FHS Diploma

Artist Statement:

For this project, we were given unused FHS diplomas and told to make something out of them. Specifically, this piece of art was supposed to encapsulate our experiences during high school. I chose to represent my experiences through tiny symbols, enclosed in the shape of a falcon, which is the mascot for my school.

For materials, I used watercolor and sharpie marker on a piece of bristol board paper. I then took this and hot-glued it to the inside of the diploma, so it opened up like a book. 

I started by developing two ideas: one where I would depict a scene in some part of the school with high school life, and the other where I would fill the FHS symbol with tinier symbols. Very early on, I ditched my idea of the scene because it was not one I was really interested in in the first place. I settled on the one with symbols, but changed my focus to the symbols being located in a falcon. First, I sketched out my design in pencil on the piece of bristol board. Then, I filled in the entire falcon with representative symbols. I went over all of this in sharpie marker. After that, I painted the background in with watercolor. Finally, I glued the piece of paper inside of the diploma.