Curatorial Rationale
At times in life, it can be difficult to make sense of our emotions --especially when they conflict with one another. My overall work features the relationship between emotions and how they contrast one another. Art has been an outlet for me to process and better understand myself in times of chaos. With the concept of portraying contrasting emotions, I aim to highlight the challenges we face in understanding our complex emotional identity. With these pieces, I hope to not only portray emotion, but to evoke emotion as the images speak for what cannot be translated into words. As I explore this concept artistically, symbolism is widely used to represent the images that resonate with me as I think about a certain emotion. Specific color schemes are also used to separate positive emotions from negative ones. Positive elements are shown through hues such as yellow, orange, pink, and brown. Whereas negative elements are shown through a gradient of black and white with red tones. For example, in my piece, “Fruitful Life,” I use a lemon branch with the established “positive color scheme” to describe how implementing gratitude in one's life allows for a healthier and more “fruitful life”, as described in the title. In contrast to this positive emotion, my piece, “Forbidden Fruit”, represents discontent through the “negative color scheme” established and through a portrayal of the Biblical story in Genesis where Eve is tempted to take a piece of fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. These works show fruit standing as a symbol to represent something positive or negative. All but one of my works is done in watercolor. I was able to progress my skills in watercolor specifically during junior year when I created the piece, “I am the Sun”, which is a portrait of poet Rupi Kaur. The title and work itself is inspired by her book, The Sun and Her Flowers. I incorporated flowers around Kaur’s shoulders in the style of her own illustrations to give weight to the idea that Kaur is “the sun”, and that she has been influential in my personal life. This piece was a jumping off point in the development of my proficiency in watercolors. I also tend to gravitate towards working on a smaller scale, so painting a larger piece was a way to stretch my capabilities as an artist. With this work, I found an interest in using watercolor and used the techniques I learned moving forward in the rest of my pieces. With the concentration for my work being centered around emotions, my pieces largely connect to my own identity and personal experiences. In my acrylic piece, “Façade”, two canvases are used to show the disconnect between our authentic feelings and how we end up presenting them. In this piece, the bottom half shows a positive appearance. However, in the top half of the painting, a truth is revealed to show the false reality portrayed underneath it. The top canvas includes a poem I wrote describing the importance of presenting your authentic self to others regardless of the outcome. Similar to the presentation of “Fruitful Life” and “Forbidden Fruit,” I created another set of two pieces which contrast one another. The first work, “Illumination of Peace,” is inspired by a scene in the movie, Tangled. It is a direct representation of how my mind illustrates a still and peaceful state of being. Yellow lanterns within the work represent an element of fire being shown in a delicate way that harmonizes the surrounding visuals. The contrasting work, “Restless Fire,” symbolizes a feeling of anxiety and inner turmoil. The warm hues of the flame, which are shown overtaking the person's mind, represent fire in a destructive sense, rather than peaceful, shown with the lanterns. Through creating art that represents contrasting emotions, I aim to validate the emotional experiences many humans face. I aim to show viewers that conflicting emotions can exist simultaneously. I hope to artistically express feelings and challenges that resonate with people where words fall short to encompass all that their experiences are. Lastly, I also hope to challenge viewers to reflect on their own emotional identities and how it influences their life. |
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Title: Fruitful Life
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper Size: 22.86 cm x 30.48 cm Intention: This piece represents the feeling of gratitude and how it enhances your life. The lemons are symbolic to the way that gratitude is a feeling that bears fruit. The yellow in the lemons is shown to represent the joy that comes from practicing gratitude, and the branch expresses how this feeling grows throughout all aspects of life. |
Title: Forbidden Fruit
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper Size: 22.86 cm x 30.48 cm Intention:This piece represents the feelings of discontent and greed. The portrayal of these feelings is in reference to the Biblical story of Eve and the forbidden fruit. The snake represents the deception of purity, being that it is white. The black and white nature of the hand represents the controlling effects of the snake that cause an overwhelming feeling of greed. |
Title: I Am The Sun
Medium: Watercolor paint and pen on watercolor paper Size: 40.64 cm x 35.56 cm Intention: This artwork is a stand-alone piece, separate from my theme, made to highlight the contributions of women. This work is a portrait of poet Rupi Kaur, with details of flowers creeping over her shoulders. I was inspired to paint a portrait of Kaur because of the influential role she has made through speaking about her struggles as a woman. The flowers are an influence of Kaur’s illustrations from her poetry book, The Sun and Her Flowers. Through creating this piece, I wanted to manifest the contributions of Kaur and the power that women possess despite whatever has tried to take it before. |
Title: Façade
Medium: Acrylic on canvas and digital text Size: 45.72 cm x 30.48 cm Intention: This work represents the contrast between an outward appearance and an internal feeling. This piece was done in two separate canvases to show the disconnect between our personal realities and an inauthentic presentation of them. The bottom half of the piece signifies an untruthful representation of how we feel. Pink and yellow hues were used to show a joyful feeling. The text on the top half of the canvas suggests that we often trade the act of being our true selves for the comfort of others. On the top half, black and white tones were used to signify how draining it can be to appear a way that you don’t feel. |
Title: Love and loss
Medium: Watercolor and ink on watercolor paper Size: 20.32 cm x 25.4 cm Intention: This work represents the idea and validation of conflicting emotions existing at once. More specifically, this piece references a mother who loses her child, but is surrounded by the comfort of those who love her. The presence of contradicting emotions, such as grief and joy, are valid experiences--and part of what contribute to the complexity of our emotional identities. Inspiration for this work was drawn from the art of Carol Rossetti and Kathryn Oborski. |
Title: Daily Battle
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper Size: 22.86 cm x 30.48 cm Intention: Often times, there can be a split desire within ourselves when making a choice or acting a certain way. Overall, this piece represents the contradictions between your heart and mind. The black lines show the struggle to find clarity amidst your heart and mind going separate ways. The black center also stands to represent the search for truth in the contradictions between your heart and mind. |
Title: Illumination of Peace
Medium: Watercolor and acrylic on watercolor paper Size: 24.13 cm x 27.94 cm Intention: This work represents the feeling of peace and tranquility. The portrayal of this feeling is in reference to a specific scene in the movie, Tangled. The combination of the sunset, lanterns, and quiet water personally signifies a sense of stillness for me. The lanterns and sunset are a representation of fire being used in a restorative way to emulate peace. The color pink contributes to the theme in that it represents harmony and inner peace. |
Title: Restless Fire
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper Size: 24.1 cm x 27.94 cm Intention: This piece symbolizes a feeling of anxiety and inner turmoil. The destructive nature of fire is shown through the overtaking of the figure. The warm hues of the flame signify anxiety itself. Whereas, the dark values and position of the figure's arms signify the hold anxiety can have over one's mind, body, and spirit. |