Constanza
My exhibition explores the concept of individualism and identity through vivid, contrasting colors to express how each being’s identity is constructed through thoughts, memories, and emotions. My aim is to portray how the interplay of our past, present, and future influence our understanding of one’s self and the world around us. Through mostly 2D artworks depicting people, portraits and natural objects and a mix of realistic, stylized and abstract styles, I used varied techniques and materials to show the beauty that every living being is unique in its visual appearance, energy and spirit. My intention is to make the audience pause, reflect, and engage with the complexity of identity and perception.
My work began with an exploration of the beauty of individualism in the world around one. Within the concertina piece “Oneness”, inspired by various photographs taken around my school, including a close-up of a berry bush. These berries also inspired the still life painting “Berries” and my ceramic sculpture “Vitis Vinifera”, also inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s use of polka dots as a representation of how from a distance a piece of work can be appreciated as a whole, but upon closer inspection each berry or sphere reveals itself as distinct. My work took a shift when I decided to work with bold colors as a key element of my theme, symbolizing human emotions. I started working with vibrant colors in the long horizontal piece “Transitions”, in which I used acrylic paint to create a never ending sunset. This painting was quite challenging, as I struggled to create a smooth transition between tones and colors, but techniques like dry brushing and wet-on-wet painting helped me achieve the desired effect. This blending techniques then helped me achieve an exaggerated effect in the series of the two large paintings, identical in size, “Daydreaming” and “Aura”, in which I painted two self portraits, one from a photograph of me as a toddler and a current photograph of me as a teenager. In this painting I continued using luminous colors to highlight emotional growth over time. This gave me the inspiration for the series of pieces “Infra”. Through the use of layered colored cards and vivid contrasts I aimed to mimic the effect of infrared light photographs of my classmates, reflecting their unique thermal patterns. Allowing for visualization and appreciation of their emotions and unique experiences in life, of which together form their identity.
My exhibition consists of a linear layout of display boards in a zigzag configuration, with three main entrances, offering multiple viewing angles. When looked from the front the viewer can see the dual series of self portraits framed with the white edges of the display boards, which introduces the theme of admiration of identity, as they can observe myself as a toddler admiring her future version. Then guided through the circular structure of the sculpture “Vitis Vinifera”, the audience’s eyes are then directed to the left to the pieces “Directions” and “Berries” , where their elongated forms and vibrant colors are placed solitary within a white space. This changes to the further left of my exhibition as I grouped “Connections” and “Oneness” because both of them include organic forms and the use of neutral and darker colors. When the audience views my exhibition from a side view, they can observe the elongated painting of “Transitions” that although it was meant to be horizontal, due to the limited space it drops down from the top of the panel, which adds on to the neverending effect of the continuous sunset. This pairs well with the series of infrared pieces set within a squared singular white background, as both colors use vibrant and rich colors, catching the viewers attention and producing a sense of harmony.
Through this exhibition I want the audience to gain a deeper appreciation of how nature has created each person and living object as distinct as each develop differently through the natural passing of time. I intend for the viewers to reflect on their own authentic characteristics that make up who they are by observing the use of luminous and radiant colors as the visual representation of human feelings and energy, evoking a sense of introspection.
