Diploma

Artist's Statement:

The idea for this project was to modify the diploma in a way that related to the material. In this case, there were some specifiers talking about the highs and lows of highschool, and what a diploma represents. I chose to do this in a more abstract sense. I wanted to represent the upheaval that graduation means for the me. I wanted to represent a regular rhythm that I became accustomed to, and then the breaking of that rhythm.

I chose to paint gesso onto the diploma, to use it as a surface for my work, and synthesize the material into my idea in that way. I chose to do this because I knew that I wanted to work on a flat surface. I also chose to use both sides of the diploma, because I wanted a two page spread. I chose to make the background black because I wanted to up the contrast. There is also a sense of a dark room, and the lights turned off, that I kind of like.

My process started with making a sketch of possible ideas for what I could do for this project. I know I wanted to do something that represented the highs and lows, but not in a obvious way. I chose to exclude the pencil in the skech, and make it more of a progression. I think that the progression works nicely, because it leaks a bit onto the other page. This gives it a nice swooping feel that I think relates to the sudden change of graduating very well.