A seven week series and social experiment centered around a narrative. 

 

     At the beginning of the series I recounted a strange experience to my instructor and classmates. In addition, I told the story to many peers outside of class throughout the seven week process:

 

     Typically a drive from Akron to Cincinnati takes four and a half hours. After attending a family wedding in Akron, I drove home alone. After about an hour, I realized my phone had not charged the night before, and when I stopped to get gas, my credit card was declined. 

     I assumed, lying to myself, that I would make it home anyway. As it started raining, I tried driving to my grandparent's house, where things could be sorted out. I never got there- I ended up getting lost and running out of gas in a cookie cutter suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of Cincinnati. 

     With no means of communication, I walked through the rain looking for help. A number of figures wearing yellow ponchos came into view- they were all in a driveway, out there in the rain. It was an Asian family, celebrating a child's birthday with a party in the middle of the storm. They were exceptionally kind. A woman led me into their home, the furnishing of which was based entirely on their ethnic background. It was like stepping into a Chinese interior. It was, to say the least, unexpected. I forgot where I was. 

     I told the woman I was just trying to get home. Her husband ran a landscaping business and gave me three and a half gallons of gasoline. They offered me food, money, dry clothes- but I declined, I wanted to give them something in return for their help. 

     I had only my sketchbook, so I ended up drawing them, tearing out the pages and giving them the portraits. After staying for quite some time, I finally drove "home." 

     

     The drawings in this series reflect the memories of the event. Drawings that lack color evoke the recollections of being lost. Many compositions are torn, augmenting the puddles of rain into reflected fragments and retained visions of the family and their home.

Materials used: graphite, pastel, charcoal, conte crayon, ink, gouache, various forms of tape, plastic, glass, plexiglass, and wax.

     In the middle of final critique, I explained to everyone that the ten pieces in the last image (above) were the sketchbook pages that I gave to the family. The story never happened- it was an invented lie from the beginning. The truth is that we all would like to believe our lives are more interesting than they really are.