Owen's Artist Lookbook (2020)

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Marbles Medium: Linocut print Size: 15 x 30 cm Intention: The piece represents how I wish childhood would last longer. This is a time period where I feel free and oblivious of the pressures of the outside world. As I graduate, the thought of going out into the outside world is intimidating. I don’t want to lose the childish aspect of myself. The blue, childish side of me is being consumed by the black which represents the increasing presence of adulthood and responsibility.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Dream Medium: Styrofoam ball, hot wheels cars Size: 10 x 10 x 10 cm Intention: Goals that we have since childhood are sometimes no closer than they once were. exclusive nature of having cars as a hobby. I recognize that I may never own the cars pictured in my works, but it is the dream that is appealing. This piece revolves around themes of unattainability, and fixation as seen by the placement of the ball.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Oversteer Medium: Acrylic ink on wood panel Size: 27.5 x 35 cm Intention: This piece is trying to communicate how I want to keep a carefree and childish spirit throughout life. This is represented in how the car is drifting. In a drift you let loose but it is a delicate balance between control and wheelspin. Too much throttle and you spin out, too little and you don’t slide. Maintaining a work- play balance is important for one's well being.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Puzzled Medium: Acrylic on circular wood panel Size: 61 x 61 cm Intention: My experience with cars through auto shows and videogames are important in influencing my interest. When people ask why I have this interest it is often hard to explain. I thought that an abstract piece would be appropriate to represent the unclear nature of my interest. I was influenced by the artist Frank Stella uses circular forms in his works and also collaborated with BMW at one point in his career. The lines represent confusion and contains the engine code for a car which is rb26.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Short Sighted Medium: Digital photograph Size: 30 x 40 cm Intention: When I was a kid, I grew up with a lot of toys, frankly too many. So I wanted to express how captivating they were to me in comparison to a standard playground. Through the use of low depth of field, the piece tackles the idea of how children don’t always see the big picture, rather they are focused on what is in front of them.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Lid Medium: Pencil crayon on drawing paper Size: 30 x 40 cm Intention: Throughout childhood I have had a hard time deciding what I want to do in the future . As I approach graduation and post secondary I am feeling anxious about where I will end up. I used Jim Dyne’s technique of leaving sections of a work incomplete to show the unfinished nature of my direction in life. The pencil crayon represents childhood and adolescence as it is common in childhood.

A helmet is used as they often represent the driver.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Inattentive Medium: Digital photograph Size: 30 x 40 cm Intention: As I move into young adulthood, sometimes I have trouble committing myself to studying when I need it the most. As exams are fast approaching, studying becomes evermore important. I used a technique known as tilt shift to create the distinct bands of lens blur in the photograph. Textbooks and a laptop are being obscured by the blur to symbolize how my mind wants to put away studying in favour of distractions like video games.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Dots in the Sky Medium: Styrofoam ball, wire, wood panel and black gesso Size: 30 x 30 x 30 cm Intention: The simplicity in childhood is often what makes it memorable.

This piece examines this through the use of an anamorphic sculpture, where one side looks like dark clouds to symbolize the complexity of adolescents, and the other a smile, to represent joy. Some balls are completely black while others are being engulfed by the dark, which represents the progression into young adulthood.

Don’t Let Go OWEN

Title: Recall Medium: Digital photograph Size: 30 x 40 cm Intention: As we grow older, even our dearest memories become progressively distant and unclear. I wanted to attribute this piece to my grandfather as, although the memories I have of him can be cloudy at times, they are nonetheless impactful. One of the fondest memories I have of him is his cooking which I portray here with his old chef's knife. I was inspired by Adam Fuss and how he uses the ripples formed by water droplets. I wanted to mimic this effect with circular image blur.

Don’t Let Go OWEN