Graduate Project - Nature Triptych
16” x 20” acrylic on wood
A series of works created to explore the brutality and unique tenderness that exists in nature among humans and animals alike, an exploration of the symbiosis between us. One painting will be portraying unrequited love, one will be centered around feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, and the last will be about the fragility of our connections to our emotion and to each other.
Liberosis - n. the desire to care less about things—to loosen your grip on your life, to stop glancing behind you every few steps, afraid that someone will snatch it from you before you reach the end zone.
Ambedo - n. a kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details—raindrops skittering down a window, tall trees leaning in the wind, clouds of cream swirling in your coffee—which leads to a dawning awareness of the haunting fragility of life.
Appetency - n. A fixed and strong desire.
Artist Statement
In this series, I wanted to utilize mythology, stories, and films to demonstrate these ideas, as well as take note of how other modes of creation communicate human emotion in accordance with symbolism and forces of the natural world- I wanted to explore a more grotesque view of this symbolism and illustrate a more daydream-like, or more metaphorical explanation. To begin this process, I found a fantastic essay called Suffering Art Gladly: the paradox of negative emotion in art, written by Jerrold Levinson, about our intrigue towards grotesque artwork, and how there is an innate curiosity within us to look at things that are disturbing. It goes in depth about imitation of feeling, some of Aristotle's theories about tragedy, and various other scientific reactions to the phenomenon. It also pays great attention to the idea that we almost specifically seek out works such as these and witness the opposite emotions in our understanding of the work. This is the jumping off point I've used to evaluate other media and how I emotionally relate to it, or how I relate to things, if they are about humans- or if they aren’t.
For example, one thing that I’ve begun to research is (for my own knowledge and also research wise) is how symbolism is created, like how anxiety can be presented as the feeling of ‘butterflies in your stomach’. Things like that are what I’m interested in utilizing and a lot of the media I’ve been consuming lately has, in a way, portrayed the “show rather than tell” aspect nicely.
I want to consider— what do these literary/symbolic imaginings tell us about the human condition? What do they teach us about ourselves- especially in consideration with our values, fears, desires, capabilities, limitations, and cruelties? What do we learn about the relationship between humans and animals through these devices and myths?