Murray State's Digital Commons

Collection Title

Tiffany Day

Author/Artist Name

Tiffany DayFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Fall 11-28-2018

Artist Statement

I draw inspiration from parts of the visual world that strike me as strange and unique. I love to work with the concept of the extraterrestrial. So much of the universe is unknown to us that it is easy to imagine whatever you desire could be out there existing in it’s own world. Printmaking led me to the examination of the idea that there is more to be learned outside of our limited knowledge of space prompting me to make prints about exploring a new world. I used three separate plates to create a narrative using natural forms to create a rocky, foreign landscape that felt full of the possibility of mystery and surprise in uncharted territory. The narrative is of this unexplored, rocky, mountainous region with an astronaut making his way through the terrain and an alien creature peeking over a large rocky hideout. This was the beginnings of the idea of otherworldly exploration.

I love to utilize curving, fluid lines, and natural forms within nature and the body. I incorporate the human body in a lot of my work. In ceramics, the strangeness of holding molds of human body parts inspired me to create an arm and hand holding a head. This piece was meant to explore the juxtaposing ideas of beauty. An exploration of how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty cannot be judged objectively, what one person finds beautiful may not appeal to another. The face of beauty for everyone is different, for some it may be the beauty of nature ( ie. the flowers covering the arm and one side of the face) and for another it may be the beauty of the natural (ie. The plain/natural side of the face). Sometimes ideal beauty can overtake your own perception of beauty. In photography I utilize natural forms such as trees and rocks, which are works of art in themselves because of the way time shapes them into unexpected formations. Yet, through photography, can be framed in a way that enhances its natural conversation with the surreal. For example, natural, rocky formations seen with the naked eye can be framed with a camera to look otherworldly and unnatural. I explored a favorite hiking area, Garden of the gods, and took inspiration of its natural surrealist qualities to capture a photograph of two rocky mountains. While reviewing the photos I seen the surrealist quality of the photo that looked as if two mountains were really two humans kissing. This leads the viewer to wonder if it is meant to be two humans kissing, two mountains, mountains that were once human lovers, or anything the viewer wishes to interpret the image as.

Salvador Dali has been a great emotional and creative influence on my work. I relate to Dali’s exploration of the unconscious and the strange, alien imagery that results from it. A more contemporary artist such as Carrie Lingscheit who explores human behavior and remembrance in her printmaking, inspires me to look deeper into what roles the human figure can play in an artwork in terms of narrative and emotion. .

My artwork comes from a side of me that I don’t readily share with others. My goal for my artwork is for it to be about myself and the way I interact with the world, yet generalized enough for viewers to look at my work, reflect on it, and interpret the art in their own way. Through exploring ideas of strangeness, the extraterrestrial, and the surreal, I hope my viewers’ outlook on life and their experience shape their interpretations. I hope these readings of the work surpass my own interpretations in a way that expands the conversation the work is in and further enhances the alien nature of my subject matter.

Advisor/Mentor

Kristin Reeves, Rebecca Williams

Description

Mostly Digital Photography, Some Film Photography

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Day, Tiffany, "Tiffany Day" (2018). Professional Practices (ART 399). 47.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/47