Senior Exhibits 2019

This world is overwhelmingly beautiful. The Earth is full of charm and adventure that bring out this child-like wonder in each of us. Think back to a moment in your life where the beauty of this world brought you to tears. In those moments, you tend to feel like a smaller piece in a grand design. Painting landscapes renews this experience in me, and allows me to see my own life in a larger perspective. Each piece in my show, Journey, intends to recreate that occurrence in my audience using three distinct locations that display creation in different lights.
Every animation was constructed together through the use of Photoshop and After Effects. Just as life takes on a long means of shaping who we are, the creation process took months of building. The original concepts for each landscape began as simple sketches in a notebook. When the ideas were solidified, I painted the scenes in Photoshop to begin. In order to animate, I had to create each piece as its own layer. This allows me to design the illusion that my pieces are in a 3D environment. I worked on the base paintings until the details became life-like. Then, I spent the rest of my time importing the layers into After Effects to bring these simple images to life with animation. This process symbolizes a fragment of the underlying theme in Journey.
I compare Journey often to the phrase “stop and smell the roses”. What does this mean? To truly enjoy the rose, you have to focus on it, and bring the rose to the front of our awareness. To smell the rose, you have to get close and linger around. When we do this, we find ourselves not only delighting in the rose, but loving it. This simple act leaves behind an impression that, if done right, can significantly change the quality of our entire life. When this idea is applied to creation, we start to see life as this long journey full of deeper, richer joy and love. Yet, even the most beautiful place cannot satisfy this deep desire in the core of our beings. Even though there is so much wonder and beauty, it almost seems to be pointing at some deeper truth.
Journey’s purpose is to explore this idea. It aims to awaken those common feelings of how wonderful this world is. Yet, with all the sunsets, all the art, and all of creation, I find that these cannot satisfy as the meaning of life. As a Christian, I see creation playing its intended part in the grand design. God means for us to be stunned and awed by his handiwork, but not for its own sake. He means for us to look at His creation and ask, if the mere work of His fingers is so full of wisdom, power, grandeur, majesty, and beauty, what must this God be like in Himself? He alone is the soul’s end. In one large act of symbolism, my piece did exactly what it was intended to do. Art and creation are meant to point to its creator. As scattered solar beams tell us that there is a sun, this journey of life shows us that deeper meaning behind the beauty.
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
C.S. Lewis

City

As a child, when I visited my grandparents, I remember walking through their front door and being welcomed by the array of family photographs. They were mementos that spanned decades on display to be admired, eventually leading my eye to the sight of my grandfather sitting in his recliner by the window. He was always observing the world and taking note of everything happening around him, whether it was with his own eyes, by taking photographs, or recording home videos with his VHS camera. At the time, I was too young to understand why he was so focused on documenting life, but I learned later on that he was collecting memories to help him recall later. 
As an artist, my work often reflects upon the idea of collecting. I do this through the mediums graphic design and photography, with the intention of visually telling a story. I am interested in exploring personal history, struggles, emotions, and relationships. I strive to develop bodies of work that create a perspective and a voice of their own. In my senior show I’m Still Here, I created a series of five digital collages and three bound books that both aim to express the themes of dementia, memory, and loss. This work is expressing these themes from the perspective of my grandfather and how that has affected not only him but my family as well. My intention is that these works can give the viewer insight on the afflictions of dementia through his voice – like him, my collages show the selflessness he exhibited his entire life by focusing on the service to his country and the raising of his family. Due to this disease, he lost his voice and self-expression, thus re-living these memories through my work is an eye-opener. 
I enjoy the process of developing collages, as it is both very complex and satisfying in manipulating imagery to convey a specific message. My grandfather was a carpenter for over fifty years, so I constructed each collage by using wood grain textures as a base. I began taking found imagery like photographs, postcards, and medical illustrations and assembled them in a way that evoked how our cells make up the basic structure in our brain. I digitally altered the images with pixilation, blur, and abstract brushstrokes to emulate the loss of memory. I overlaid handwritten quotes to reveal relationships my grandfather established with each of his children; these quotes invite viewers to witness how this disease impacts families. Through my bound books, I invite the viewers to briefly learn more about dementia and my own family’s story that goes along with the diagnosis of dementia. 
There needs to be a better understanding of this disease. Individuals suffering from dementia should not be ignored. I created this series to celebrate my grandfather’s life, but also provide a coping mechanism for my family, myself. And I also hope to raise awareness and to encourage the viewers to cherish their memories and the people they love while they still have the chance.

Bonded

Keri

Francis II

Francis I

James

Cynthia

Earth Chakra: Deals with Survival. Blocked by Fear
I enjoy the process of drawing. It has become a form of meditation for me. Each stroke I make is like a breath of fresh air. When I am producing a piece, there is a raw connection between my mind and the lines that I choose to put down. My personal meditation practice connects directly to my work. By focusing on one’s mental state through meditation, I believe personal well-being improves. As a result, spirituality is a prominent theme in this series. I aim to intrigue the individual by evoking a unique feeling or broadening their mind through abstract thought.
The chakra structure is a concept in which there are seven spiritual and emotional points within the body. Every point is opened through mental focus and self-reflection.I have abstracted my approach to the chakra structure, evoking a unique response from each viewer. The release of negative emotions is achieved through the development of each chakra and culminates with reaching one’s spiritual enlightenment. The complexity of the themes complements the intricate nature of my drawings. Digital painting is my preferred medium because of the ability to layer and incorporate effects. I use bright and intense colors, through overlap of the lines, to represent beams of light. This enhances the connection between the figure and the background within every composition. The singular color of the backgrounds, along with the line work, are what develop the emotional energy of each piece.
The technique and style of my recent work is a combination of realism and abstract drawing. I would say that I developed my technique by contemplating the feelings which relax me the most. I populate my drawings with patterns that drag the viewer’s eye across the page to view the intricate detail. I also use a combination of overlap, shading, and contour lines to display dimensionality. With this body of work, I aim to blur the line between the human spirit and the body. I demonstrate that life surrounds us in different forms of emotional energy.
Mental contemplation and meditation are the overall themes in my current artistic work. By using my drawing skills in combination with digital art, I aim to share a contemporary interpretation of the human chakra structure. I want others to view spiritual connectivity in a visually intricate manner. Life surrounds us with energy in different forms and we can make changes to improve our individual well-being.

Earth Chakra

My work has, as its core, the formal philosophy of reducing nature to its purest form. Each work emerges from exploring the theme of Arizona and its natural beauty. I have always been inspired by adventure and the world around me. I was once confined by the small, rural, one red light town that I was raised in, but now I can live out the poster that I hung on my wall when I was young— “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” 
This current body of work is a distillation of forms that have been repeated and geometrically simplified through a process of digital manipulation. To express the environments that I was captivated by, the Saguaro National Forest, Monument Valley, and Antelope Canyon, I dug deep into how I felt when I was in Arizona. I was surrounded by different textures and landscapes and the way hot, red dirt would seep into my sandals. I remember traveling underground and sensing smoothness of the wave-like canyon walls, while the sun was beaming into the openings. The use of pattern gives each work a sense of movement and the surprise of new visual stimulus. The carefully chosen color palettes influenced by the Arizona skyline, and the layering of linear textures are added to influence a cohesive body of work. 
I have always been an artist that dabbles into different media. I enjoy all types of art: drawing, painting, weaving, and illustrating. I chose to form pattern designs because I could use all different media to create my final work of art. I start by sketching my motifs, converting it into vectors digitally to create the pattern, and then painting them to bring them to life. By having my patterns printed on everyday objects, such as socks, bags, notebooks, and home décor, I hope to inspire the everyday user and bring nature’s beauty into their everyday life. 
 Adventure and Place are the overall themes of my current body of work. I hope to inspire someone to reach outside of their comfort zone to find somewhere they finally feel at home and to look up and see the beauty that God has created around them.

Monument Valley

I knew from the beginning that I was meant to take charge. I have always been comfortable with stepping up, standing out, and even being misunderstood because of my assertive personality. My parents watched me turn from a bossy young girl into a woman with strong leadership skills and a highly creative mind. While I am very outgoing, I am surprisingly a proud introvert. I find satisfaction in art because it is a way of communicating that takes place in a solitary process that is protective and refreshing. I want my art to be refreshing and inspiring for the viewer. My artworks aren’t weighed down with heavy meaning, but are meant for taking delight in. 
I am inspired by women who work, lead, and influence. My show is a celebration of women who do so in society. Amongst my digital paintings are women who have inspired me to step onto the field, run for that position, and take the reins of my career as a graphic designer. People like Jackie Kennedy who are strong yet elegant and chic, and people like Serena Williams who are bold yet graceful. All the women I chose turn the clichéd phrase “Like a Girl” into an empowering message for young women. 
I am influenced particularly by American painter Alex Katz, who simplifies his portraits by using large blocks of color. I aim to also formally simplify my work without loading my images with politics, race, or debate. Teil Duncan, an American painter has also influenced me to explore the subject matter of women and their style, while painting both with sparing detail. 
My four years in college have been a defining time of who I am as a woman and a leader. Between being an athlete, serving on campus, and holding multiple leadership positions, I revealed a Macy that I didn’t know existed. I have developed a confidence that is through the roof, a competitive edge like no other, and a desire to live my life as far away from my comfort zone as possible. I hope that my paintings will spark a flame in you to become the best version of yourself. I also hope to make you feel motivated to work towards your personal goals, even the ones that seem bold, crazy, and out of reach.

Senior Exhibits 2019

Items in this collection

City

Bonded

Keri

Francis II

Francis I

James

Cynthia

Earth Chakra

Monument Valley

Oprah

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Items in this collection

City