Lyna Tenorio Hwang

In my series I wanted to portray relatable moments and scenarios, pushing them to a humorous and zany extreme, exploring my own experiences with emotions and mental health through the personification of inanimate objects.

I started by using objects to obscure the head of my subjects, inviting viewers to imagine themselves in the pieces. As the series progressed I focused on incorporating more personal aspects of my life like self-destructive behaviors, isolation, or letting work pile up, things that, as a senior, are fairly common but have been individually processed through my own life. I experimented with stylization, teetering between a more developed and detailed one, and a more graphic and simple one, conveying my concept as being easily pushed between reality and fantasy. I practiced with vibrant colors and text, taking inspiration from comic books and Pop Art, both retaining a humorous quality to them, as well as also taking inspiration from classic still lifes of fruit to achieve an interesting juxtaposition between the two. My works provide commentary on the shared experience of living, a reminder to not always take life so seriously and to have fun every once in a while.