b o y (2019)
Medium: Photography, Styling.
Techniques: Mastered the image and styling I wanted to portray. Struggled with lighting/shadows and fixing wrinkles in backdrop while editing.
Inspiration: Inspired by Ian Simpson's editing of portraits. Also, by male beauty standards in the United States compared to in Korea.
Evolution: This set challenges the idea of hyper masculinity. The concept that masculine boys are allowed to be feminine has been seen time and time again. I wanted to create the concept that feminine boys are just as masculine as 'masculine boys' are, as well as the idea that it is okay to be more feminine. At first, I was only going to use the yellow eyeliner as an accent, but slowly I added the stickers that spelled out "boy" as well as the star (Star of David) sticker suggested by my subject.
ReDo: I would aim for sharper and more up-close images to display a sort of "still-motion" composition.
Common Thread: This is set is a representation of the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. All three males consist of different races and backgrounds. I wanted to create pieces of inclusivity and diversity when expressing a topic, in this case, many teenage boys deal with due to the pressure of society. It portrays the growth of young boys growing up.
Techniques: Mastered the image and styling I wanted to portray. Struggled with lighting/shadows and fixing wrinkles in backdrop while editing.
Inspiration: Inspired by Ian Simpson's editing of portraits. Also, by male beauty standards in the United States compared to in Korea.
Evolution: This set challenges the idea of hyper masculinity. The concept that masculine boys are allowed to be feminine has been seen time and time again. I wanted to create the concept that feminine boys are just as masculine as 'masculine boys' are, as well as the idea that it is okay to be more feminine. At first, I was only going to use the yellow eyeliner as an accent, but slowly I added the stickers that spelled out "boy" as well as the star (Star of David) sticker suggested by my subject.
ReDo: I would aim for sharper and more up-close images to display a sort of "still-motion" composition.
Common Thread: This is set is a representation of the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. All three males consist of different races and backgrounds. I wanted to create pieces of inclusivity and diversity when expressing a topic, in this case, many teenage boys deal with due to the pressure of society. It portrays the growth of young boys growing up.
Hard Times (2019)
Medium: Photography
Techniques: Mastered adjusting to lighting and shooting on an iPhone. Struggled with editing skin tone and noise level.
Inspiration: The art program I am enrolled in took a trip to Sante Fe, NM. There, we visited Meow Wolf, an interactive art exhibition. The exhibit was very unique and distinct from other exhibitions. There was a bathroom designed in pastel blue and black and white tile. This lighting and color contrast of the subject and the bathtub allowed for a strong contrast in the composition.
Evolution: I enjoyed the photo as it was shot originally. However, since it was shot on an iPhone, I wanted to add additional editing in Adobe Lightroom to adjust certain details.
ReDo: I would wish to have this photo shot on a DSLR camera for higher image resolution.
Common Thread: The bold use of colors, the use of primary colors, and embodies the growth of teenagers during high school.
Techniques: Mastered adjusting to lighting and shooting on an iPhone. Struggled with editing skin tone and noise level.
Inspiration: The art program I am enrolled in took a trip to Sante Fe, NM. There, we visited Meow Wolf, an interactive art exhibition. The exhibit was very unique and distinct from other exhibitions. There was a bathroom designed in pastel blue and black and white tile. This lighting and color contrast of the subject and the bathtub allowed for a strong contrast in the composition.
Evolution: I enjoyed the photo as it was shot originally. However, since it was shot on an iPhone, I wanted to add additional editing in Adobe Lightroom to adjust certain details.
ReDo: I would wish to have this photo shot on a DSLR camera for higher image resolution.
Common Thread: The bold use of colors, the use of primary colors, and embodies the growth of teenagers during high school.
011 (2017)
Medium: Acrylic
Techniques: Mastered warping and mixing acrylic paint colors. Struggled with creating the Knightspeek design with clean, sharp lines.
Inspiration: A lot went into this piece inspiration-wise. The famous Netflix original Stranger Things contributed with the use of numbers. As well as, Bryce Wong, an artist known for warping shapes using ink and pen. Also, the music video for the song 'Fake Happy', by the band, Paramore who use of almost a hundred not-so-smiley faces throughout. Last but not least, the clothing brand, Holiday sold a shirt of a smiley face with three eyes that appeared to be creepy, yet intriguing. All of these artists/works help me communicate what is going on inside of my head.
Evolution: In order to paint on wood, I had to hand-sand the surface to smooth it. Then, I sketched for approximately three hours on the wood. I painted using a filbert and a round pointed brush mostly. To color the Knightspeek design, I used painter's tape which only led to the paint seeping under the tape across the lines. I cleaned up the lines using gesso acting as a white paint through the process. After painting the rest of the background yellow, the contrast of the smiley face didn't "pop", so I decided to paint it black as if the subject is floating.
ReDo: I would've originally painted the background black, instead of yellow and used a sharpie to do the numbers, instead of using black acrylic paint.
Common Thread: This follows the common color pattern of primary colors. It displays my personal growth as an artist as I do not normally use acrylic as a medium, as well as techniques.
Techniques: Mastered warping and mixing acrylic paint colors. Struggled with creating the Knightspeek design with clean, sharp lines.
Inspiration: A lot went into this piece inspiration-wise. The famous Netflix original Stranger Things contributed with the use of numbers. As well as, Bryce Wong, an artist known for warping shapes using ink and pen. Also, the music video for the song 'Fake Happy', by the band, Paramore who use of almost a hundred not-so-smiley faces throughout. Last but not least, the clothing brand, Holiday sold a shirt of a smiley face with three eyes that appeared to be creepy, yet intriguing. All of these artists/works help me communicate what is going on inside of my head.
Evolution: In order to paint on wood, I had to hand-sand the surface to smooth it. Then, I sketched for approximately three hours on the wood. I painted using a filbert and a round pointed brush mostly. To color the Knightspeek design, I used painter's tape which only led to the paint seeping under the tape across the lines. I cleaned up the lines using gesso acting as a white paint through the process. After painting the rest of the background yellow, the contrast of the smiley face didn't "pop", so I decided to paint it black as if the subject is floating.
ReDo: I would've originally painted the background black, instead of yellow and used a sharpie to do the numbers, instead of using black acrylic paint.
Common Thread: This follows the common color pattern of primary colors. It displays my personal growth as an artist as I do not normally use acrylic as a medium, as well as techniques.
The 7th Sense (2019)
Medium: Sculpture, Acrylic
Techniques: Mastered constructing a piece with wire. Struggled with using adhesive to attach items onto wire and placing items in an appealing way.
Inspiration: Inspired by other wire sculpture art I've seen, specifically a piece titled Anxiety by Sharon Yeun Kim. Colors inspired by the set design from the music video for song Hard Times by the band Paramore.
Evolution: At first, I was set on glueing the material of an Apple earphone over the wire on the right side of the brain. However, I decided against this as it was difficult to get it to attach to the wire. I then incorporated visuals from the set design for Hard Times and my brain to express creativity.
ReDo: I would construct a larger piece to add more detail to the inside of the sculpture.
Common Thread: The use of primary colors and abstract objects. Relates to growth when using the creative side of our brain (the right side) to create art.
There are two distinctive parts of our brains: the left and the right side. The left side of the brain consists of tasks such as logic, science, and math; whereas the right side of the brain controls our emotions, creativity, and imagination. To portray this message, I constructed a brain-like shape out of silver wire and began to imitate what lies inside our heads. The left side of the brain sculpture only consists of silver wire to represent the more technical side of our thinking. The right side is decorated in bubble wrap, painted flowers, cotton ball-like clouds, and ribbon. Like primary colors, as we grow as humans and artists, we start with learning the basics and end up creating art that is built on the basics we once learned. With the objects chosen, I wanted to illustrate an innocent and youthful tone with a more optimistic perspective towards art than the original piece. I attempted to embody growth physically and positively as an artist and critical thinker.
Techniques: Mastered constructing a piece with wire. Struggled with using adhesive to attach items onto wire and placing items in an appealing way.
Inspiration: Inspired by other wire sculpture art I've seen, specifically a piece titled Anxiety by Sharon Yeun Kim. Colors inspired by the set design from the music video for song Hard Times by the band Paramore.
Evolution: At first, I was set on glueing the material of an Apple earphone over the wire on the right side of the brain. However, I decided against this as it was difficult to get it to attach to the wire. I then incorporated visuals from the set design for Hard Times and my brain to express creativity.
ReDo: I would construct a larger piece to add more detail to the inside of the sculpture.
Common Thread: The use of primary colors and abstract objects. Relates to growth when using the creative side of our brain (the right side) to create art.
There are two distinctive parts of our brains: the left and the right side. The left side of the brain consists of tasks such as logic, science, and math; whereas the right side of the brain controls our emotions, creativity, and imagination. To portray this message, I constructed a brain-like shape out of silver wire and began to imitate what lies inside our heads. The left side of the brain sculpture only consists of silver wire to represent the more technical side of our thinking. The right side is decorated in bubble wrap, painted flowers, cotton ball-like clouds, and ribbon. Like primary colors, as we grow as humans and artists, we start with learning the basics and end up creating art that is built on the basics we once learned. With the objects chosen, I wanted to illustrate an innocent and youthful tone with a more optimistic perspective towards art than the original piece. I attempted to embody growth physically and positively as an artist and critical thinker.
aus ringwanderung (2019)
Medium: Videography
Techniques: Mastered transitions and audio. Struggled with quality of videos, organization, and overall concept.
Inspiration: I always see travel videos online and wanted to make my own. I also wanted to portray my best moments of 2018 and it just so appeared that I took a good amount of videos this year.
Evolution: I constantly kept going back and forth about which videos should be placed where and which videos to use. Stylistically, I decided to portray each video in the shape of a square rather than a standard wide screen frame.
ReDo: I would try to take better quality videos and capture moments that I didn't take a video of.
Common Thread: Bold use of color and youthful tone.\
The title "aus ringwanderung" is a German phrase I curated, meaning our ring walk (or hike). Ringwanderung is the feeling of being lost and trapped in this ring of endless despair. This video is the opposition of that feeling.
Techniques: Mastered transitions and audio. Struggled with quality of videos, organization, and overall concept.
Inspiration: I always see travel videos online and wanted to make my own. I also wanted to portray my best moments of 2018 and it just so appeared that I took a good amount of videos this year.
Evolution: I constantly kept going back and forth about which videos should be placed where and which videos to use. Stylistically, I decided to portray each video in the shape of a square rather than a standard wide screen frame.
ReDo: I would try to take better quality videos and capture moments that I didn't take a video of.
Common Thread: Bold use of color and youthful tone.\
The title "aus ringwanderung" is a German phrase I curated, meaning our ring walk (or hike). Ringwanderung is the feeling of being lost and trapped in this ring of endless despair. This video is the opposition of that feeling.
Great Wall (2018)
Medium: Photography
Techniques: Mastered the use of highlights and shadows. Struggled with small photoshop details.
Inspiration: This piece wasn't really inspired by anything. When I took the photos, I just took a photo of what I liked and kept going with it.
Evolution: I wanted to make my photos look different than photos that people take of the Great Wall of China and relied on coloring to help me do so.
ReDo: I wouldn't redo anything on these pieces.
Common Thread: Bold use of color and the pop of yellow.
Techniques: Mastered the use of highlights and shadows. Struggled with small photoshop details.
Inspiration: This piece wasn't really inspired by anything. When I took the photos, I just took a photo of what I liked and kept going with it.
Evolution: I wanted to make my photos look different than photos that people take of the Great Wall of China and relied on coloring to help me do so.
ReDo: I wouldn't redo anything on these pieces.
Common Thread: Bold use of color and the pop of yellow.
드림 (DREAM) (2018)
Medium: Watercolor, Marker, Colored Pencil
Techniques: Mastered the preciseness of watercolor and mixing colors to create a new color. Struggled with decision-making when it came to the head and face. As well as, drawing proportionate boxes and drawing faces that went in a certain direction.
Inspiration: As I was scrolling through social media, I found a photo that contained 7 people standing next to each facing one direction. I knew I liked the photo and tried to recreate it, with my own twist, by making the faces point to different directions. Additionally, I had a book on figure drawing called "Bridgman's Life Drawing" which explains techniques to use when figure drawing.
Evolution: At first, I wanted to use watercolor and ink. However, overtime, I decided on only watercolor and whatever material came to mind for the face and head. I ended up going with marker and colored pencil.
ReDo: Sharper edges when painting.
Common Thread: The five different figures represent society as a whole. We all feel as if we don't fit in or as if there is no one that will ever understand us completely. This drawing is a representation that we all have those same thoughts, but deep down we are all the same. The boxes portray the mindset we have toward striving for more optimistic things, where we are too trapped inside our own heads to step out of the box. The brown, red, blue, and yellow blocks convey the idea that inside we are all the same and built up of many layers. Lastly, the orange Korean characters carry the meaning of "dream", meaning that we all carry the same dream of wanting to be understood by at least someone in our lives. Feeling understood is apart of growth.
Techniques: Mastered the preciseness of watercolor and mixing colors to create a new color. Struggled with decision-making when it came to the head and face. As well as, drawing proportionate boxes and drawing faces that went in a certain direction.
Inspiration: As I was scrolling through social media, I found a photo that contained 7 people standing next to each facing one direction. I knew I liked the photo and tried to recreate it, with my own twist, by making the faces point to different directions. Additionally, I had a book on figure drawing called "Bridgman's Life Drawing" which explains techniques to use when figure drawing.
Evolution: At first, I wanted to use watercolor and ink. However, overtime, I decided on only watercolor and whatever material came to mind for the face and head. I ended up going with marker and colored pencil.
ReDo: Sharper edges when painting.
Common Thread: The five different figures represent society as a whole. We all feel as if we don't fit in or as if there is no one that will ever understand us completely. This drawing is a representation that we all have those same thoughts, but deep down we are all the same. The boxes portray the mindset we have toward striving for more optimistic things, where we are too trapped inside our own heads to step out of the box. The brown, red, blue, and yellow blocks convey the idea that inside we are all the same and built up of many layers. Lastly, the orange Korean characters carry the meaning of "dream", meaning that we all carry the same dream of wanting to be understood by at least someone in our lives. Feeling understood is apart of growth.
JOY & ANXIETY (2018)
Medium: Charcoal & Colored Pencil
Techniques: Mastered the use of charcoal and the use of measurements to create a face. Struggled with adding value, adding white, and the overall grid.
Inspiration: A song that has resonated with me throughout the year is a song called "Euphoria" by BTS. It reminds me of the power of youth and the happy moments we experience.
Evolution: I have never drawn a self-portrait before in my life, making this task challenging. It was a very time-consuming piece. There was a lot of erasing and self-doubt within this piece. I originally drew a grid that was not proportionate with my reference photo and had to draw by eye-balling it. I used the rule of thirds to place myself at a eye-pleasing composition. I tried to make a self portrait different than others. Hence, the small, white clouds that 'cloud' my pupils, the Korean characters that spell out "I am all of my joy and anxiety", and the untangling and tangling of roses appearing out of my hair. The purple untangled vines on the left represent my anxiety and cautious thoughts, while the yellow and green tangled roses are a representation of my joy.
ReDo: I would try to complete it in a timely manner and prevent the grease stains from happening.
Common Thread: I felt as if this message encompassed the one true message I've learned in high school; which is the fact that I am composed of both anxiety and joy. Anxiety and joy are what make me-- me. Discovering this is part of the growth I've experienced.
Techniques: Mastered the use of charcoal and the use of measurements to create a face. Struggled with adding value, adding white, and the overall grid.
Inspiration: A song that has resonated with me throughout the year is a song called "Euphoria" by BTS. It reminds me of the power of youth and the happy moments we experience.
Evolution: I have never drawn a self-portrait before in my life, making this task challenging. It was a very time-consuming piece. There was a lot of erasing and self-doubt within this piece. I originally drew a grid that was not proportionate with my reference photo and had to draw by eye-balling it. I used the rule of thirds to place myself at a eye-pleasing composition. I tried to make a self portrait different than others. Hence, the small, white clouds that 'cloud' my pupils, the Korean characters that spell out "I am all of my joy and anxiety", and the untangling and tangling of roses appearing out of my hair. The purple untangled vines on the left represent my anxiety and cautious thoughts, while the yellow and green tangled roses are a representation of my joy.
ReDo: I would try to complete it in a timely manner and prevent the grease stains from happening.
Common Thread: I felt as if this message encompassed the one true message I've learned in high school; which is the fact that I am composed of both anxiety and joy. Anxiety and joy are what make me-- me. Discovering this is part of the growth I've experienced.