Artist Inspired

Artist Statement

This art project was inspired by two people directly and one group of people. The first person I was inspired by it would be Henri Matisse. I was fascinated when I learned that in Matisse’s later years, he used paper cutouts in his artwork. I wanted to try and recreate this method but in my own way. The other artist that I was inspired by was a group of indigenous artists in Canada. A few years ago, my family went on a trip to Quebec, and while we were there {comma} we stopped in an art museum that had a lot of Aboriginal works. I was really intrigued by the way that the artwork showed movement. It was mainly based around animals and only use the colors red and black did not follow that color pattern for this piece but I was definitely inspired by them the last person I was inspired by was Greta Thunberg. I recently became aware of how little is being done to protect the Earth that we have destroyed this concept is not easy to grasp. It makes each individual admit that they have done nothing in the face of extreme horrors. Greta inspired me to realize that every action is an impact. And that to make a difference you cannot hide and wait for someone else to do I would like this piece to show the beauty of the whale, and that it is our duty to protect it. In her words, “How Dare You" destroy our home and sit back to watch it burn. This piece has allowed me to realize that I can no longer stand by.

The work was made using paper cutouts put on a large 17-in by 22-in canvas. The paper is the regular colored paper that you would write on. I also used two types of glue, one being from a stick and the other just being Elmer's glue from the bottle. The canvas is a cloth canvas with wooden supports. I did write on the canvas, and I used a black marker.

My process started with me cutting out the strips of paper. I cut them out quite randomly, making them as curvy as possible. After I lead some specific groundwork such as the main base of the tail, and some of the top of the tail. From there I added the orange circle that is the sun and started to work on the ocean the water took about 4 hours to make as there are a lot of little pieces that go into it. I wanted to make sure that some of the pieces hung off the edge so it looked like the water was flowing and that there was a rhythm to it and not just suspended in one place. Then I added the other supporting “branches” of the tail, making it fuller and really defining the shape that I wanted it to take. Throughout the whole piece it was very clear to me that I wanted there to be a lot of movement. I really wanted to show this magnificent creature as if it was living and breathing. I finished this piece slightly in a rush, so my next step would definitely be to finish up the inside of the whales tail. I would also want to crowd out the canvas space with words. I would want to show all the opinion stating that the climate was not a problem, but also have the words “how dare you” be bolded.