Thesis
My work revolves around the idea of shared memories and experiences. Typically, I draw from my own personal archive of photos. These photos range anywhere from blurry iPhone shots, to decades old treasured family photographs passed from one generation to the other. Sometimes, I make a connection with outside sources - including found photos, albums, letters, etc - and these become the basis of my work. Regardless of the source, I strive to create a connection between artwork and viewer through familiar experiences. While these photos may show the history of my own family, or even that of a complete stranger, you can connect with them based solely on the fact that the shared experience of family and friends informs how the works makes you feel, and causes you to reflect on and relate your personal life to what you see in the work. This familiarity can then lead to an understanding, appreciation, love for, and sadness for people you may never know - but feel connected to nonetheless. The most important concept, I would say, behind many of my works is that of the ordinary and mundane - the human and the imperfect. Sometimes the best inspiration comes from those images that are not staged family photos, but those candidly taken in the moment. These photos, I feel, capture the most of a moment - its emotions, laughs and smiles, and best holds the memory of that moment in time.
Photo Inspirations
These photos were found while going through my great-grandmother's things after her passing in June 2020. These photos hold an interest for me - depicting both those I will never know, and know in a different way. They offer a look into my own family in a way I will never experience, both familiar and entirely strange.
Beginning Sketches
In the beginning of my research, I was primarily focused on creating sketches and studies relatively close to the original photographs. I began in pencil and colored pencil and then moved into oil pastel over a layer of colored tempera paint to create a base that could be any color, but maintained more texture and tooth than drawing on top of acrylic paints.
Digital Edits & Paintings
My next approach began as me taking the photographs into photoshop and using the drawing and paint tool to digitally paint on top of the existing photograph. Sometimes the images included various aspects and colors taken from the original photo, and some were taken from outside sources - such as color palettes from existing paintings.
Digital Photo Manipulation
I began to take the photographs into Photoshop, and experiment with different modes of distortion that were separate from drawing or painting on top of the photos and branched into geometric "rippling" and cutting. I also experimented with more than one color scheme for each image, resulting in multiple studies based off of the same composition.
Narratives derived from Literature into Paintings
My next step involves linking these photographs to works of literature - through title, scene, characters, etc. I want to put a narrative onto these photos that does not erase their connection to my family and myself, but instead works with it and my connotations and reactions to the photographs.
