Senior Exhibits 2019

“Out of Nothing” is a photography exhibition that walks the viewer through the story of creation. The Bible illuminates how our world came into being through God speaking it into existence over the course of seven days. My photographs bring form to this extraordinary event. We recognize the trees, the water, the magnificent landscape around us today and it is awe-inspiring. To think about this creation in its purest form, just seconds after exploding into its splendid nature, merely reflecting its Creator, is almost daunting to think about.
These blurry, fuzzy, abstract photographs speak to this idea of the incredible task of bringing form to such a miraculous event. How can one know how this event took place? I hope this wondering and questioning of creation, and its evidence all around us today, fuels the viewer to investigate my photographs.
I chose to photograph in an out of focus and abstract way to evoke a feeling of beginning. The start of something coming into form, filling itself out. Searching for its beginning and end, still finding its edges, edges that are ultimately drawn in by its Creator. These images also draw the viewer in as they contemplate the subject itself. The photographs are just recognizable enough to be relatable, but altered enough to draw back on the idea of something coming into form.
I am drawn to the contemporary photographer, Uta Barth, who also photographs in a nondescript way. Her aim is to provoke her viewers into the act of looking and the process of perception. She creates images that remind us of the subtle passage of time, and the instinctive pleasure of seeing. I long for my viewers to be drawn into my photographs in response to their own beliefs and experiences. I allow for this by the use of blur and abstraction which removes any recognizable features that could distract the viewer from the event at hand.
What we see around us has origins. Origins that people everywhere have thoughts about, but no matter the stance of the viewer, I hope they can wrestle with the genesis of creation as they investigate my photographs.

Your everyday emotions and actions are sometimes the most intimate things about you. What drives you to feel what you feel and do what you do? Everywhere you look, you see what may seem like small emotional interactions in everyday life—like picking up your child from school or going out for ice cream—but if you look deeper, those actions and emotions may just tell you the most important things. They may aid in telling you why someone makes the decisions that they do, or why someone feels the way that they do about something.
I aim to capture those simple, intimate emotional interactions amidst everyday life. Throughout all my work, I capture this sentiment, whether the object I am shooting is alive or not. I love seeing how simple things interact with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and I seek to find out why we as humans are the way that we are. I believe that all of us are so marvelously made in the image of the God who created us, and because of that, I seek to find connections back to that belief within my work. Digital photography has quickly become my medium of choice, especially street photography, because it is a quick way to snap the intimate moments that happen in the blink of an eye. I usually have my camera with me so that I can be ready for that at any given moment.
What you are experiencing now is my street photography series titled “Embodiment”. This term is defined as “a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling.” Using that definition as a reference point for my photographs, I created a series of nine different photographs that embody the Fruits of the Spirit. These are a set of nine different character qualities that are outlined in the Bible. They are as follows:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Gentleness
- Faithfulness
- Self-Control
Each of the photographs in this series are documented through the street photography style. I have not posed anyone in these images. I do not know anyone in these images. I simply have been in these places, with my camera in hand, looking for the intimate emotional interactions of everyday life. While taking the photographs, I have been thinking about how they could relate back to the Fruits of the Spirit. I have numbered the photographs instead of titling the nine qualities. Just as I seek to understand why humans are the way that they are, I want my viewers to pursue this through their experience with my art.
In closing, I ask again: What drives you to feel what you feel and do what you do? Is it by chance that you are the way that you are, or is there a deeper driving-force that shapes who you are? For me as an artist experimenting with these questions, I have seen a deeper meaning within the simple, every day actions and emotions of humanity than what is seen on the surface. I hope that “Embodiment” will help you think about the simple emotions and actions that you choose to display, and, most importantly, help you see that you are marvelously made.

Seven

Rest

When I tell friends and family that I make art about witches, no one seems surprised. As a child, I was obsessed with fantasy and magic, going out into the woods behind my house to look for evidence of unicorns, fairies, and dragons. I'm reasonably sure I never found any, but that love has stayed with me to this day and is the most significant influence in my art.
A second, but no less significant influence on my art is my fascination with history. My grandfather is a huge fan of the History Channel, and would frequently watch it in the evenings when I was young. I would sit with him and learn about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire; about the struggles of Boudicca and the Iceni people of the British Isles; about Ghengis Khan and Alexander the Great; and about the Malleus Maleficarum, and the 50,000 people burned to death because of it.
As a young teenager, I dipped my toes into both the textile and digital arts. Digital, because I couldn’t not experiment with it, having grown up in the digital age. Textile, because knitting is portable, relaxing, and kept me focused in class. While these two art forms may at first seem diametrically opposed, considering one is the most cutting edge and new while the other is almost as old as the human race, to me, they aren't at all. Textile arts is my bridge to the past, and my best attempt at real-life magic -- taking just a few pieces of string and creating something that didn't exist before. Digital art is my connection to the future. It’s a whole new type of magic. After all, what is more magical than art that is utterly intangible, but still somehow exists?
For this particular work, I want to capture the devastating effect that witch hunts had on medieval communities. Women who were once trusted and respected healers, midwives, and wise women were suddenly being accused of using magic to try and hurt their neighbors, and of worshiping the devil. These women went from being influential community leaders to being tortured and murdered. I chose to paint a triptych to help tell these stories. In the center panel is a medieval wise woman. She has medicinal herbs drying on the wall behind her and is knitting using homespun yarn. She is at peace. To the right, she is being dunked, which is the practice of repeatedly putting someone into the water to see if they float or sink. To the left, her trials are over, and she is being burned at the stake by the villagers she once cared so much for. Surrounding the work is a scrolling pattern that encircles four herbs associated with the dead and funerals: mullein in the top left, wormwood in the bottom left, marigold in the bottom right, and asphodel in the top right.
When viewing this work, remember to appreciate the magic in everyday things, because you never know when they might be gone.

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Witch Hunt

Stars

The inception of Grateful Days begins in high school, when a career counselor came to speak to my junior class to help us decide what our plans were after graduation. Like the majority of other sixteen year olds, I was still coming to terms with who I was, who I would be, what I would accomplish and what my strengths and weaknesses were. These are big questions to ask yourself at such a young age and unfortunately, I did not find the answers to those questions through one assembly, so I kept searching. I met with coaches, counselors, teachers searching high and low until I was asked one seemingly absurd question: “When you’re working on a group project, what part do you take control of?” When I heard that question, I immediately knew the answer. I am the planner and the coordinator; I find comfort in the known. That is who I am.
During this discovery period, I put too much focus into the details and the immediate future. This caused me to lose clarity as to what makes me who I am. This disparity is how I discovered that it is just as important to nurture and embrace the qualitative aspects of a person. I needed to organize my time diligently while being constantly reminded of the myriad of people, memories and lessons that drive me fundamentally.
Now, five years later, I have created the Grateful Days planner to be the marriage of these prodigious lessons. Permeating the planner are areas meant to bring out creativity and personality while fostering elements that make me who I am. These elements are exemplified in the details of the planner. A few examples include the font, which I created using my mother’s handwriting; the areas for coloring in, which are made up of sketches depicting things which are important to my life; and the reflection areas, which are based on questions I ask myself to keep sight of the big picture.
In much the same way that a single day is a conglomeration of tasks, events and thoughts, this planner is a conglomeration of pieces that make up who I am. It’s a manifestation of the ‘gears’ and pieces that come together to make a day, week, month, year and a lifetime. No two people will have the exact same pieces that make up who they are, but the calendar changes very little from year to year. With this in mind, I made an effort to investigate the makeup of a day and follow the same format to underpin normalcy and consistency in the short-term. This planner is meant to be a living work that not only highlights the day-to-day, but the things that make each person unique.
This planner is a blank slate; a canvas made for each user to paint a picture of the past, present and future while fostering cognizance of how the details, both grand and minute, come together to make us who we are and drive our every action.

CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Cover

CC BY-NC 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial

Aka Pekku

Five

Concept Sheet of Aka Pekku

Concept Illustration of Aka Pekku

Seperation

Land

Light

Three

Fish

In one very dark moment of my life, I was told by someone very dear to me, “Your pain is a gift”. At the time that phrase seemed so trivial, and honestly shook me to my core. How could someone fail to understand the reality of what I was currently experiencing? In all truth, this person understood something deeper than I was even aware of. I needed to hear this statement in order to pull through that pain I felt. That simple phrase carried me through the ups and downs of my physical discomfort, eventually encouraging me to pursue my art and life more deeply despite the surging ache I often feel. I have looked back on this moment often, and found a fascination with the ability to communicate on a deeper level, both with others and within our own internal dialogue. All Pain is the Same is a representation of my own and several others’ stories through film photographic transfers onto mirrored surfaces.


 


I believe we currently live in a society in which suffering in individuals is consistently compared. In hearing these comparisons through everyday conversation, I have come to question why we are fighting to prove our pain is greater than another’s instead of reaching out a proverbial hand as if to say “I may not understand what you’re going through, but I can appreciate it”. All Pain is the Same is designed to reach out this hand. Each person that experiences this exhibition will look upon seven unique stories of mental, physical, and spiritual torment, but in doing so, they will also see their own difficult experiences physically reflected back towards them. The photograph connects the subject with the viewer in silent appreciation for each other’s trauma. We all will or have experienced hardships within our lives, and I believe it is time to stop the judgmental evaluations and instead recognize how we can heal through having an open dialogue about this suppressed topic.


 


I quickly found a home in studio portraiture and film photography when it was introduced to me around three years ago. I love the studio for its ability to isolate the subject, and feel a strong draw to film photography, especially when using the 4 x 5 camera, for its intimacy and slow process. This combination has quickly become my preferred method of photographing. Through this process I am allowed to get close to my subjects, both in a physical setting and in spending the time to truly understand their story. I am fascinated with traditional and alternative photographic printing methods, and have always loved the unique look of wet plate collodion prints. The reflective nature of the glass plate and imperfect photographs produced by the process drew me in, and I found a desire to reflect this stylistic approach within this exhibition. After photographing each subject, I digitally printed their portrait onto an ink transfer material, and then transferred the ink onto a glass mirror. Due to the printing process, the final image is beautifully imperfect, and the result is the ability for the viewers to see themselves integrated into each image. Therefore, no two perceptions of the images will ever be the same. By allowing the viewer to see himself or herself physically within the image, they will create a shared experience with the subject in the photograph.


 


Throughout my life, I have always had a desire to understand how the individual plays a role in the community around them. I believe community is necessary, and in today’s world we are often focused on our own individual path and forget to look back to see who might be falling behind. When I was at a low point, I had a hand reach out to help. In hearing the stories (some for the first time) while photographing my models, I found that the way each one healed was by having someone else reach out that same hand. We need community, and we have a desire to communicate on a deeper level with one another. Let us look at these photographs in this light, and let us walk away with a deeper understanding of those that are portrayed on the wall and those that are standing next to us.

Painful Gift

Inside Cover

Four

Recompense

With storybook characters being used to shape children’s realities, fiction has always been an important part of growing up. Whether it be kindness, bravery, intelligence, or style, there are many ways a favorite character can shape us, and in our widely connected world, there are more characters than ever for people to grow up with. In Become What You Love, I use costume and photography explore the influence of fiction on myself & challenge you to do the same.

Some of my earliest memories are opening Burger King Pokémon toys and playing Mario Kart with my cousin. An interest in television and games followed me into adulthood where I began cosplaying. Cosplay is a hobby about making and wearing costumes of your favorite characters. The hobby is both fun and fascinating because it made me realize how ingrained fictional characters are into our lives and how important it is to us that they feel real. Companies like Disney are especially aware of this since meeting and even dining with costumed characters is a big draw of visiting their theme parks.

I combined my interest in cosplay with my photography concentration to create self-portraits in costume. The characters I chose to emulate are ones important to me, however I strive for the photos to be something anyone can appreciate.

First, I picked Dawn who is the protagonist of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum which are video games from 2006. Pokémon is something I’ve loved my whole life, but for a long time it was seen as something for boys. Dawn helped me appreciate femininity since her cute pink clothes were different from other Pokémon protagonists’ and showed me that I could like a game people thought was for boys and still be girly. I also vividly remember being excited for these games’ release and staring at their map imagining the new places I would explore. In this photo set, I showcase the many places you can visit in Pokémon by having a different environment for each photo.

Next I chose Princess Serenity from Sailor Moon. I watched Sailor Moon when I was 14 and loved its message of beauty and inner strength. Characters like Princess Serenity who are elegant and graceful, yet powerful, made me want to become an eloquent person. In the story, Serenity is the princess of the Moon Kingdom who falls in love with the prince of Earth. I chose an ethereal garden setting for my photos to reference the beautiful plants Serenity loves the Earth for.

My final character is Phosophyllite from Land of the Lustrous which is a graphic novel I am currently reading. The story is about humanoid gems and deals with being broken, repaired, and dealing with loss. At this point, Phosophyllite is trapped by their own decisions which is something I wanted to reflect in my photos. I also adapted symbolism from the graphic novel like butterflies representing the departed and Phos’ gold arms melting when they are stressed. I feel that Phosophyllite’s story encapsulates growing up and being filled with self-doubt and uncertainty.

Throughout our lives, we experience countless stories, but some leave lasting impressions. I hope that my photography has inspired you to remember them!

[1.1] Dawn

[2.5] Phosophyllite

In one very dark moment of my life, I was told by someone very dear to me, “Your pain is a gift”. At the time that phrase seemed so trivial, and honestly shook me to my core. How could someone fail to understand the reality of what I was currently experiencing? In all truth, this person understood something deeper than I was even aware of. I needed to hear this statement in order to pull through that pain I felt. That simple phrase carried me through the ups and downs of my physical discomfort, eventually encouraging me to pursue my art and life more deeply despite the surging ache I often feel. I have looked back on this moment often, and found a fascination with the ability to communicate on a deeper level, both with others and within our own internal dialogue. All Pain is the Same is a representation of my own and several others’ stories through film photographic transfers onto mirrored surfaces.
 
I believe we currently live in a society in which suffering in individuals is consistently compared. In hearing these comparisons through everyday conversation, I have come to question why we are fighting to prove our pain is greater than another’s instead of reaching out a proverbial hand as if to say “I may not understand what you’re going through, but I can appreciate it”. All Pain is the Same is designed to reach out this hand. Each person that experiences this exhibition will look upon seven unique stories of mental, physical, and spiritual torment, but in doing so, they will also see their own difficult experiences physically reflected back towards them. The photograph connects the subject with the viewer in silent appreciation for each other’s trauma. We all will or have experienced hardships within our lives, and I believe it is time to stop the judgmental evaluations and instead recognize how we can heal through having an open dialogue about this suppressed topic.
 
I quickly found a home in studio portraiture and film photography when it was introduced to me around three years ago. I love the studio for its ability to isolate the subject, and feel a strong draw to film photography, especially when using the 4 x 5 camera, for its intimacy and slow process. This combination has quickly become my preferred method of photographing. Through this process I am allowed to get close to my subjects, both in a physical setting and in spending the time to truly understand their story. I am fascinated with traditional and alternative photographic printing methods, and have always loved the unique look of wet plate collodion prints. The reflective nature of the glass plate and imperfect photographs produced by the process drew me in, and I found a desire to reflect this stylistic approach within this exhibition. After photographing each subject, I digitally printed their portrait onto an ink transfer material, and then transferred the ink onto a glass mirror. Due to the printing process, the final image is beautifully imperfect, and the result is the ability for the viewers to see themselves integrated into each image. Therefore, no two perceptions of the images will ever be the same. By allowing the viewer to see himself or herself physically within the image, they will create a shared experience with the subject in the photograph.
 
Throughout my life, I have always had a desire to understand how the individual plays a role in the community around them. I believe community is necessary, and in today’s world we are often focused on our own individual path and forget to look back to see who might be falling behind. When I was at a low point, I had a hand reach out to help. In hearing the stories (some for the first time) while photographing my models, I found that the way each one healed was by having someone else reach out that same hand. We need community, and we have a desire to communicate on a deeper level with one another. Let us look at these photographs in this light, and let us walk away with a deeper understanding of those that are portrayed on the wall and those that are standing next to us.

All Pain is the Same

Since my childhood, I have been struggling with mental issues. It was not until college that I was clinically diagnosed with a severe anxiety and depression disorder. I was 10 years old when I first felt suicidal, and 12 years old when I had my first panic attack. I always felt so isolated, scared, and exhausted. I would not find out until much later in life that these feelings I have are much more common than I thought, and in fact, run in my family.
Since the start of this project, I knew I wanted my focus to be mental health and body positivity. Before college, I was lost, and completely out of touch with myself. I came to realize that you are the only person who can create your own happiness. You will live with yourself for the rest of your life. You might as well enjoy being with that person, and learning to love the skin you are in forever. 
Flowers are beautiful and one of a kind, like all of us. They sprout, grow, bloom, wilt, and die. Just like humans. At many points in my life, I felt like my mental disorders had me wilted and ugly. I thought there was nowhere for me here on earth. I wanted to inspire others to love themselves through their most difficult and dark times. If you do not, your insecurities and issues will consume you and your every thought. I wanted to showcase the raw emotion of being depressed, anxious, and the severity of them at times. Through the use of digital manipulation, I created flower-headed people to mask the models identities, but to also add emotion and meaning to that specific flower. 
It is silly to think a picture and some words can save you, but they saved me several times. The mantras behind my illustrations are sayings that have helped me through my life. I tell myself these mantras in times of fear or doubt in order to get through the day or week. If you practice these sayings during your times of need, you will learn to grow from them, and start blooming once again. Others can use them and apply them to what they may be going through at the time. My work will inspire many, and possibly even save some. 
The reason behind photographing my models nude, was because I wanted to bare it all. Depression is a very raw, emotional disorder that affects everyone differently. During the photoshoots, I had my models get into a very dark mindset. I asked them what their biggest insecurities were, what made them stressed, what caused their depression. I took them back to a state to inflict a pose that would capture the essence of these disorders. 
I knew I wanted to produce various nature landscapes for this series, because I find that in nature I yearn to grow. It lifts my spirits, calms my soul, and betters my health. Submerging myself in nature provokes creativity and deeper thoughts. I know my pieces will do the same for others.
By the end of this show, I hope my art work will provide the public the opportunity to reflect on what one goes through with these disorders. If one is currently struggling with severe anxiety or depression, my hope is that it will inspire and uplift them. The goal is to keep going and keep growing.
Madeleine Cook 
November 2019

Float

Artist’s block is defined as a period of time when an artist cannot access their creativity or they are unable to create a piece of art, much in the same way as a writer may suffer from writer’s block. I have developed a system named Art Block that allows a creative person who is feeling uninspired to be able to imagine and create new art. This system is to help stimulate creativity by allowing the individual to push through their artist’s block instead of simply waiting for inspiration to strike. Card games of chance and interactive books that are more self-directed have inspired me. My goal is that this method is not only used to alleviate artist’s block, but that it can also be used as an educational tool.

The Fluxus movement of the 1960’s and 70’s has been a great source of stimulus for me. Works such as Yoko Ono’s book Grapefruit teaches the value of the process over the final product. In Ono’s book the reader is invited to participate in activities that focus on mindfulness and being in the present. This state of mind can help lead to creativity. While my goal is to get people to create art, the process often gets overlooked. This card system helps take the guesswork out of the process. Getting bogged down with details and meaning often leads an artist to think the problem is one of a lack of ideas. By providing mediums, techniques, artists to emulate, and color palettes it puts the artist in a headspace to focus on making rather than creating. Since the system focuses on working through the artist’s block, the details and the meaning are meant to develop as the artist continues to make, hopefully leading to that “aha moment”.

The card system allows for a person to be able to experience something new and/or familiar by the chance draw of a card. The text-based system gives the artist a chance to access and use a favorite online search engine or the local library to research unfamiliar techniques and artists. Inspired by the graphic designer Massimo Vignelli, the minimalistic design of the cards makes it easily readable, but also minimizes any cues that would overtly influence the aesthetic of the artist. The standard playing card sized deck consists of 90 cards with 2 cards that explain the “rules” to the system and 4 categories of cards (40 Inspirations, 20 Colors, 20 Techniques, and 8 Canvas). I have used a neutral gray background so that the color palettes are easier to match and the back of the cards are color coded and labeled for easy sorting. When an artist feels like they have encountered artist’s block, they simply have to randomly select a card from the categories they feel that they need some help with. By narrowing the scope of available options an artist has, the system lets the artist get started and begin working towards inspiration.

There are numerous ways in which people create art. The system I have designed allows for great flexibility in its usage because the first rule of the system, as with art, is “there are no rules.” I consider the system to be a guide and a starting place. I have been stricken countless times with artist’s block and have had serious trouble getting on track to the point that I am unable to get started on projects in a timely manner. I have researched ways to combat this, but I usually end up wasting more time looking for a resolution. I feel that if I had previously had a system like this one, I would have had a much easier, productive, and better thought-out artwork of my own. That is why I created Art Block.

Art Block Cards System

The harmony of information and art in a creative layout is what I love about being a designer. To me, a successful design needs to be as interesting as it is functional. My passion for graphic design began with game manuals. After I bought a new game, I would sit in the back seat and read the manual that came with it on the way home. These small but dense booklets are packed with story introductions, concept art, and detailed illustrations. The way these manuals inform the reader yet leave much to the imagination is what inspired me to be a designer.

Blissed is a collection of design concepts for a mock game that focuses on themes of nostalgia, depression, greed, and blind faith. I’ve created posters that show locations and characters from the game as well as game case artwork and instruction manual. The manual features a short narrative introduction, character and location illustrations, and descriptions that symbolize the four major themes. I chose to approach these themes with a sense of humor while designing characters and their descriptions because that is how I try to approach hardships in my own life; with optimistic laughter. I created characters for the manual by personifying symbols of what nostalgia, depression, greed, and blind faith mean to me. Then I leaned into their absurd backstories and tried to imagine what life would be like as a sentient glass of whiskey or a flower that dreamed of being a boxing champion. The locations within Blissed also relate to these themes. For example, forests remind me of my own childhood, wandering through the woods behind my home. Cities make me anxious and are ruthlessly efficient. Places have character.

I chose to make an instructional booklet the main piece of my exhibition because of the intimacy of the format. The act of opening a game, taking out, and then flipping through the included booklet is something I can only describe as nostalgic and sweet. Most games today no longer come with a printed manual, but I always loved seeing the game’s amazing artwork and getting ready to explore the game. Early 1930s and 1940s cartoons, which relied on bright color palettes and whimsical music to tell concise and sometimes morbid stories are another source of my inspiration for this body of work. The creative animation and stylized characters in these classic cartoons inspired me to use intense hues and humor to express darker themes in my own work. I tried to emulate the rubber hose like design of these cartoons to express a sense of whimsical freedom and playfulness.

My goal with Blissed is to make viewers so curious about the content of the manual that they want to play the game it describes. I made Blissed to test my different skills as a designer but also to approach some of my own personal issues in a lighthearted manner. If my exhibition can inspire viewers to try to find optimism or humor in their own lives, then the show is a success.

Blissed

Falling

Self Love

First, I simply draw. The pressures of life melt away and magic happens. I tend to edge away from hard, geometric designs in favor for organic shapes. I am interested in letting the pencil guide my design. I go back into the drawing with pen and the piece begins to become more cohesive. The next step of my process is going into Photoshop or Illustrator to trace scans of my drawings and fill them in with color. My work often ends up appearing to be a microcosm of blooms, sprouts, and biomorphic shapes resembling a setting where flowers could end up dancing. I create drawings often when I feel overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of life, and the drawings allow my mind to be at ease for a moment.

As a child, my parents would often play the Fantasia 2000 film by Disney on VHS, which, looking back now was an influence on my style. The animators who worked on this film were given music to create a story around, and they let their imagination run free. In taking Ana Pozzi-Harris’ History of Surrealism class, I was greatly influenced by the Dadaists and Surrealists of the early 20th century. Artists questioned their surroundings and created alternate realities where their imagination could play. The idea of a color study initially came from my 2-D Design class with Professor Michael Marling first semester of freshman year at The University of North Georgia. He had our class purchase pronto plates, print out color separations of an image, cut the negative spaces out of those images, and use the plates as a spray paint stencil. I used the colors blue, yellow, red, and black to create my image. During this process Marling gave us a formula which I use now for this project. I later found out the formula is a math function called factorials executed in real life to show all possible combinations a set could have.
Printmaking is traditionally hands-on from carving woodcuts to etching copper plates. Polyester plate lithography is different from other forms of print because I have the ability to sketch out my work in my sketchbook, edit in Photoshop, and not lose small details in the transition from paper to plate. I love printmaking because it requires one to think backwards. I do not do well under pressure to get something right all the time, instead I enjoy the happy mistakes that come from experimentation. It is a hydrophobic process where gum arabic and water cling to the white spaces on the plate leaving the oil-based ink to cling to the toner. I also learned how different inks lay on the pronto plates. For example, yellow and blue both lay on the pronto plate in a thin translucent layer while red is much thicker, opaque, and tends to run off the pronto plate.
Color is an important psychological tool to influence a viewer’s perception on a piece of work. Although my work has an underlying freedom and whimsicalness, this project is very structured. Here, I chose three primary colors: perfect pallet ultramarine process blue, perfect pallet process yellow, and perfect pallet alizarin crimson. From these three colors I created the secondary colors of purple, green, and orange. From these six colors, there are three compliments: red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple. With these compliments, there are three different combinations in which these colors can be arranged, and this is how I chose the colors for each of my compositions (i.e. red, green, blue and orange). With just four colors in a composition, there are twenty-four different ways to arrange the colors. This gives the artist twenty-four opportunities to convey their idea in the desired manner. The small prints are examples of all the color combinations and should be seen as suggestions for how color can function within each composition. For the larger works in my show, I picked from composition of those twenty-four, the color arrangement I believe is the most successful in color theory and in the way that I was feeling when I created the initial design.

The idioms I used as titles for my work are often used but not in their entirety, just like the combinations of color that could be successful, but the artist did not choose to use. Here, I wanted to show the complete story as well as the three finalized color combination which I felt told the most accurate story.

“He who wishes to become a master of color must see, feel, and experience each individual color in its endless combinations with all other colors.” – Johannes Itten

Great Minds Think Alike, but Fools Rarely Differ

Self Confidence

Healing

WHAT YOU SEE VS. WHAT I SEE
Elizabeth Ernest
Artist Statement

 When you hear the term “OCD”, what do you think of? Do you think of an overly organized desk, lining up pictures on the wall with precision, or even a pack of M&M’s separated by color? Some may think it is quirky, a joke, an adjective, or even a choice. Unfortunately, it is none of these things. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a grueling, debilitating, joy-sucking illness. It is real and it is excruciatingly painful. I created this series of images and poems to change the way people think about what OCD really is, and to give viewers a chance to see what it is like living without this illness versus living with the illness, i.e. WHAT YOU SEE VS. WHAT I SEE.

 For as long as I can remember, I’ve been doing strange things involving repetition and obsessiveness. I would repeat numbers and phrases like a tic, shake off imaginary dirt particles from my hands, and even fold the edges of papers until my hands bled, all several times throughout the day. Sometimes after having gotten comfortable in bed at night, I’ll get out of bed and go downstairs to check and see if I turned off the oven for the eighty-sixth time. Like many other OCD sufferers, I was confused with the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder diagnosis. I thought, ‘isn’t this just the clean habits thing everyone has?’. The ignorance has caused an exorbitant neglect of the symptoms I experience. Had it not been for the stigma, I could have received help long before this manifested into what it is now. I have intrusive thoughts so severe that I will enter a fit of panic after seeing disturbing images in my head that I never asked for. After having so many bad dreams come to life in my mind, after repeating numbers until I lose my voice, and after my hands have suffered enough, I’ve finally decided to create this series of images that may give a mild glimpse of the feelings many OCD sufferers and I experience. I have been creating art with many different mediums as long as I’ve experienced symptoms of OCD, and if newly-diagnosed-me knew that future (now present) me is at the doorstep of success with even my own understanding of the illness, she would be quite happy… and then she’d probably count a few random numbers because it is what Zil (OCD personified as a girl in my mind) demands.

 With a click of my camera and a touch of Adobe, my vision of OCD awareness has come to life. All poems were written by me, and all photographs were taken by me using my Sony a6000, except the actual photograph of me, which was taken by talented fellow art student Zac Taylor. I’ve corrected minor details of my images in Adobe Lightroom and left the rest to the all-powerful Adobe Photoshop. In my series, I have created five image sets containing two images per set, totaling ten images. A poem accompanies and describes each image set totaling five poems. Each left image portrays the life of an average person, or the life you may think I live. Each image on the right is what my life is actually like, and what many OCD sufferers endlessly experience throughout each day. My series consists of image sets that sometimes contain two separate images, rather than a single image edited to make a separate image. To make the images look the same, I used Adobe Lightroom to transform the composition, and used Adobe Photoshop to change the shape of and rearrange many details and elements of the image.
 I have very much enjoyed creating these pieces the way I enjoy creating art the most – digitally. The moment I used my first tablet and created my first piece of art using Adobe Photoshop, I knew I had in my hands the power to change the world. The World Health Organization has ranked Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in the top ten of the most disabling illnesses by lost income and decreased quality of life. Furthermore, it states the disorder as the sixth largest contributor to non-fatal health loss in the world. If I’ve convinced even one person to change their mind and learn about this debilitating condition, that is the start to an upwards journey for all sufferers of OCD. Thank you so much for reading and understanding. It is appreciated beyond your knowledge.

 End the stigma once and for all.

What You See vs. What I See

My father had a career in filmography. This meant I was always in front of or around a camera. From a very young age the camera always fascinated me. Especially how you can use it to communicate your vision of the world. As I became older I became interested in the medium as a tool for my own artistic explorations. It was around this time that my life suddenly changed. My father committed suicide when I was fourteen years old. I had to leave my family, friends, and south Florida town behind to move in with my mother. Until the making of my senior show Sawgrass Sensations,I had not returned to my hometown for nine years. This series consists of six photographic prints with family photo transfers and linoleum printed on top. I wanted return to my old home to show what I loved about living there and integrate my memories through the medium of printmaking.
I believe that, as adults, we all experience a loss relative to the place where we grew up. The town will inevitably undergo changes in size, population, progress or renovations. I left my hometown so quickly, and at such a young age, that I always felt like something was missing, something I could only find by coming back. I longed to be the person I was before I had to leave. There was the loss of my father but also the loss of myself. Through making this work I want share my story and move toward a future where I don’t have to keep looking back. I have come a long way in being able to talk about my past and I want to celebrate that journey and share the place that formed my childhood.
I use 35mm and large format color film to capture my images in vibrant tropical color. I love the color quality that can be achieved through this process as well as the act of working with the camera itself. The film camera forces you to take more time to consider what you are looking at and focus wholly on your subject. I enjoy much in the same way the tedious process of printmaking. From cutting the plate to the press, so much attention to detail is involved in the process. It’s very satisfying to draw something and be able to reproduce that image potentially hundreds of times. Alternatively, being able to take a photo and manipulate it into a print can give the image new meaning. By combing the mediums of photography and printmaking I feel I am able to express the disconnect between the hometown I remember and the place it is now.
This series represents the precious memories of my childhood and my family. The place where we are raised always has a special feeling. Whether it’s a painful feeling, one of joy or something in between, it is unlike any other place on earth. The bright colors of the photographs show the lush greenery and the beautiful sky of the Sunshine State. The prints depict the memories that I hold so dear and the plants and animals I have strong memories of. Sawgrass Sensations is a series that displays the beauty of my home and celebrates the memories that make it special to me.

Grove Lane

All my life I have used books and images of other fantasy worlds as a form of escape. When I wasn’t playing sports or lifting weights, I was reading about different worlds and attempting to create my own. For me, this escape into a new world was the one way out of my small town where everything was the same every day. Growing up I spent most of my time in rural middle Georgia where the closest neighbors were peach trees and the closest city was over 25 minutes away. Even when I did live closer to the city there was still a disconnect between me and those around me. It always felt like everyone was content to be where they were, living an endless loop, but that was never good enough for me. If there was more to our world just like there was in these fantasy worlds, then I wanted to see it. So, I started writing. I wrote about things I thought would be cool, adventurous lifestyles, and places I would love to see. Eventually, my written stories began to take life through amateur drawings and paintings. Now during my time in college, my stories have inspired a lot of my projects and work. Therefore, I knew my senior exhibition had to also reflect my narrative nature and desire to escape into a new world.
When I first came up with the idea for this project, it was just a random thought I quickly jotted down. However, as time passed and I came closer to presenting my senior exhibition idea, this thought jumped off the page of my notebook and stood out above all the others. So, I marked the page and began my research on how I would start this project. When it came to deciding on the concept and the composition as a whole, I found myself being drawn into the idea of creating a whole new world like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. With this in mind, I decided that to understand the shape of the physical form of my project, I had to know the other landforms around it, so I created a map. Then to understand the details within the terrain, I wanted to know what kind of people or creatures would live here and how their culture and habits would affect the land. So I developed this idea and came up with the name “Kutora” by looking up the word “escape” in multiple languages and then melding them together to form a speech pattern that sounded appealing and slightly rustic. I also decided to split “Kutora” as a country divided into two opposites side of politics and magic ideals that can be simply described as the use of natural vs mechanic. However, I am a believer in things not being so black and white and while this physical piece is based on the natural side of the country, I wanted to show signs of life through mechanical-based evidence like the twisted pipes running through it. Despite all these seemingly unnecessary details for creating this physical form, by going through this process, it has allowed me to understand what this landscape should look like and the details it should have within.
Overall, Tolkien and his stories have been a huge influence for this work and many of my other projects. This past year I have taken every chance I could to reference his Middle Earth in some way in my projects and if I wasn’t able to, I would create my own narrative within my work to achieve this. Tolkien’s idea of creating a world that is familiar as Earth but with just enough of a twist to make it magical. Through doing it this way, Tolkien created a connection with the viewer or reader by creating his world as a reflection on the places he had been both growing up and during his time at war. It was my intention to have this landscape reflect the places I have seen and enjoyed similarly as Tolkien did. I also intend for this project to grow past this physical form, perhaps as a series, a book, or maybe something else entirely. Only God knows where this road will go, and time will tell as I travel.

[1] Kutora

I photograph my subject in a naturalistic and aesthetic immediacy. I draw out the issues of identity within a bicultural people in society. With an interest in documentary style photography and a photojournalist’s mindset, I dive into my artwork with open eyes. I seek to find the beauty, truth and emotion behind the people I photograph. And I investigate my own identity in the process. When one culture physically joins with another there’s a lag in the integration of aesthetic, politics, folkways and more. Overtime it becomes difficult to distinguish the separation, this is when the two become one. This overall experience is embodied in my series: Mezcla.
Growing up I was never very aware of my surroundings and the interactions between people. Coming from parents who were born and raised in a different country made me experience and see the world in a different way. It never really occurred to me, having been raised in the States, that I was different. I spoke the language, ate the same foods, laughed, cried, and breathed the same as anyone else. Over time differences became apparent, causing the question “Who am I” to grow in intensity. Was I Mexican? American? Both? Neither? Creating Mezcla allows me to uncover the core of those questions and bring light to something bigger.
In order to express this experience, my use of lighting, choice of subject matter, positioning and depth of field are taken into consideration. In this body of work I employ digital color photography to tell a visual story. My hope is that viewers catch a glimpse and a strong impression of what the Chicano culture looks and feels like. In order to fully express the cultural blending, it was imperative to use ink jet color prints in order to fully display the vibrancy, familiarity, and warmth of both cultures. Organizing the photographic prints in white frames arranged in a window-like manner is essential in furthering the idea of introspection, a look into the lives of Chicanos.
I questioned many things in my life growing up, such as, why my parents never acted the same as others, why they required my help for “simple” things, why I wasn’t allowed to do things other kids did, and why did my family called me the “white girl”. Was I American, was I Mexican, where did I belong? Through creating this series, I explored a world that helped to answer these questions. It is world where both cultures exist together and where that mixture was beautiful. I am neither Mexican nor am I American. I have learned to love and embrace that fact. I am Chicana, and PROUD.

El Arte de Mi Tia

Loss

The Early Bird Catches the Worm, but the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese

You can visit the project at: <a href="http://spinelikesteel.com/" target="_blank">www.spinelikesteel.com</a>

Spine Like Steel is a digital, website-based experience that communicates the difficulties of living with my Scoliosis diagnosis and subsequent spinal fusion. Scoliosis is a musculoskeletal condition often found in children and young teens that causes the spine to deform over time. Unlike many patients, I required invasive spinal surgery to stop the deterioration of my condition which left me with both physical and emotional scars.

I designed this website with HTML, CSS, and animated motion graphics to fulfill the need for non-clinical, educational resources for recently diagnosed patients. The images used are exclusively from my personal x-ray films and I chose a grey-scale color theme to highlight their brilliance and impact. As a final touch, I created 3D printed keychains that viewers can take as a memory of the installation. They are estimated at-size models of the screws used in my surgery and are 3D printed as a reference to the future of personalized scoliosis treatment through 3D technology.

The title of this work was inspired by the following quote from the contemporary
Canadian poet, Nicole Lyons:

She will rise. With a spine like steel and a roar like thunder, she will rise.

Spine Like Steel

Evoke is based on my reconnecting with familial roots and processing the passing of my mother and father. My mother lost her fight against COPD and emphysema in 2017. My father succumbed to lung cancer in 2018. In this ceramic work, I to experientially engage in what I consider to be the remainder of the grieving process. Growing up I can fondly remember swimming at our favorite spot, Poole's Mill covered bridge; playing bocce and walking the beach collecting shells; and my mom singing one of her favorite songs by Fleetwood Mac, Songbird. In this work, the ceramic lungs represent a juxtaposition of my existential concerns and memories of my parents.
The individual, hand-built pieces on exterior of the slip-cast lungs are smooth to the touch and remind me of the objects that I used to collect near the covered bridge or on the beach. As a whole, the lungs are fragile organs. The lungs must be nurtured and cared for by their user to remain in optimal condition. The same can be said of individuals and the relationships they foster with others. There is always the possibility that a tragedy could strike at any moment and obliterate even the healthiest of lungs. Simply dropping the porcelain lungs would shatter them into fragments. The silhouettes that are inside the lungs exist as the memory. The slip-cast lungs hold these silhouettes and with light, meaning life, passing through them and projects these images. The hand-built pieces outside of the lungs are tangible objects that bring me to recollect times spent with my parents. The sense of touch generates memories that are far more complex and long-lasting. Surface treatment on the lungs are coated with a clear glaze that form cracks underneath the surface. This is significant to my memories as it signifies not being able to make new memories with my mother and father.
Grief is a natural, normal, and vital response to death. It is made up of many different emotions ranging from sadness to anger to guilt and everything in-between. Adjusting to loss is a lengthy process and is unique to each and every person. To help process my final step of grief, acceptance, I have used ceramics to portray times spent with my parents and memories that will last forever.
My goal as a ceramic artist is to communicate my vision through the strength of the form and the characteristics of the pieces. Slip-cast and hand-built ceramic sculptures take the form of objects from nature that reflect place, environment, and time with memories of my parents.

Evoke

Through my project, I strive to bring imagination and ideas to life through storytelling. I have done this by taking my 2D childhood sketches and making them come to life through 3D form. The act of telling a story and introducing my story to the world will let the viewer endlessly explore the imaginative possibilities that I have created within my work. It will let the viewer into my imaginative space so that the viewer can be the creator, using their imagination endlessly to imagine what it would be like inside of my theme park.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney.
This is a quote I live by every day of my life. Walt Disney is my biggest art influence. His work in storytelling and imagination has inspired all of my work. When I was eight years old, I watched a show called, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. There, I got inspired to draw up ideas for a rollercoaster. Over a couple years, I added more and more to my project. Eventually, it escaped the forefront of my mind, but the idea still lingered. 
All my life, my parents brought me to the happiest place on earth. In fact, many of my most precious memories were made at Disney; togetherness, family, love, excitement, fun, and laughter. I feel that these experiences have shaped the person I have become. My personality tends to reflect the optimistic, determined side of things where I believe you can achieve your dreams. Spring 2018 my dream of working for Disney came true. I got accepted into the Disney College Program as a PhotoPass Photographer. There I learned all about the company, their beliefs, and driving forces as a company. I desired to become an Imagineer. I networked with as many people as possible while on the program. In fact, once I explained what I wanted to do, one person told me that I could never do it unless I was a design engineer. That statement motivated me to create my project. Even though it was discouraging to hear, I wasn’t discouraged, I was determined to make it happen.
Last fall in my 3D Modeling and Printing Class, I decided to revisit the idea to see if I could model my concept. It wasn’t a class assignment, but I insisted on creating it. Many people asked me why I was still working on it, and how was I going to execute it if I wasn’t an engineer? I put many hours into teaching myself how to realize my vision. December 2018, I finally had it modeled in Blender, a 3D software. I wanted to print one section of it last year, but it never worked out. The next semester, I took Advanced 3D Modeling and Printing, with the goal in mind to print my piece. I worked all Spring to figure out how to model the cart, how to create the poles to be functional, how to make the track, and more importantly, how the cart would roll and function. It took me the full semester to create these pieces. When I thought I had it completed, one piece wouldn’t fit, so I’d have to start over again. It was lots of trial, error, and frustration, but I was still determined to print my piece. The last week of class, I finally got it rolling at the correct scale. Over the summer, I began splicing the big parts into sections and printing the pieces. I loved watching my vision come to life as I picked up each piece and started putting it all together. 
I want to encourage everyone to use their imagination and follow their dreams because after all, “if you can dream it, you CAN DO IT.” Whether it be art, science, business, music, or whatever your passion is, I want to encourage you to never give up, because if you’re passionate enough about something, it’ll happen. I want to leave you with a piece of advice that one of my teachers left with me, “Everyone has a dream. Let’s say the island is your dream and there is the ocean between you and your dream. Many people will walk to the edge of the water, look out, turn around, and never jump in. Don’t be the person that turns away, be the person to dive into the water and go after you dream!”

[5] Clubhouse Coaster

[3] Clubhouse Coaster (Close - Left)

[8] Childhood Sketch

[6] Childhood Sketch

[2] Clubhouse Coaster (Full)

Think about the relationship you have with nature. Do you immerse yourself within it as much as possible or maybe avoid it at all costs? Humans have a delicate balance with nature. There is a push and pull between us with humans destroying the planet at an alarming rate and nature destroying us through things like natural disasters. With this body of work, I want to show different relationships people have with nature, some being negative towards it and others being positive. Each one of my pieces combine the imagery of humans and nature in a way that expresses these relationships. Whatever your relationship is with the world we live in; it is impossible for us to live without it. We have been destroying this earth even more with the rise of new technologies. Things like virtual reality can give us a sense of being amongst nature without actually being immersed within it. This has been leading us away from nature, but with these pieces I would like to create a reaction in the viewers of appreciation of the natural world. I want to convey the natural beauty of the world we live in before we completely destroy it.

In making these cyanotypes, I would photograph models in the studio as well as collect and scan various foliage, combining the two to create a digital negative. For the cyanotype process itself, I first had to mix the two basic chemicals to make the chemistry that is used. After 24 hours I was able to coat the paper under safety lights. Once the paper had dried, I could expose the paper with the negative compressed in a contact frame under UV light. The photograph then was washed in a water bath with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to increase contrast in the image and then hung to dry. 

I chose this alternative process of photography because it causes you to slow down and requires you to really know and understand what it is you are doing. I sometimes get tired of this digital age and prefer hands on old photographic techniques and processes. Everyone nowadays thinks they are a photographer with camera phones in their pockets, which is what makes old processes like these even more special and unique. I also chose this process as it relates to the concept of the work since it requires sunlight to create the image. It is a very hands-on process as I coat the paper myself allowing for an interaction with the artist and the physical work. The concept of each person having different and unique relationships with nature also parallels the process as each of these photographs are unique and would be near impossible to replicate exactly.

I chose to photograph only women to symbolize the nurturing care of mother nature being a female personification of nature. Each piece of the work is titled with a word that describes the feeling that someone may have with nature. In looking at this work, I would like to show the viewer the true beauty of nature and how vital it is for our lives before we destroy it completely beyond repair. The viewers should reflect upon themselves and think about the relationship they have with nature, and if they do not have a true appreciation for the earth that they may have a newfound admiration for it.

Vulnerable

In a world full of diverse cultures, life experiences, and tragedy, children often fall through the cracks. You Are My Flower is a short children’s picture book about a little Hawaiian girl scouting for flowers to give to her mother after an unknown tragedy. You will find that it addresses the deaf community, the single mother, belonging, and most of all love. 
As adults, often times we forget what it meant, looked, and felt like to be a child over time. Through vibrant illustrations, I convey the impact parents can potentially have on their daughters as they begin to discover the meaning of beauty, strength, and belonging. The book is also about what it means to be loved and to be more than enough. My hope is that this story can bring you and your children together as they learn a little about the Hawaiian culture, the power of love, and the bonds of family.

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