Sustained Investigation #8

Artist's Statement:

Jillian Wight

Medsker

AP Art and Design

13 December 2021

I, like many others, like to wear a lot of jewelry, fancy clothes, etc. I love to add to and adjust my appearance, and I think that these material items are such a unique way for us to express our personality outwardly. Since this aspect of myself is so special to me, I wanted to create this piece based on the idea of beauty as a form of self expression. Specifically, how who we are internally is separate from our physical bodies, but simultaneously the former influences the latter. To do so, I drew a skeleton, which represents the purest, most unadorned version of ourselves and around it, a cracking egg. Not only does this convey the idea of life, femininity, etc, but it also creates a thin barrier between this aspect of my design and the outside, which depicts skin, jewelry, makeup, and more. I used bright colors and did my best to let my personal style and identity inform this work.

I started with a small and sturdy piece of white paper. I then used Dual-Brush markers, Sharpie markers, and Blick felt-tip pens to create my design. I went in with white gel pen for the skeleton and extra details, and then mounted an eggshell to the paper with hot glue. Once I had the eggshell positioned and cracked, I used acrylic paint and more gel pen to decorate it.

I experimented with this piece quite a bit. I really wanted to convey a strong message as I did in my last piece. I also wanted to incorporate an egg once again. But, I really wanted to be true to my own style. So, after sketching and gathering inspiration, I began my piece. I thought that the bright color would look really remarkable on the page, but in hindsight I think that sticking to a planned and focused color palette is much more effective. I also had to play around with the egg a bit, as I wasn’t sure if painting it was a good idea. In the end, I’m happy with this decision. I wish, however, that I had been a little more patient mounting the egg and used something a little less obvious than hot glue.

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