Fingerprint Self-Portrait
Gouache Painting 11"x11"
Gouache Painting 11"x11"
This project was done in gouache and served as an exploration and investigation of two-dimensional design elements coupled with an investigation of color relationships. The project was heavily process and research based, as the design elements and composition are derived from significant representations of my life. The final piece was done on 16"x20" 4-ply museum board and is 11"x11".
The Piece
Process Work
The research portion of this project involved exploration of the most meaningful things in my life, as eclectic and idiosyncratic as they are, and finding acommon theme throughout. The theme of culture, service, and universalitycame out quite clearly after tracing over 60 images to possibly use in the final composition. The overlap between soccer, travel, wine stains,and faith was unexpected but proved to be valuable in creating my composition(the idea of a sphere/globe. Having less identifiable items made the final tracedlayout more intriguing, not giving away all the answers to who I am and callingthe viewer to dig deeper into their analysis of the piece.
The spherical globe is symbolic of many things, but most specifically a globe and a soccer ball. The yellow focal point on the globe is representational of my life, and how my impact will be spread on the world over time. To represent this I had the color most intense at the focal pointand it became gradually more faded as the colors were spread outward. The sharp diagonal is a barbed wire fence that I encountered while doing service work in South Africa. It is symbolic both of the post-apartheid situation in South Africa as well as the conflict and struggles facing me as I go on in my life. The pentagons lend the globe to seem more like a soccer ball; soccer is a sport I feel has the power of unity throughout the world.
The tracing sheets with black dots in the upper left corner where the ones that ultimately made it into the final composition. The other 50+ tracing sheets/images/books that I used but did not hang up were displayed on the floor and can be seen in the final image.
The research portion of this project involved exploration of the most meaningful things in my life, as eclectic and idiosyncratic as they are, and finding acommon theme throughout. The theme of culture, service, and universalitycame out quite clearly after tracing over 60 images to possibly use in the final composition. The overlap between soccer, travel, wine stains,and faith was unexpected but proved to be valuable in creating my composition(the idea of a sphere/globe. Having less identifiable items made the final tracedlayout more intriguing, not giving away all the answers to who I am and callingthe viewer to dig deeper into their analysis of the piece.
The spherical globe is symbolic of many things, but most specifically a globe and a soccer ball. The yellow focal point on the globe is representational of my life, and how my impact will be spread on the world over time. To represent this I had the color most intense at the focal pointand it became gradually more faded as the colors were spread outward. The sharp diagonal is a barbed wire fence that I encountered while doing service work in South Africa. It is symbolic both of the post-apartheid situation in South Africa as well as the conflict and struggles facing me as I go on in my life. The pentagons lend the globe to seem more like a soccer ball; soccer is a sport I feel has the power of unity throughout the world.
The tracing sheets with black dots in the upper left corner where the ones that ultimately made it into the final composition. The other 50+ tracing sheets/images/books that I used but did not hang up were displayed on the floor and can be seen in the final image.
