Preview
Creation Date
2013
Description
Project Advisor: Benjamin D. Rinehart
Year of Graduation: 2013
Medium
Painting
Rights
Copyright for this work is held by the artist.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
COinS
Artist Statement
My artwork focuses on the themes of humor, narrative, and characters. Humor is a means of engaging others and has the capability of providing meaning to our experiences by highlighting moments that otherwise may have passed unnoticed. This concept is fundamental to my current series of autobiographical work.
In my paintings I select ordinary moments from my life and use visual documentation to give them meaning. The bug-eyed, cartoon style of the characters gives these commonplace scenes a sense of absurdity and humor. The exaggerated style also reflects the student mindset of trying to simultaneously navigate oneself, one’s future, and one’s academic trials. Though the style recognizes these underlying college-age anxieties, it also insists that they should not be taken too seriously and can, in fact, inspire comedy. These paintings also suggest that the accumulation of mundane moments is more defining of college life than the sensational parties and social dramas typically portrayed by the media.
The books supplement and complement my paintings, providing context for the people I chose to characterize. Meanwhile expands on the mundane experiences suggested by my singular illustrations and both books showcase my interest in comics, a storytelling medium that fits well with my style and my focus on characters and humor.