Embedded Files
2024 Spring Issue
Gothic
Suri Rivera
For the Gothic theme I chose to do a collage with scrap papers that represent a gothic aesthetic. I gothified Hillary Clinton in the bottom right corner. I choose to do this because I felt it would be ironic to gothify a political figure.
Veil of the Abyss
Dora Chen
Moon’s chill embrace, dark,
Whispers from forgotten souls,
Fear’s tendrils entwine.
Gothic
Emma VK
For this theme I wanted to make something influenced by French Gothic architecture. Inspired by the rose windows of the Chartres and Rouen Catholic Cathedrals, my piece was meant to recreate their balanced and rounded looks. I also wanted to add some sort of motif that wasn’t religious in nature. To connect my artwork to something attributed to the Goth subculture, I added the ankh, a commonly worn gothic symbol which can represent eternal life in vampire fashion. To try and create a stained-glass effect I used vibrant water colors on paper.
Annie Chen
“Die! You foul beast, die!” My voice booms reverberating as the thunder cracks outside.
Niko, incapacitated by my tickling, laughs, “Get off! We gotta study for this calc test.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I grab his hands and pull him up.
Resuming our academic endeavors, we start the chain rule worksheet. The strange thing is…Niko won’t stop moving. He isn’t fidgeting or anything like that though. He’s fully twitching. As his arm convulses, I grab it urgently.
“Dude, are you okay? You having a stroke or something?” His neck snaps around. A white terror pierced my heart as Niko’s eyes glare into me unnaturally. Flinching back, I stutter, “Y-you good, Niko?”
And just like that, as instant as the lightning flash outside, he snaps out of it.
“Huh? What’s going on? You’re as pale as a ghost,” Niko laughs lightly.
“You…I…you were just…are you okay?”
“Oh, me? I mean, I think so. I didn’t really get much sleep last night though, I was helping Dr. Mayle out with her experiment in the lab.”
A wave of relief washes over me, “my god, you must’ve fallen asleep and started sleepwalking just now. No wonder, you scared me dude, get some rest tonight, yeah?”
“Pshh, with the test tomorrow, I can only try.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t be dramatic, that’s all I’m asking,” I scrape my chair against the floor as I get up. “I’m gonna use the bathroom real quick and then we can practice implicit differentiation after.”
Humming, I make my way to the bathroom and do my business. As I’m about to exit, I spot a little mound of fur in the corner of my eye.
“Carla! What are you doing in the bathtub? Come here, you little rascal,” I head toward my pet cat. Seeing that she’s asleep though, I scoop her up and she’s…cold. Like…really cold. What?
“Carla…wake up. Wakeupwakeupwkaupewakuepwkaeupcmoncmonpleasewakeup.” I shake, I’m shaking her, nothing nothing oh god oh god, what happened?
…Earlier, Niko was using the bathroom. He might know something.
I creak the door open and holler, “Niko! Please come here.”
No response. What? I shoot up. Casting one last despairing glance at Carla, I rush out.
“Niko?” Whe-there. On the floor. Crouched. Back toward me.
“Niko! Carla-she-she…I…Niko?” He’s not moving too. Is he cold? Oh god. He’s cold. Deathly.
I shake—he leaps. He’s on top of me. I look into his eyes and they’re bulging. His teeth are snarled. Niko, please. He runs his tongue across his teeth. He grinds a twisted version of the smile I’ve grown to know. And love.
The smile that’s about to bear down on my neck and not in the way I’d fantasized.
I close my eyes.
Six Seeds
Nova Bhuiya
In terms of colors, I took much of my inspiration from 12th to 15th century gothic artwork. Although modern goth is simply associated with dark and moody colors, gothic artwork dating back to that time made use of bright and vibrant colors. They typically consisted of blue and red with gold motifs. I added a lace border as a homage to the modern gothic subculture.. My inspiration for composition came from the Greek myth of Demeter's Hymn. Gothic artwork typically makes use of Christian and Catholic motifs but I wanted to diverge from this and display the sorrow of Demeter’s Hymn. Many people learn about Persephone and Hades through retellings, which are often marketed as sensual romances. However, in Demeter’s Hymn, Kore is described as a young girl who is bargained away by her father, Zeus, to Hades. When Demeter demands Hades for her daughter's return, Hades offers the young girl a pomegranate. In some retellings, Hades forces the girl to eat the pomegranate, while in others, she innocently eats by her own free will. Regardless of the minor differences, one fact is unwavering, when Kore swallows six pomegranate seeds, she loses her freedom and becomes Peresphone, bringer of death and queen of the underworld. With this piece, I wanted to depict Kore rather than Persephone. A young girl meeting a sorrowful fate.
Sud
Leo Mundy
My piece is representative of the gothic theme because of the subject I chose. The subject is a close friend of mine who is goth. Their outfit is based on one they sent to me for reference, and the cat on their shoulder is one of their many cats they own. The surrounding collage is taken from an old book about anatomy, with illustrations from the 1520’s, which I found very interesting given the amount of information provided was false. I used both water colors as well as pen inking for coloring and line art.
Ate
Eve Villagomez
This piece is a combination of traditional and digital art, created to represent the gothic theme through a fallen angel/ revenge bound spirit, trapped on earth. It was inspired by several other gothic paintings surrounding more spiritual concepts. The original piece was acrylic on canvas, and layers were built up using chromatics and bold colors. The piece was finished/rendered using procreate, and thanks to additions by my friend Leo, it is what it is today. I think it eats and you should too 😘
Credits
Credits
Lee Vtorov
Emma Vanterpool-Krajnak
Dora Chen
Isabel Janjigian
Annie Chen
Maya Emert-Wiggins
Amelia Will
Diba Nandini
Natalie Tauras
Berry Pomeroy
Letter from Editors
Letter from Editors
After a long await, we're excited to present to you this compilation of the Winter 2024 gothic issue.
Goth can encompass many things: it is representative of culture, clothing, mindset, an the time period of archetecture.
Sincerely,
The Stargazer 25' leaders
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