THESIS STATEMENT

Throughout my artistic endeavors, I have created art simply for the purpose of creating. Due to this, I have always felt a sense of distance from my art—a fairly ironic state since art has always been a form of expression for me. There was always an invisible wall between me and the existence of my work. Even so, I never really thought much about how my work shied away from connecting with my personal experiences. I just tended to make things that I thought looked cool or interesting. This time, as my last major art project before college, I wanted to create a piece that meant something to me. Though I hadn’t always planned on doing a personal project, due to the circumstances I found myself in this year, and working through those times, I established a sense of closure for myself— making something worth looking at out of the awkward, not-always-so-beautiful process of growing up and changing. How things are not always unconditional.

Nostalgia is also something that has had a big impact on my life, and something that has always meant a lot to me, which is why I ultimately decided to pick a project that would center around that sense. The nostalgia that I wanted to capture through this piece has roots in events from some meaningful moments in my life, struggles, turning points, and what I was able to glean from them. Though they have not always felt positive in the moment, they have made me who I am. I have been working through a lot of my anxieties this year, and I am continuing to actualize them further. Identity is also something that I have slowly started prioritizing in my life, and the development of who I am, and know myself to be. I see this project as my small way of finding my voice.

Throughout the construction process of the project, I worked with several mediums— all of which have roots in different skills I have worked to develop throughout high school. For example, last year my focus was on painting, and ultimately painting on fabric. I have also been working on ceramics since middle school, and wanted to mix the sense of a solid piece with fluidity, which I found in the fabric. The mediums I chose were also a little homage to my growth as an artist and as a person.

I learned a lot about ceramic construction, painting, and myself through this process— one of my most significant takeaways from the project was being patient with myself, and the ability to pivot when something doesn’t feel right or true to my vision. There were several times during the construction process when I decided to revise my original plan. To change the composition, meaning, and scale to be as I wanted it to be. I needed to be understanding with my process, and try not to get stuck in doing the original plan, to understand that things take time. As for more technical takeaways, I think that further exploring acrylic on fabric has been instrumental, and that any experience to further my ceramic abilities is always worthwhile.

My greatest hope is that even though this project is deeply personal to me, that others can connect with it as well. To find their own meaning, or see something that they feel or have felt reflected in the piece. I have so enjoyed the process of this project and welcome the new skills I have developed.