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  Walton Kromer: Narratives

  Walton Kromer

  11/1/17

  Walton Kromer

  Mid Degree Review

  . I’ve always been driven by good stories with the hope to create my own someday. Whether it be from a movie, book, or video game, if it has the ability to captivate me, and my creativity, I’ll try to incorporate it in my work. My main focus is Illustration, mostly in either an ink or graphite medium, with the aim to create a narrative image with some semblance of storytelling. I have more than a soft spot for the realm of science fiction. Practically everything from the entire genre has inspired me one way or another, and through that influence I honestly believe that my own work grows as a result. I take narrative inspiration from the grand stakes and unique world-building of George Lucas’ Star Wars, I seek to incorporate the deep philosophies of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek or the diversity of ideas and concepts in Bioware’s Mass Effect series. Create my own settings that can match the beauty and vastness of the Halo universe or desolate yet immersive art styles found in both the Metro and Fallout series. Reflect on the dark concepts of the unknown from the mind of H.P Lovecraft, and incorporate sublime elements similar to the works H.R Giger contributed to both Dune and the Alien franchise.

  I’ll often draw scene pieces, playing out either the most pivotal or calm of moments. The main goal I hope to achieve with the intended composition is to create a moment in time for these settings, ones that can captivate both reflect and indulge my imagination and those of others. I tend to use values and line weight to convey the various distances in my pieces which in turn creates a believable sense of space. This plays into the proportions of my work, which has both the characters and the objects I’ve put into the environment correlate on balanced and believable scale. Characters I portray tend to be at the forefront, if not the center, of the piece, as my work for the most part focuses on them and their interactions with the environment and other characters. I tend to use empty and white space very sparingly. I tend to fill up the scenes with as many elements and as much detail as possible, refining the visuals to the best of my abilities.

  When it comes to deeper meanings or an overall end message that my pieces try to convey, I didn’t think there was one, at least in regards to the audience. For a long time I saw art as the way I could accomplish my goal of becoming either and animator or comic book artist so I could create my own stories. But after a bit of reflection, I began to notice a recurring theme in my work. When I dug deep enough, I found that my work had deep found respect for humanity, both its good and bad elements. The way we can be civilized and strong for ourselves and others, yet still be capable of ruthlessness if pushed to our limits. Science fiction usually depicts humans in a pivotal role, and in a way I guess my work does to. I see my art my art as a testament to how strong we are as a species, and how that strength can be used for both good and bad purposes alike.

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  Shinhye Kwon: ProPrac Portfolio Fall 2017

  Shinhye Kwon

  Artist Statement Fall 2017

  Shinhye Kwon

  I want to make mundane, inconsequential things special through painting. Often, trivial things do not inspire people. However, I think this can change. The trivial parts of our daily experiences affect us unknowingly. If everything in the world were perfectly orderly and nonspecific, we would have had a boring and monotonous life. The specificity of the trivial parts provides us with fun, surprise, wonder, and curiosity. For example, tooth marks on top of a pencil, the top corner of the book is folded, or nails with a manicure peeled off can cause minor empathy and humor. I create works that reclaim the trivial details in life as important.

  Contemporary painter Brent Payne is among the artist who are working on similar ideas as me. Brent Payne finds inspiration from his immediate environment. He mainly works by direct observation and focuses on traditional genres such as still life, scenery and portraits. When I look at his works, he paints the marginal features of his world delicately in his own colors. His painting, Reflections (2010) depicts a reflection of the bath curtain in the water inside of toilet. This viewpoint is normally considered unimportant, but Payne makes it interesting to look at. Causing this kind of shift in the viewer’s perception of the ordinary is what I am pursuing. Brett Amory, a contemporary artist who gained broad recognition for his series, Waiting, depicting anonymous commuters he encountered in urban settings, also inspires me. His works were lauded for psychological depth and representations of alienation in contemporary society. Brett takes photographs of awkward or alienated places and then paints on canvas. I also capture trivial moments from the photographs that I take and translate it into painting. I hope to go beyond capturing the trivial part like Brett, and bring out it’s meaning through painting.

  The scale of my paintings will vary. For instance, small details like paint on fingernails will be drawn largely, and the reflected light will be drawn on small scale. People do not care much about the small and trivial areas, so the scale shift will heighten attention. And because there are so many trivial parts in the world, I plan to draw several drawings on a small canvas, too. The soft, flexible nature of oil paint allows me to capture small, delicate features in my environment. I use a relatively close viewpoint that encourages me to meditate on the tiny facets of the things I am painting in an effort to cause my viewers to reflect on them as well. I do this in hopes of encouraging people to notice the trivial things in their daily lives and find meaning in the little things around them.

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  Life Through My Eyes

  Mattie McArthur

  Mattie McArthur

  As a photographer, I use digital and film photography. I chose this media, because it allows me to capture memory, as well as recreate a memory. It also allows room to play with the idea of realistic and unrealistic subjects. I work with the media, because it is easiest for me to grasp, and share a concept, I create using real life, and the use of a camera allows me to do just that. I strive to create images, which speak out on topical situations, we as humans face, and create for ourselves. I practice this work by using the human body, along with research on the subject. In my photography, I start with a focus, and create a story, that will speak to the viewer as well as myself the artist.

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  Final Portfolio / Digital Commons Assignment Art 399-01 SP17

  Taylor McCord

  When I was young I was obsessed with collecting photos my family had because I knew that the moment wouldn’t last forever, if we didn’t have those photos we would be left with nothing to hold onto. After time has passed, I look back at these photographs and notice nothing is always how I remember it, yet I do not wish the images to be anything else. It is this change am confronting. It is the distortion of both the image and memory that I am confronting.

  I have always been a bit of a control freak. I want to maintain my family. I want to keep us together. My grandmother once told me she wondered what would happen to the family after she and Joe Joe passed; I wonder/ed that too. They were the glue that held us together. How would we still be connected? I took this on as a personal responsibility, to maintain our connection, which why I have saves materials and images of us, in order to preserve our memories. There is no clear way to preserve the past, and because of this a layer of separation forms when the memories are no longer the same.

  Documentation photography tries to control how you view something. It makes an effort to show the truth of a moment/memory, but in its efforts to do so, it too, is confronted with change. Time doesn’t wait for any of us; it always changes the way you look at something, or the way it looks.

  Because time distorts both the physical image and the imagery within our mind this layer of separation forms again, between reality and the imagery, and thus creates a feeling of dissociation. This is what I am interested in, the layer of separation one feels from a memory after time takes its course. I show this by rephotographing photographs to amplify the reprocessing that occurs in our minds, and that also occurs in the distortion of an image.

  In my sculpture I also show this reproduction of memory by repurposing both personal and universal symbols/materials like: dryer lint, birthday cakes, fabric, headstones, flowers, etc. I have a connection to all of the materials I use, but they are such familiar objects that people can connect with them as well. With these symbols/materials I create artificial monuments that stand in for the image home. By making these artificial stand ins for the home I’m eluding back to the separation that forms around a memory over time. How I create this artificial look is by distorting the functionality of the symbols/materials used in the sculpture. I also use video or sound to help amplify the distortion of the piece.

  An artist who I’ve been looking at recently is Jennifer Loeber, specifically her project “Left Behind” which she paired old photographs of her mom, who recently passed, with photographs of items of hers she kept. There is the presence of time as the two photographs differ in look. The way she uses saved materials and photographs to talk about a loss of a loved one is what started me to think about the connection between the two.

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  The Graphic Design of Jason Moore

  Jason Moore

  Artist Statement

  As a Graphic Designer the goal of most of my work is to relay information to the viewer. I try to insert as much of myself into each work that I design and draw influence from Designers such as Michael Schwab, Massimo Vignelli and David Carson. Using typography and illustration to convey emotion and personality.

  My art evokes a light and airy mood through the use of minimal color, negative space and geometric shapes. The mood of my work is reflected by my personality, easy going and kind, the work is reacted to visually by the viewer in the same manner, its easy to look at and isn't imposing to the viewer. I want the viewer to take something away from the work without having to force it down their throat and use stark typography to assist in this.

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  Diseased

  shanice Ross

  Shanice Ross

  I’m attracted to the idea that the body is more than just a vessel that we exist in. I am interested in the idea of not only the body as a whole but more importantly the female body and its amazing qualities. I find that the way that the female body can carry a child and still do all the other amazing things. And along with all those amazing things are the social perceptions that we find ourselves trying to fit into. The way we see ourselves, the way the world sees us, and the way we are told to see the world. It’s all about how we connect to people and the unpredictability of the lives that we live. That each day that life could be taken and that moment of unsureness with death peaks my interest. With all these interests I feel that the ability to make something out of nothing and share a piece of you with someone else is a rare moment of vulnerability.

  I take these things that I’m interested in and put them into my artwork. I like to show the viewer that social perceptions are a very big part of our lives and the relationship we have with ourselves. A lot of my art has faceless figures so that the subject of the piece has someone that could be anyone or all of us. I feel that this connects the viewer to my art and makes them think deeper about themselves. I’m attracted to very round and curved lines that to me represent a sort of softer quality of humanity, but then I challenge this softness with the harsh realities of life. The connection from person to person mirrors some aspects of making something out of nothing. I put a lot of that relationship in my vases and bowls. That idea of having a personal and intimate relationship with the clay as you are making something out of almost nothing reflects the relationships we make with those around you. I like to make art that emulates my personal relationship with the pieces that I make. The joy that I have when my hands are in the clay is what I want the viewer to feel when they look at my art. I’m intrigued by the Rococo era because the Rococo style was known for its pastel colors, curving forms, and light subject matter that placed and emphasis on pleasure. But on the other side of that I like the Impressionism era because they find the beauty of the fleeting moment. I feel like I try to bring these aspects into my art and the beauty of the small things. More importantly I am attracted to the work of Sarah Jeager and the way she takes her own spin on functional pottery and that her biggest accomplishment is that her work is featured in kitchens around the country. Her style of working inspired me in the way I like to make something out of nothing and how that creates this special and intimate relationship between potter and viewer.

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  Professional Practices

  Xek K.D. Rychtevorik

  I have always been interested in storytelling and books of a wide variety of genres. More specifically, I am attracted to well-developed narrative illustrations that enhance and expand the intent of a story. Therefore, much of my artmaking is influenced by western and eastern animation, sci-fi/horror literature, and comics/mangas from companies like Shonen Jump, Marvel, Dark Horse, Funimation, and DC. I’m strongly influenced by the artists known as Simon Bisley and Josan Gonzales for similar and different reasons. They both have a vivid and graphic way of drawing that has a lot of movement and intensity to it. Bisley’s vibrant and high contrast use of color and Gonzales’s attention to detail and creative construction techniques have both inspired me greatly.

  I draw a large variety of characters, worlds and concepts for comic books based upon my own writing. Often, I approach my art as storyboards for larger sequential art making, even if they exist by themselves. Stylistically, I work mostly with line but use a good amount of texture, shape, and color as well. My work is Primarily in ink, using graphite only to construct figures before inking them. My line work includes hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, scribbles, and various patterns to give illusions of textures and shading. In each class I take, my many imaginary worlds come with me and end up manifesting within class assignments, allowing me to develop my skills of bringing the characters and their worlds to life.

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  Final Portfolio/Digital Commons Assignment

  Kaitlyn Steward

  Patternmaking as well as people and places in my environment influence my drawings. I’m interested in the figure and how actions of the figure can be dissolved and simplified into patterns and mark making. My drawings portray the subject and their surroundings representationally, but some aspect will dissipate into shape, line, or pattern. I am interested in the negative space a figure can create and filling that space with line work that is just as interesting as the figural aspect of the drawing.

  My intrigue with space is further explored in my paintings, but from a slightly different perspective. Currently, I am moving into paintings that relate more heavily to my interest in understanding moments of high stress that often end with dark, emotional outcomes. I find learning the layout of a space in which something traumatic happened is a way for me to understand and assess a situation that would otherwise create great anxiety. My paintings are my way of trying to understand and cope with complex personal issues in an analytical, well-thought answer. I attempt to paint a story, usually trying to give some indication of setting, symbols of the conflict, and a sense of the layout, whether that is spatially or chronologically. Inspired by design blueprints and model- making, I paint interiors of spaces to convey that the setting of the scene is just as vital to the escalation of a situation as the participants.

  Artists like Emily Brock, David Oliviera, and Charlotte Mann inspire me.

  Emily Brock’s glass miniatures invite the viewer into tiny spaces, and they encourage you to see an everyday setting as a novel encounter. Charlotte Mann’s large-scale drawings take her mundane subject matter to another level. Exceptionally common imagery becomes overwhelming from afar, but rewarding up close and I would like to portray this in my drawings. David Oliviera’s wire sculptures are the perfect dichotomy between this delicate material and the aggressively styled and bent figures. It’s a delicate balance I would like to learn to reach in both my drawings and paintings.

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  Professional Practices (ART 399)

  Shateanna Stewart

  I create clay forms that are distressed, altered, textured and colored. Most take a utilitarian form, but not exclusively. I am interested in connecting to the medium and getting lost in the creation of the piece. I am not interested in perfection, but rather find the most amazement in what it is we are capable of; changing a chunk of clay into something wonderful and surprising. My main focus is on the creation of something beautiful that hopefully enriches my audience in the same way it does me. With the goal of creating organic beauty in mind, I found clay to satisfy my need for usefulness and tangibility in my work. The material allows for exploration of variety in form, texture, and scale.

  Someone that I reference a lot in my work and ideas is George Ohr. I like his work because his alterations to pots are visually similar to the things that I like to make and please me aesthetically. His technique of modifying forms and rims is different than other ceramicist. I find inspiration in his attitude about his own work. It was not seen as beautiful in his own time, but has grown to be considered sophisticated objects by today’s standards. I love techniques that result in non-commercial looking work. While I do still find comfort and beauty in a level smooth rounded bowl, there's something about misfigured and abstract forms that draw me in. This is most apparent in my most current ceramic pieces because I now have a vocabulary of skills to draw from.

  While I am still attempting to master the skill that is ceramics, I still explore a lot with the medium. Usually starting from a chunk of clay, I transform the material into something I think is so beautiful and unique. I put my pieces out into the public eye to hopefully get the same reaction from my audience. I will continue to take risks and draw inspiration from Ohr and others like him for my future pieces.

  Within my other pieces that aren't made of clay I like to explore the different techniques that each medium encompasses. When I graduate college I hope to become a high school art teacher, getting to know all the mediums and how you can manipulate and handle them is critical to me being the best teacher I can be for my future students.

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  Spring 2017

  Lashae Taylor

  My paintings are an abstract representation of varying elements of life such as connection, choice, growth, and deterioration. I combine found objects from nature along with traditional painting mediums in a way that explores the range of my materials while exhibiting a relationship of emotional energy understanding to the human experience. The abstract expression of such experiences creates a broadened platform of communicating what we have in common with one another and the life that grows around us.

  Among nature I have been greatly influenced by contemporary artists such as Betsy Stewart and Pat Steir’s abstract portrayals of nature and space through pattern, color, varying brushstrokes and paint viscosity. Sarah Cain is another contemporary abstract expressionist who’s work I gain influence from through her innovative use of traditional and non traditional materials and processes.

  My own process is one of combining a sense of control and intuition. I choose a color palette and found object(s) from nature that enhance the emotional response related to each piece’s concept. By attaching such found objects onto my canvas I transform my paintings into a multidimensional, semi-sculptural encounter that evokes closer examination by the viewer. From there I come up with a broad compositional idea that continuously evolves as I paint. I experiment with my materials until I have reached the point where I feel it is complete. While I am working I also move my paintings from the floor to the easel depending on what painting method I am preforming. Such methods include mounting found objects, soak staining, splattering, glazing, and scumbling. The abstract spaces I create are emphasized through varying brushstrokes, texture, and color resulting in organic and inorganic patterns. I layer and blend color to further enhance a believable sense of depth and fluidity. With each piece I build upon my previous painting techniques in an effort to continuously evolve and individualize my art.

  My work is important in connection to my process as it noticeably relates to the concepts being conveyed. By using nature to express varying elements of the human experience I reveal their shared characteristics. In a world where we continue to define, stereotype and discriminate one another based on our differences I believe it is more important to focus on the things we have in common; not only with one another but with nature as well. In doing this we can foster a relationship of respect that will have a positive impact for the future. There are many ways to communicate the aspects of life we all experience. By choosing to communicate these aspects through my painting, I evoke a visually dynamic stage that causes my viewer to examine their own emotions and experiences in relationship to my work and the world.

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  Professional Blend II

  DaKota Vincent

  My work references physical relation to interpreted spaces, I want people to experience the visual plane as if they were traveling through it. Inside the picture plane I mix organic and inorganic shape to visit the ideas of humanity, evolution, and the divisions between what we see and what we decide to be natural or unnatural.

  My interest in symbolist art brought me to poetry. I find poets have this delicacy of description wherein a poet like Joseph Fasano could describe his journey away from civilization in Hermitage with such painterly expressions that reading his poem feels like viewing a painting. You can

  In most of my work I try to discuss the division or lack thereof of nature as a progression and humanity as its result. It always felt to me that humankind and nature were never really separate, intelligence and technology are just products of nature. I want to challenge the concept that one has to always antagonize the other, and suggest that we don’t decide what’s natural. I’ve been exploring this concept through painted landscapes inspired by artists like the symbolist Caspar David Friedrich and his idea of the sublime, and Rubens rendering of natural forms. I develop interacting geometric figures in contrast to the natural forms to highlight their differences while keeping them integrated in the landscape to show that they aren’t separate even if they differ visually.

  I’d like to bring my viewers to consider what we see as natural and what we define as unnatural. My work is intended to show that the current state of the world is a perfectly viable result of evolution, and should not be considered as a separation from nature.

  It’s true there were times when it was too much and I slipped off in the first light or its last hour and drove up through the crooked way of the valley and swam out to those ruins on an island. Blackbirds were the only music in the spruces, and the stars, as they faded out, offered themselves to me

  Joseph Fasano

  Hermitage

  2015

  Caspar Friedrich

  The Abbey in the Oakwood Oil on Canvas 3′ 7″ x 5′ 7″

  Peter Paul Rubens

  Stormy Landscape with Philemon and Baucis

  Oil on Canvas

  Darren Almond

  Night Fog(Monchegorsk)(1) 2007 Triptych, each: 93 5/16 x 39 in. Bromide print

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  Rebecca Goldman Art Work

  Rebecca Esther Goldman

  Aristotle once said that “the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance”. To me this means that we do not create art in order to show the objects or subject matter as is, but instead to show what the subject matter means to us or how we interpret it. The work that I create isn’t necessarily representational. Instead it takes a more abstract form of the object that I’m trying to interpret.

  Color explored in painting is another way to express emotions and a sense of feeling. Using a variety of colors to create previously unknown to me colors on the canvas. Important to me are the different effects paint can have. I also explore the use of line and value in my work so the image demonstrates a more three-dimensional look. Different textures, cross hatching, exploration of patterns are all important to me. I am very interested in psychology. I wish to continue exploring surrealism. One aspect of the surrealist movement that I am interested in is dream analysis. Some surrealist artist that I enjoy/ admire are Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, René Magritte.

  Assisting individuals through art therapy, is the career path of my choice. I believe that art can be something that can help others heal and gives others a voice that they may not necessarily have on their own. I want to use art, and help other people create art in order to heal themselves.

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  Sara Hutson: Senior Work

  Sara A. Hutson

  I have a great love of both music and art. As I have sampled different medias, I have been looking for one that will allow me to reconcile the two, and so I have taken an interest in creating package designs and album artwork for CDs. This also allows me to work in my love of illustration and typography, and combine them into a product that is a bridge between art and music. For my imagery, I target scenes of familiarity. I like to work with things we see so often that they blend into the background because they automatically connect to the viewer. Then I like to twist an aspect of it so that is once more abstracted, and takes more time to decipher.

  I am also interested in the use of mirrors for their challenge of space and complexity of meaning. In my research on mirrors, I have become fascinated by their ability to be a bridge between reality and fantasy. Mirrors possess the unique ability to reveal truth, they can confuse by extending a space, they can create infinity, or they can be small windows into a space that we can never truly inhabit. I hope, as I work with CD package design, to find a way to work in mirrors and take on a greater dimension of thought and composition in my work.

  My influences include (there is definitely a graphic designer we have studied that I know designed hundreds of albums. I wanted to look at his work, but I cannot remember his name.) Also, Al Hirschfeld, for his descriptive line work in his illustrations. I adore the fluidity of Louise Fili’s typography, Saul Bass’s illustrations, El Lissitzky’s unique abstractions, and Lucian Bernard’s combination of typography and illustration. In terms of mirror artwork, I like to reference Michelangelo Pistoletto, for his incorporation of the viewer; Yayoi Kusama, for her creation of infinite spaces; and Robert Smithson, for his mirror concepts.

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  Justin Malik Drawings

  Justin A. Malik

  All my life I’ve loved to draw. I can date it back all the way to elementary school. I was that kid who would draw pictures inside of books just out of boredom. I can’t really say what got my initial interest in it though; the idea of drawing just came to me. After doing this for a bit I soon discovered this newfound love for anime and manga not only for the stories but also the art and this is what really sparked me. I loved the design of characters and settings and so I wanted to draw something that looked like that. It started with me just using notebooks I had for classes and then I moved on to actual sketchbooks and that’s when my pictures started to look like real works of art and I became proud of what I was doing. From here on I just wanted to keep getting better. I was more driven by the end product rather than the process. Hence why I never really liked having people watch me while I draw. I typically don’t want people to see what I’m working on until after its completely finished. I’m not entirely sure yet the kind of work I want to do but I do know I want it to involve drawing somehow. A lot; or should I say all of my drawings have been inspired in some way by anime so I would love the opportunity to work in a field related to that.

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  Rachel Schmidt

  Rachel E. Schmidt

  My BFA show, titled Spider’s Lace, is based around a set of rules and values that each person has to learn individually from wholly different life experiences. I conduct interviews with friends and family to pinpoint a lesson both me and the subject of the interview have learned and combine the separate experiences into one story. Because the story exists in a place beyond any one human character, they become animal fables. What better way to understand ourselves than stepping back far enough to see ourselves as beasts?

  The show is meant to be an experience that gives the viewer a sense of discovery as they move through these fables via illustrative prints, sculpture installations and performances. Design elements are incorporated to give the show a cohesiveness by unifying the different stylistic aspects of the separate works with a common branding scheme. A mobile website accompanies the works of the show, identifying each story and installation with a unique icon that links to a webpage where the viewer can hear the story with both my voice and that of the person interviewed to make the story. The true unifying feature of the show is the audio- the spoken story is familiar and personal, thus comfortable enough to be learned.

  Creating the fables around personified animal characters makes them universally familiar and understood. The media and style of each print installation is entirely dependent on the myth. The prints range from black and white linoleum cuts, to soft and colorful lithographs, and the installation are anywhere from massive fabric books, to little wooden boxes. For my prints I’m looking at artists like Joanna Mueller, who uses animal and ancient North American myth symbolism to achieve a narrative-like effect.

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  Logan Weihe's Artwork

  Logan M. Weihe

  My work is non-objective and abstracted as it references the human form and also invents new forms, combining the matured physicality of the human body and our beginnings (smaller pieces i.e. cells, atoms). I am interested in the seemingly endless problems that the human body can solve as well as working towards understanding its limitations both physically and mentally. The intersection of contrary ideas and the forcing of harmony between them fuels my creative process. The idea of opposites becoming one entity both formally and conceptually is rich for me, as I want to explore those points of friction and resolution.

  My current work involves a process of arriving at a general concept about the body that peaks my curiosity and then working intuitively with the paint to explore this idea. As I create, I am continuously learning more about the specific scientific process that I choose to inspire each piece. I am also learning more about using color, composition and scale to connect with the viewer. Jenny Saville’s grotesque depiction of the human form and the visceral quality of her work coincides with my interest in undesirable reality and experimenting with the size and weight of my marks. Lee Bontecou’s work inspires mine in the way she creates cellular like organic forms, often dealing with space that becomes a sort of vacuum. Additionally, Frantisek Kupka’s non-objective work combines the energy and building up of shapes to create forms that I strive to achieve in my painting.

  From the sheer number of processes that occur each second within us to the fleshy quality of our bodies, my attraction to the human form comes from my search for the power or force that created our bodies in all of their complexity, whether it be God, chemistry, chance, or something that is not meant to be explained. I strive for my audience to be fascinated with themselves and to see their own body as something remarkable, in its intricacy and flawless execution of thousands of processes.

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  Transience

  Savannah Young

  I’ve always been attracted to organic beauty and the inherent transience of nature, as well as the dichotomy of life and death and how one cannot be without the other. I’m interested in bringing the narrative of life into my work as well as paying tribute to the complex beauty of what occurs naturally in the world around us. I often focus on one subject in depth to give emphasis to their story in particular, whether it be a place or a living thing.

  When conveying these ideas I rely on descriptive illustration and concise line work, because of my attraction to the definitive nature of line and stability in a piece that it can imbue. The medium I prefer is ink, which allows for precision and, when desired, adequate rendering. I enjoy the instant gratification and am able to enhance a drawing by means of detail and contrast. I typically choose subject matter that pertains to nature; whether it be organic decay, animals, insects, or plant life.

  I want my audience to think when they see my work, and to read into the detail as they would a novel; finding the bits of information that I include to inform the viewer of the main subject. For artistic influences, I’m most attracted to the linear language of Art Nouveau. Specifically, the lyrical quality of Alphonse Mucha’s line work. I’m equally as inspired by artists like Christina Mrozik for the ability to create substantially beautiful work that is heightened in effect by her subject matter; she paints and draws flowers and animals that are unnatural in position, often with bone and muscle exhibited in a borderline biological analysis.

  What attracts me to these things is how they’re able to pull attention to the beauty that is already around us, and create a dialogue between viewers and the things they ignore that live alongside them. If I can give an old story a new face for someone, it would be a greatest success.

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  Image of Art work

  ruochen zhou

  I am still trying to show the freedom in my works that an artistic life provides to me and also find the process of making artwork is a way to release inner stress. At this time, I still focus on the sculpture, because making sculpture is perfect for creative expression and release of tension. In this semester, I change the style about the way I make art, there are more rotate, line combination, hang spring and materialism on my project, I think that is more suitable to show the meaning of freedom.

  I still enjoy making other things as well to balance myself, there are more graphic designs blend into my life, I like that so much, and I want to combine the 2D designs and the 3D sculpture. Because of my traditional Chinese upbringing, I strive to make my artwork as perfect as possible. Since I keep get more and more American culture, there is big problem coming, which is I always think too much and takes more time when I make stuff. That is let me cannot put force one idea, I consider this as part of my work style, but I feel awkward to simply the idea at all the time. Even though I value tradition in the making, the result is not always a traditional form or expression. I prefer the unconventional, the slightly weird. And I found there are a little bit funny in my work, maybe that is the way I also can think about it.

  Because I keep watch the ART21 video every day, so more and more artists’ information I can get. There is a sculptor who name is Damián Ortega; He uses objects from his daily life, to make spectacular sculptures which suggest stories of both mythic import and cosmological scale. He often suspended from the ceiling or as part of mechanized systems; that is similar to what I do in this year, same technique and focused on one idea.

  Because of my work style, I still have unique character and behavior. I add unconventional things to my projects, not keep to a traditional method all the time, but sometimes being crazy. I keep asking, learning, searching, and doing, and that is the period where I stay right now.

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  Ruochen Zhou ART WORK

  RUOCHEN ZHOU

  I am still trying to show the freedom in my works that an artistic life provides to me and also find the process of making artwork is a way to release inner stress. At this time, I still focus on the sculpture, because making sculpture is perfect for creative expression and release of tension. In this semester, I change the style about the way I make art, there are more rotate, line combination, hang spring and materialism on my project, I think that is more suitable to show the meaning of freedom.

  I still enjoy making other things as well to balance myself, there are more graphic designs blend into my life, I like that so much, and I want to combine the 2D designs and the 3D sculpture. Because of my traditional Chinese upbringing, I strive to make my artwork as perfect as possible. Since I keep get more and more American culture, there is big problem coming, which is I always think too much and takes more time when I make stuff. That is let me cannot put force one idea, I consider this as part of my work style, but I feel awkward to simply the idea at all the time. Even though I value tradition in the making, the result is not always a traditional form or expression. I prefer the unconventional, the slightly weird. And I found there are a little bit funny in my work, maybe that is the way I also can think about it.

  Because I keep watch the ART21 video every day, so more and more artists’ information I can get. There is a sculptor who name is Damián Ortega; He uses objects from his daily life, to make spectacular sculptures which suggest stories of both mythic import and cosmological scale. He often suspended from the ceiling or as part of mechanized systems; that is similar to what I do in this year, same technique and focused on one idea.

  Because of my work style, I still have unique character and behavior. I add unconventional things to my projects, not keep to a traditional method all the time, but sometimes being crazy. I keep asking, learning, searching, and doing, and that is the period where I stay right now.

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  Ruochen Zhou Thumbnail

  ruochen zhou

  I am still trying to show the freedom in my works that an artistic life provides to me and also find the process of making artwork is a way to release inner stress. At this time, I still focus on the sculpture, because making sculpture is perfect for creative expression and release of tension. In this semester, I change the style about the way I make art, there are more rotate, line combination, hang spring and materialism on my project, I think that is more suitable to show the meaning of freedom.

  I still enjoy making other things as well to balance myself, there are more graphic designs blend into my life, I like that so much, and I want to combine the 2D designs and the 3D sculpture. Because of my traditional Chinese upbringing, I strive to make my artwork as perfect as possible. Since I keep get more and more American culture, there is big problem coming, which is I always think too much and takes more time when I make stuff. That is let me cannot put force one idea, I consider this as part of my work style, but I feel awkward to simply the idea at all the time. Even though I value tradition in the making, the result is not always a traditional form or expression. I prefer the unconventional, the slightly weird. And I found there are a little bit funny in my work, maybe that is the way I also can think about it.

  Because I keep watch the ART21 video every day, so more and more artists’ information I can get. There is a sculptor who name is Damián Ortega; He uses objects from his daily life, to make spectacular sculptures which suggest stories of both mythic import and cosmological scale. He often suspended from the ceiling or as part of mechanized systems; that is similar to what I do in this year, same technique and focused on one idea.

  Because of my work style, I still have unique character and behavior. I add unconventional things to my projects, not keep to a traditional method all the time, but sometimes being crazy. I keep asking, learning, searching, and doing, and that is the period where I stay right now.