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Concept World 01
Kittredge Gallery
University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
April-May
2024
Artist Statement
Through my paintings and installation I want to invite people into another world, a world that I imagined and visualized, inspired by everyday elements from my life and education. One of my main influences is grappling with what the progression of technology means for the canon of art history, how it impacts what we create. My process for this project has been three years in the making based on interest in virtual reality as a new significant shift in culture and the art that we create. Like trompe l'oeil paintings, I see VR as a natural artistic progression of those same efforts because it allows for humans to exist in a reality that is completely fabricated,yet extremely realistic. It grants us access to mythical worlds that we could only replicate with stories. By using concept art and character creation to develop a story of a dystopian VR world, I aim to create an experience that ideally mimics the escapist quality that VR and an engaging story create, allowing viewers to walk into the world through viewing my paintings and interacting with the installation.
My goal in creating the characters is to form a personality through their clothing, poses and backstory. Their clothing and the landscape draw influence from past concepts and aesthetics of what the future may look like, to instill an off putting nostalgic, yet fresh feel to the world. Additionally, to fabricate characters that all exist in the same world, I am focusing on incorporating elements of their clothing that relate to each other while still allowing differences to show the various environments they live in. My overall process for bringing life to my project includes digital paintings of the characters, then creating acrylic painted landscapes in which the characters can physically inhabit. Additionally, the costume and the display of the elements in the installation also contributes to this effect. Through the variety of media, each piece explores the dynamics between realities, those physical and those constructed, and creates a cohesive concept world, connecting to each other through subject matter and style.
