SERIES i: QUESTIONING
My first series focuses mainly on questioning what makes us human. Questioning our humanity is a unique and specific thing for us to do. Each piece in this series represents a concept that others or I have consider a trait that is distinctive to the human experience, whether it is important to development or something we experience more intimately that how other living creatures do. Each piece has a question as a title to further push the theme on questioning in this series.
A common theme in both series of mine is that the figure in my pieces is often either a self-portrait, a persona, or a representation of myself. This makes my pieces particularly personal, especially within my second series. I struggle in trying to create artwork with another person as the figure in my pieces, as I cannot properly connect myself and therefore cannot feel partial during the process or the end product.
The majority of this series is digital media, as I had been a bit afraid to step out of my comfort zone at first. Though it took some time for me to reach out into other mediums, I believe my digital skills improved quite a bit as I was creating pieces for this series.
A common theme in both series of mine is that the figure in my pieces is often either a self-portrait, a persona, or a representation of myself. This makes my pieces particularly personal, especially within my second series. I struggle in trying to create artwork with another person as the figure in my pieces, as I cannot properly connect myself and therefore cannot feel partial during the process or the end product.
The majority of this series is digital media, as I had been a bit afraid to step out of my comfort zone at first. Though it took some time for me to reach out into other mediums, I believe my digital skills improved quite a bit as I was creating pieces for this series.
What in a human?-
Digital media, September 2016 (Photoshop) - This piece begins by introducing the question of what is most vital to being human. In answer, the piece itself focuses on the heart, both physically and metaphorically. Unlike other species, we hold a personal connection and importance to our hearts; we connect our empathy, important memories and the events that shape us to it. I began in my comfort zone with a digital artwork, before expanding to unfamiliar mediums. As the first piece in my beginning series, I wanted it to be familiar to myself and my type of medium work before I branched out and improve myself and my artwork. |
Is This It?-
Digital media, March 2017 (Paint Tool Sai) - As a human being grows and experiences the world, both good and bad, it is often that the negative experiences will shape that person the most. I took inspiration from Takato Yamamoto in the expression of this concept within the figure, resonating with his works in which he often portrays male figures in compromised or difficult situations. This piece specifically is meant to focus on how harsh experiences shape individuals. If it were not obvious, the red hands on the left represent the bad events and the blue hands on the right represent good events. Each hand is a particularly significant event that happened to me that I believe to have shaped myself, though looking at it without any background information or context, most people would not be able to decipher that. That is to say, on the surface level, it is difficult to judge someone's life or struggles or that it is nearly impossible to figure out how or why someone became the way they are if you do not know about such important events. |
how it ends?-
Mixed media, December 2016 (Ink block print on watercolor and gouache, acrylic and ink on saran wrap) - This piece was created to come after “Is This It?” and to express the social and emotional boundaries people often create for their own comfort and safety after experiencing something harmful and traumatic. There is a physical barrier in the piece, the separation of the figure in the background and the added details and shadow figures on top of a piece of saran wrap, which acts to protect the figure from the outside world and influence. The use of an actual physical barrier helps to push the concept of boundaries, also making the figure seem distant and removed from the crowd below. An almost ominous and menacing atmosphere comes from the crowd underneath the figure, as when you begin to build walls to protect yourself, you begin to doubt others and fear they will harm you even though they will not. |
better?-
Digital media, April 2017 (Paint Tool Sai) - Some people, like myself, find solace in creating characters or personas to overcome and cope with harsh experiences and situations. The figure in this piece is a character I’ve created that I use to relieve the stress of what I have experienced and to comfort myself. Giving a character your own struggles can create a sense of solidarity and hope, but can also enforce escapism as a means to remove yourself from your problems. This character is very near and dear to me, as I often project many of my own problems. I see him as almost another version of myself or a self insert, and he is one of my most cherished and significant characters. Though I may comfort myself by making him go through my own struggles, it only pulls the attention away from myself and enables me to ignore my own issues. Though I may be happy and comforted in the moment, afterwards, my problems are still there and may even be exacerbated by this escapism. This method of coping is very harmful, but is very common in many. This piece is a very specific topic within a very broad subject, coping. With such a particular form of coping, this is to more belong in the first series and a transitional piece into my second series. |