Stars & Stripes

Artist Statement

I knew immediately that in my piece I would want to include the flag itself, not just its colors. A few days before we were assigned this project, the news broke about the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, justice on the Supreme Court. This was heartbreaking and challenging not only due to the loss of an incredible woman who changed the course of history and did so much for women’s rights, but for the implications of her death and what it means in politics. I chose to use her, cloaked in an American flag as her robe, as she has been a hero of mine for many years. I had the privilege of seeing her in person last year when we went to Washington D.C over April Break. We got up before the run rose to wait in line for three hours in front of the supreme court, until finally my sister and I were able to go in and watch the court in session for three minutes. I wanted to make this portrait as a small way of honoring her legacy.

I started by making three thumbnail sketches before starting my final draft. For the final, I used stiff paper and HB pencil to sketch out my forms and details, before going over everything with acrylic paint. I didn’t have a lot of black acrylic so the background is black oil paint. All of the painting materials were my own, and I used my own brushes. I started with the background then moved to the face, then robe. I used black and white values in the face to define her features, and color, line, and form to create movement and pattern in the robe.

I began with my thumbnails before moving on to paint my final piece. I toyed with a few different color combinations (having the background as the american flag, having her robe be the blue and stars and the neck piece be red) before settling on making her robe the red and white stripes, the background black, and the collar blue with stars. When sketching, I played with different angles and perspectives before finalizing my sketch. Originally I wanted to include quotes of hers in dark grey along the background, but I ran out of time. If I get the chance to go back I might add those words.