I have recently been fascinated with what some people see as disturbing but I see as beautiful. I am interested in true crime, surgeries, and paranormal stories, which lead me to investigate how phobias can be represented in art. Fears and phobias are very personal from one person to the next, I wanted to depict the irrational narrative of terror and paranoia felt by my subjects. I was inspired by Boris Groh and the way his work elicits fear from the viewer. Their work was created digitally, using the modernities of the software to their advantage. That is why I used a digital art program to make my Sustained Investigation. Procreate allows me to use various traditional brushes, while also using ones that emulate the digital world.

My investigation started with pieces with static compositions displaying irrational concepts and evolved to visual narratives. In piece 4 I used the repetition of snakes to contrast the figure in the center to emphasize the irrational concept of ophidiophobia. In piece 7 I began to layer imagery to create a psychotropic environment. By including elements like hands, graves, heart monitors, and hospital beds I was able to create a more complex narrative. My intention was to illustrate various frightening scenarios that evoke the phobia from the viewer, while simultaneously using digital methods of artistic creation.

Although my pieces were created digitally I used brushes that emulated gouache, colored pencil, and pens to create texture. Scribbling and chaotic mark making at lower opacities creates a sense of uneasiness in the background. The dark colors and tones that I used, were juxtaposed against brighter colors. Creating an eerie atmosphere along with an exciting appearance. My first piece exemplifies this the most through the repetition of mark making in each figure as well as the background centered in the contrasting red focal point. By associating the fear of disease with the masks I connected to COVID-19, thinking about how masks evolved. Plague masks were one of the very first inventions made solely to prevent disease. The symbolism and contrasting colors helped set the stage for the rest of my investigation.

My sustained investigation allowed me to make a cohesive body of work about a topic I was passionate about, which is something I have not had the chance to do up until now. It taught me to stray away from static compositions and create a deeper meaning with each piece. In addition, it gave me an even greater appreciation for those artists that inspired me, as well as film and artists for being able to portray gore and uncomfortable subjects in such a beautiful way. Their works and the experience I was able to take from doing this investigation, lead to me creating interesting works of art that really show the very aspect of what I aspire to create: An unnatural sense of paranoia coated in an electric art style.