Kara’s

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Multiple Panel

Final Piece

Artist Statement:

My work explores the interplay between memory, healing, and identity through the lens of fragmentation and repair. Initially inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, I was drawn to its symbolic resonance with the way painful memories can become integral to our growth and self-understanding. Kintsugi embodies the idea that the process of repair can create something more beautiful and meaningful than the original.

In the beginning, I planned to experiment with ceramic resin, painting, and physically breaking pieces to reassemble them. However, this approach felt detached from my personal experience. Shifting mediums allowed me to preserve the essence of fragmentation and reconstruction while expressing something more personal and emotional.

The main piece used features a digital illustration of a girl sitting in a library with her head down, surrounded by chaotic scribbles. These scribbles which occupy the space between bookshelves and forming a figure nearby, symbolize anxiety and the turmoil of an unsettled mind. I also created eight more variations of the drawing, each in distinct color schemes, using black, gray, white, and peach.

The project evolved further through an act of literal fragmentation. I printed multiple copies of these illustrations in varying sizes, tearing them apart and sewing them back together. Some reconstructed pieces combine fragments from different color schemes, creating new compositions. The chaotic arrangement of sewn pieces, placed randomly and sometimes overlapping, mirrors the disorder of an anxious mind while embodying the act of repair and reassembly. The result is a piece that feels torn from a larger, unseen whole, reinforcing themes of disruption and transformation.

Through this process, I aim to communicate the beauty and complexity of healing, showing how fragmented experiences can unite into something uniquely profound and cohesive. This work invites viewers to reflect on their own journeys of breaking and rebuilding, where chaos and resilience coexist.

Quick Challenges Reflection

Thread/Yarn/Fabric

Transparent/Layers

Water

Ceiling to Floor

Ephemeral Marks Landscape

Conversations

Paper & Gesso

Conversations

Draw on Objects

Thread/Yarn/Fabric

Draw on Objects

Found Object Drawing

Transparent/Layers

What did you learn/discover?

One of the things I learned is that it is worth it to get out of your comfort zone and try new things. I was definitely scared at the beginning of the semester thinking of all of the challenges that were centered on materials/ideas I had never tried before, but I ended up really enjoying the whole process and creating new things that I probably would have never created otherwise.

What quick challenge(s) did you favor and why?

I think overall I tended to favor the challenges where I was able to draw like normal since that is what I’m the most comfortable with. Some of my favorite challenges were draw on objects, paper and gesso, and found object drawing. I was nervous about the paper and gesso challenge at first because I had never done anything like it before and had no idea what I was going to make. I ended up really enjoying it and getting messy and just letting my instincts take over and not really thinking too much about what my next step making the pieces was going to be.

What ideas and/or materials do you want to keep exploring?

I think one of the ideas I want to continue is found object drawings. I think it could be a very helpful way to get out of art slumps and burnout. I also really enjoyed drawing on transparent paper, I think it’s a fun material to use. I also ended up getting better at making digital art which I am happy about and will keep improving on.

Transformation Drawing

Transformation 1

"Beginnings"

Transformation 2

"Blooming"

For the second transformation I covered the entire paper in white paint, painted swirls in reds and pinks, and drew one small tree in the bottom middle. This is probably my least favorite transformation. The white paint wasn’t as opaque as I wanted which ended up in the first transformation not being as covered as I wanted to. I think I also didn’t do as much as I could have to make the transformation more severe.

Transformation 3

"Distance"

For this transformation I tried to do a lot more changes than the previous transformation. I went over the entire thing with gesso and white paint. It still wasn’t as opaque as I would’ve liked but I prefer it to the previous transformation. I then cut the paper into different pieces, having rectangular shapes of different sizes, two swirls, and small leaf shaped pieces. I played around with the placing until I found a layout that I liked. I also took all the small rectangular pieces and placed them in a way that resembled a tree. Overall I tried to find different ways to call back to the past transformations without doing the same thing.

Transformation 4

"Drowning"

In this transformation I really wanted to make more drastic changes than I had before. I dissembled the previous transformation, kept all the same pieces and didn't cut anything differently. I decided to go for a blue color scheme which I hadn't done yet in the past transformations. I think this piece overall gives off a peaceful and tranquil vibe. It still keeps the swirls and tree motifs but feels completely different from the past transformations.

Transformation 5

"Why"

Since the past transformation felt peaceful and tranquil I knew that for the last transformation I wanted to do the opposite of that. I kept all the previous pieces the same except for the biggest piece which I cut in half. I painted two of the bigger pieces in black and white and the other black and red. After trying out the layout that I wanted I felt that something was missing. I added words on the swirls and splashed paint on them and also added some black charcoal on the small pieces.