ARTIST STATEMENT
Everything in the universe is made up of building blocks: miniscule pieces that on their own do astronomically little, but that work together to create a beautifully complex and inspired system. Protons, neutrons, and electrons, so small they can barely be defined as having weight form atoms, which themselves are invisible to the naked eye. These atoms form molecules which make up the elements which serve as the building blocks of our own world. Bones are the body’s frame, the invisible yet ever-present system keeping us from completely falling apart. I am fascinated by bones for this reason. We spend our entire lives ignoring our bones until we break them, and only then do we realize their vitality, or until after our bodies decay. They are the final piece of us to remain after our demise and it is for this reason that they are associated with death and horror and despair. When in reality, they are a much more fundamental part of our lives than of our deaths. I wanted to portray skeletons as whimsical and happy instead of frightening or gruesome for this very reason.
INTELLIGENCE
Going into the summer, I was coming off of an intense amount of stress from exams and working long hours.
I was so mentally exhausted that, instead of laboring over the miniscule ideas my art would represent, I just went with something that simply, inexplicably, felt right. Instead of dreading the thought of messing up the concepts behind my art, I actually looked forward to sitting down and painting just to paint. I felt like I connected to the process and the techniques much more than usual just working without overthinking.
SELF ASSESSMENT
If I was forced at gunpoint to grade myself on this project, I would give myself a B. I worked really hard on these, but I still don’t think they utilized the full breadth of my skill. In the future, I think working on a smaller scale will help me focus on detail before I try to go too big again. If I spend the same amount of time on these upcoming small works as I did over this summer, (I know it’s probably not physically possible, but a
girl can dream) it could end up being better than I could ever hope for. All that being said, I’m
enthusiastic for this next year and especially this next project.
INVESTMENT
The inspiration for this project came to me in the middle of June. I started drawing the largest piece within two or three days of thinking of the idea. Despite working full time, I was still able to finish my first piece by the end of June, simply because I truly had that much fun making it. I would stay up insanely late working on it, so it was done even faster than I expected it to be. I started on the smallest one second, and I was torn as to what aesthetic I wanted to portray, so it sat in the beginning stages until the end of July. All in all, I was done with all three pieces by the beginning of August. I was actually excited about my work ethic during this project and I hope to continue this into this year.
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