Color and Concept Final Project:

Artist Statement:

For my final project, I chose to use color conceptually and created an object that is a self-portrait. Going into this project, I knew I wanted to do something avant-garde and eye-catching. I came up with the idea from my artist research, finding myself most attracted to graffiti art, whimsical sculptures, and fashion designer Betsy Johnson. The idea expanded through my desire to use materials I had never used before. Since reading is one of my favorite hobbies, a book became an obvious option for me. Emily encouraged me to make a work associated with my dream of being an interior designer. This prompted me to want to create an object that could be used as decor. Channeling my love of maximalism and extreme use of color, I created a work consisting of bright, bold, sparkly colors to represent how I view myself and my style. I had an intuitive process. Meaning, I let myself wander around Michael’s and grab supplies that caught my eye and reminded me of myself. In doing this, I found myself gravitating toward a lot of pink supplies and sparkly materials channeling my inner girly girl. 

The idea formed as I began decorating the book, a process that consisted of a lot of trial and error. Initially, I divided the book cover and planned to show different aspects/people in my life. However, I didn’t like how choppy and uncoordinated it looked so I turned to my favorite supplies, the multicolored rhinestones. Then, I let loose and let myself play around with the composition. This shows development in my art skills because, in the past, I restricted myself and tried to keep my pieces straightforward and to the point. With this project, I allowed myself to explore new techniques and let intuition guide me. The inside of the book was a last-minute decision that was inspired by an idea Emily gave me. We decided to have the book sitting upright in an open position so that it was visually appealing from all angles. I continued the rhinestone pattern on the inside to make it appear as a story, having a beginning, middle, and end.

I let my intuition guide me and focused more on how I felt when choosing my colors rather than how they looked. The guiding factor of this work is the variety of colors used and the multiple hues and shades. My desire to have a bold look making a work bright and eye-catching has been achieved. This project allowed me to experiment with everything I have learned about color and let my psychological understanding of color guide me. The four main colors used are pink, blue, purple, and green, chosen because they are the colors associated with me and my sisters. I see myself as the “pink sister,” which is why pink is the main color.