Abstract:
Communication between people is a never-ending process, and relationships, from personal to global, often have such complex misunderstandings as well as meaningful understandings that the opportunities to portray them visually are endless. I am compelled by what the character of a figure communicates as well as the allegorical scenarios I am free to place them in; yet the allegories and metaphors I am presenting are powerful and real 'inside the human mind. The mind is driven by beliefs and understanding gained from the world. When we feel an emotion, is it not the ultimate experience, the truest concept at our fingertips in that very moment? It is our whole reality. I have chosen to distort special reality in painting in both personal and unknown narratives-without exploring the emotional moments in understanding and communication in cultures and minds other than my own, I am trapped in a void. This thesis has enabled me to explore challenging painting compositions, as well as challenging social interaction, in order to create something beyond my former vocabulary. The research I incorporated comes from art history, psychology, and interviews. I am influenced by the honest portraits of Alice Neel, Oskar Kokoschka and his group of expressionists, and the impressionists, such as Van Gogh, Gaughin, Bonnard, and Cassatt. Visually I hope to push my use of color, conceptions of beauty, and body language which brings up the work of Lucien Freud and others. The abstraction is a chance to expand on my ideas outside of my comfort zone.
