition that gyotaku printing holds, and because I am an avid fisherman. The end result really captured all of the smallest details of the fish and is almost like a printed photo. With my exhibition, I want to share my passion for fishing, and my love for the ocean to those viewing it.