ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Central Question

For my capstone project, I've planned created a series of varied art pieces centering around internal reflection during the quarantine. My project was intended to include a digital art piece, a writing piece, and a dance choreography piece, in order to exercise the mediums that I am familiar with. Could I make smaller art pieces, in various mediums, and still have them form a cohesive message? I completed the digital art piece section of my project to present in this capstone, and while I made each piece different from one another, I have tried to make them still be a cohesive exhibit.

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The central message or theme of my art pieces is the portrayal of reflection. During this pandemic, I have reflected on my current mental state, as well as about the little things in life, now that we remain stationary in isolation. I have tried to portray these ideas in my artworks.

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Literature

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Some of the background research I did was seeking inspiration for my own artwork. My project is multimedia, so that meant I had to look for a larger variety of inspiration, usually within the categories I gave to myself: digital art pieces, dance choreographies, and short works of writing. I then determined how to apply these techniques or ideas into my individual pieces for an overall effect, and methodically completed each piece. I let the message change and solidify with each piece, because I find that it creates a more nuanced end message.

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My project is multimedia, so that meant I had to look for a larger variety of inspiration, usually within the categories I gave to myself: digital art pieces, dance choreographies, and short works of writing. Here are a couple examples of the things that spoke to me:

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I saw a digital artwork of two people in an embrace posted to Twitter, and I took notice because it had an emotional weight to it (@PYRZQXYL2). Some of the features I observed were the gritty, rough linework and slightly abstract elements, such as the hair and arm being unbound by lines and instead fading into the backdrop. I believe these features add to this sense of emotional significance, and since I want this sort of emotional weight in my own digital art piece, I tried to incorporate some of these features in my own pieces, such as in "human connection" with the rough linework and slight abstraction, and again in "like watching paint dry" and "seasons."

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I also watched a Youtube video from the girl group ITZY (ITZY). The members of the group are about my age, and in this video they discuss their personal struggles and how they have tried to overcome them. This discussion or message of overcoming obstacles is something I attempted to incorporate into my individual art pieces. I tried to demonstrate inner turmoil in my pieces: for example, "ocean mind," "stasis," and "time passes" all try to portray a crowded, uncomfortable, dizzying feeling. I found that as I made these pieces, I didn't feel like I had found the way to overcome my obstacles quite yet; in the end, my pieces soaked in those emotions of turmoil and feeling stuck in the same place. I found that because I was still in this place, mentally, I could not portray the "overcoming" of these obstacles.

Methods

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The methods of my project included researching the types of works I planned to create, as well as seeking inspiration within them. I then determined how to apply these techniques and ideas into my individual pieces to portray my intended effect, and methodically completed each piece. I let the message change and solidify with each piece, because I find that it creates a more nuanced end message, particularly with a topic as personal as internal reflection.

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Audience & Impact

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My audience is college-aged students like me, because I feel that they would understand the message I am conveying, facing similar obstacles in their own lives. I think that anyone who enjoys the type of artworks I created may also enjoy my project.

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I would like my audience to feel that the project is aesthetically pleasing, but also experience an emotional impact. I hope that the message I am conveying will reach them through these pieces. Personally, I've tried to give my all in expressing myself, and also create something I am proud of.

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References

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@PYRZQXYL2. (2021, January 29). HQ!! Retrieved February 2, 2021, from https://twitter.com/PYRZQXYL2/status/1355273495266160644

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ITZY. (2020, August 17). Letters to MIDZY (1176990637 881824894 JYP Entertainment, Ed.). Retrieved February 2, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIKmT-wRVys

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Acknowledgements

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Thank you to Gabi, as well as all of the Arts Scholars staff, for guiding me and my peers through the process of creating our capstones.