splIt

I began with a stack of images from magazines that I had ripped out in hopes that I would be able to use them at some point—either as references or subject matter. Obviously, we all know I adore surrealism by now. I had this flyer from the Frist’s “Surreal to Reel: Paris on Film” expo which I cut up, using the title and two different sized images from Un Chien Andalou. I picked out drawings, contact sheets, and strips of film that all related somehow to this vision. There is a separation between snow-covered mountains to the left and a constructed city to the right with a figure in between. One of the biggest decisions I have to make within the next year and a half is whether to go to New York or out West to Utah or California for film school, so this division represents that decision (as well as that looming battle between people and the earth).

Decisions: Because what I chose to include is visible, I will say that I had to reluctantly exclude some elements that were too literal and didn’t fit with my theme (for example I omitted an image of a snowboarder in the mountains, letting the mountains themselves be representative of my favorite pastime and place).

Color: Blue and red, I have realized, are my “go to” colors. Even if I do not plan to use them, I somehow reach for that cadmium and Prussian—bold and calming.

Light: I tried (only somewhat successfully) to create a gradient from dark to light to evoke a sense of perspective. In the future, I’ll know that poster board and acrylic is rather sticky.

Texture: Because I used cutouts from different snowboard magazines for the mountains, I went through with paint and a sharpie to try to unify the textures without covering the images completely.

Volume: The two figures from my sketchbook at the top left seemed flat so I went in with a medium blue to shape them a little more.

Line: I used contour lines on the mountains and tried to arrange the figures so that their gazes would mostly lead to the figure in the center, creating a sort of x axis when implied lines.

Space: The city and the gradient probably provide the best sense of perspective in the composition. The buildings are larger in the foreground.

Scale: A “cameo,” if you will, of my mom is in the bottom left corner. The original drawing was much too large for the board, but kept her relatively big and in the foreground to represent her importance.

Symbolism: I think I could pull out a lot of symbols from this, but I will go for the main ones: 1. The entire piece represents an important decision. 2. The brain in the bottom right corner is a symbol for the importance of knowledge. 3. The mountains represent peace and retreat for me. 4. The two nuclear power plant towers in the distance represent my childhood and home on the Tennessee River (When I was young my mom would tell me that the Sequoia towers were there to make clouds).

Subject Matter

Me: I’ll try not to be redundant and just point to things I haven’t addressed yet. The toilet above the brain represents my love for potty humor. Farts are funny. I love the geometric aesthetic of staircases so I through a red one in there (double bonus). Also, I love cheesy horror films—I did a murder mystery series for photo class a few semesters back and included some of those contacts at the top of the right building.

Friends and Family: If you look closely at the cityscape, there is a little blond cherub boy popping out—that’s my then 2yr. old nephew, Walker. The bottom left corner is home to my mom and the hand of my best friend from high school, Amy. Also, my family usually goes out West over Christmas to ski and snowboard so the mountains make me think of my family. My brother and I used to want to be storm chasers because we love lightning so much.

Town, Community, Home: I could see the nuclear towers from my lake house and my high school—both on the Tennessee River. I also used a Shakespeare quote (at the bottom left) that I cut out of a program from a Belmont play. As for my home and community, those are a little bit in flux these days.

My country: This is honestly not something I thought about while creating this collage, but maybe we are a little bit divided. Perhaps my love for red and blue stem from a deep dormant appreciation for the USA?

The World Today: We are killing the planet and ourselves. We are wasteful and corrupt (chemicals in food and consumer products) and yet still reluctant to listen to the people who are actually trying to better this situation. This is another reason for my division of the mountains and the city. We want to control everything, but there are forces stronger than our own.

Art: I like to believe that art has a greater purpose than what I am about to say. But honestly, I love art because it entertains me, pacifies me, lets me escape from the hum drum of everyday life. I don’t particularly enjoy talking about art in terms of what it means. This is a depiction of a world I would like to step into and see what kinds of bizarre characters I may meet.

History: Everything in my life—my interests, experiences, and genes—has led me to who I am now. Most of the elements I have included are things I have experienced or loved in the past as well as hope to experience and love in the future.