Dispassionate

My senior piece is the latest installment in the series of paintings I have been working on since junior year. This series focuses on the concept of creating a connection between the viewer and the artwork based on a playful experience. Each piece in the series functions as a sort of maze game to be played by the viewer. I wanted to paint something bigger than I had ever before as a cathartic closing to my time at Dreyfoos.

I decided to use matte house paint to achieve the same flatness as my other paintings and to ensure the consistency of the color throughout the canvas. I took a risk in rendering the figures with some more dimension than I usually do in my paintings. For the shading, I wanted to achieve the smooth blended effect you get from oil paints, but I didn’t have any so I opted for shading with colored pencil instead. My inspiration for this piece came mostly from artists Edward Kinsella and James Jean’s illustrations, which I admire for their facial exaggeration and color palette respectively.