Traditional Art:
The observations you make become your assumptions. However, not everything can be seen with the naked eye, for a person could be suffering mentally or hiding under their clothes.
I used my artwork senior year to explore concept art, character creation, and to take a critical view on an issue that has impacted me: perceptions on physical injury.
My interest in concept art and character creation stems from my love for games, especially the development of characters throughout them. I am majoring in game design at UCF, and these two categories could be my preferred job in the future. Therefore, my Astrological Signs series was created to explore my creativity and produce what I saw the signs as when using their globally accepted characteristics. I tried getting the characteristics across by focusing on color meaning and the animal associated.
The theme of assumptions in my artwork cropped up when I sprained my ankle this year and got kidney stones for the first time, after having surgery for a torn ACL a year before. I noticed that, when people could physically see my brace, they would make sure not to bump into me in the halls or not force me to do physical activity. However, once the visible brace was off, assumptions turned on and any “special” treatment went out the window. Why must decency be labelled as special treatment? I want to get this idea of mental or physical incapabilities across in my art by carefully thinking about the figure-ground relationship or the figure’s position in the composition. A detailed and crazy figure will usually have a more blank background, resulting in a clean look that I like. I believe it adds a power or a clinical quality to my work and, depending on what the background is, adds a level of light or heaviness.
My inspiration to pursue the arts and these themes, therefore, come from my love of games and my experiences with physical incapabilities, a tough situation for an athlete. I want to express the statement that the absence of my brace is not an invitation for mistreatment because there are still invisible chains.
Digital Art:
Video games always seem to be the source of disappointment from adults: “Stop playing games and do your homework!” says your mom. “Finish your projects instead of rotting your brain playing video games in your basement,” says your teacher.
“People who play games in their parents’ basement must be ugly, sad, and stupid.”
“Video games make children violent and isolate them socially.”
“Only boys can play video games; if a girl plays, they must be masculine or ugly.”
Hearing all these accusations, while games in my life have only led to happiness and bonding, made me decide to defend games, find the benefits in gaming, and dispel the falsities. This decision put me on the path for a game design major and` explore the abilities and positives gaming can provide.
To further the aspirations mentioned in the previous art statement, I also explore the digital art world. The character creation, instead of being shown through Astrological Signs, is shown in Sprites. I used Photoshop to create “sprites,” otherwise known as the art of video game characters, for the games I have worked on throughout high school (used Game Maker and Unity). The individual game I worked on was designed to teach people about assumptions and self-esteem, while the group game explores entertainment and challenges typical gender roles. I see games as a way to teach; whether it be societal lessons, a simulator for doctors, a game for special children to understand concepts they can’t grasp while others can, and so many more possibilities, games can be valuable if made correctly.
My digital portfolio classes were mainly focused on game design, character creation, and concept art; however, I fell in love with the digital arts from modeling and animation in Blender. Being able to create anything you can think of in a 3D space was exciting, and then turning those modeled objects into an animation that could tell a story only with movements made me realize that this is what I wanted to do.
My goal is to create experiences people will enjoy and not forget; games have meaning in my life and I want to create something that will make a positive impact in someone else’s. We only have one short and insignificant life. Why not spend it being happy, enjoying it, and doing what you love?
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