Sustained Investigation #10
How can I use design to explore the importance of perception to the concept of beauty?
Process Images:
Sustained Investigation #10
Dawson and O'Keeffe
Approx. 5" by 5"
Materials: Sharpie felt-tip pen, Sharpie marker, Hershey's Kiss wrappers, Extra gum wrappers, apple, apple sticker, clementine, Bristol paper, masking tape
Artist's Statement:
Jillian Wight
Medsker
AP Art and Design
14 February 2022
With this artwork, my goal was to really make my subject stand out clearly. The theme of the piece is beauty through admiration, and so I chose to make my mom the focus. I drew her and cut her out, and made sure that the colors were defined so that she would really pop against the background. I wanted to really play up the admiration aspect by making the work from the point of view of a child. To do so, I depicted my mom cutting apple slices, and looking lovingly at the viewer. I made the colors in my kitchen exaggerated and bright, and added stars, hearts, and other shapes to emphasize the aspect of youth and innocence. I also added fruits and fruit stickers to symbolize femininity, as I think a mother and daughter share a really special connection. Finally, candy/gum wrappers further the narrative of childhood. The style of the piece is meant to reflect a memory, sort of nostalgic and foggy. I added a Georgia O'Keeffe painting that used to be in our house which I remember really well, and in the title included the name Kimya Dawson because her music is really nostalgic for me and my mom used to love her.
I started with Bristol paper, and used felt-tip Sharpie pens to add color. I then recompile the pieces of my image with masking tape and added detail with Sharpie marker, Hershey's Kiss wrappers, Extra gum wrappers, apples, an apple sticker, and a clementine.
I experimented quite a bit with this piece. The style is much less rigid than mine usually are, and is a lot more sketchy. I worked to concentrate the detail, which has been a goal of mine for a while. I also didn’t include any gel pen, which is usually a characteristic of my work. I think I'll continue to use it in the future though, sort of like my signature! I was very unsure going into this piece and had a very different original idea. Though the composition developed in ways I couldn't have possibly imagined due to time restraints and errors I’d made early on, I’m so happy with the result!