Throughout the creation of my exhibit, my body of work underwent several changes and was developed through many different ideas. However, all my artworks are specifically oriented to exemplify my subjunctive interpretations of the overarching theme of dreams. I chose this theme because I wanted to bring my dreams to life through visual art. Dreams are commonly looked over and disregarded as fantasy. By expressing these dreams in art form it forces one to reflect on the importance of dreaming and having dreams. I explored this theme in several different ways - in terms of my own personal dreams, societal dreams, and environmental dreams. Furthermore, I have explored dreams through cultural norms and societal movements.
The works presented in my exhibition largely encompass numerous faces and human figures in order to portray the notion of dreams. The processes I employed to exemplify the creation of these pieces involve a majority of 2D works. I have endeavored to assimilate my aesthetic processes using a series of materials and techniques. The use of watercolor in my pieces Lucid Dreams and My Dreams for the Environment helped add a mystical, cloud-like effect that helped associate the pieces with the theme of dreams. Materials I would never lean towards using in the past, I have tried throughout this course, such as oil pastels. For example in my piece Dysmorphia, the smudging of the oil pastels helped create a feeling of unsettledness. With oil pastels, I believe I made a significant breakthrough in my artistic career. Hence, this body of work pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and I found success in taking artistic risks.
Numerous influences such as Wyatt Mills, Luqman Reza Mulyono, and Malena Bozzini have directed the processes and concerns by which I create meaning in my works. One painter upon whom I focused in my investigation includes Wyatt Mills and his lusciously hued paintings, through which he explores disjointed forms punctuated by lucid moments of formal stillness. Mills was the predominant source from which I drew inspiration whilst completing pieces associated with deformed subject matters, such as my piece, Dysmorphia. The conceptual purpose of Malena Bozzini was also prompting, specifically when highlighting the significance of the character in my piece The constriction of Branding. Also, Luqman Reza Mulyono was inspiring when analyzing different techniques and when portraying the dreams of a particular audience in my piece My Dreams for the Environment.
Although each of these seven works represent a different subject matter to support my idea of dreams, these artworks reflect my different views on the same theme and share a similar color scheme. All artwork included have similar uses of color as they consist of bright hues with a wide range of colors involved in their pallet. The idea of a wide range was also ingested into my ideas of dreams, as they ranged as well. I have chosen the works that best convey their meaning and convey multiple different interpretations of the theme of dreams.
I decided to organize my work based on sub‐topics within my theme in order to assist the viewer in unpacking the layers of meaning within my work. The work is presented in an oval arrangement, showing my ongoing interpretation of the theme of dreams. Just like my dreams never stop, the layout of my show echoes the circular and never-ending exploration of my dreams, which reflect my thoughts and hopes for my personal life and my surroundings. As the viewer enters my space, they begin with the more literal interpretations of dreams, such as the idea of lucid dreaming in my piece, Lucid Dreams. The viewer then will move onto personal dreams of my own for both our society and culture, elucidated in the pieces The Five Senses, Food Culture of America, and My Dreams for the Environment. Lastly, the exhibition ends with my side of activism and dreams for bettering ourselves on both a personal and societal level, seen in pieces My Dreams for Equality, Dysmorphia, and The constriction of Branding. In the last portion of my exhibition, the viewer absorbs how my art has deepened over the course and has expanded the borderlines of the theme dreams.