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A World Underwater: A Junior Conceptual Project by Stella Ge (2014)

For this project, I am exploring the feeling of satisfaction by religion. True satisfaction cannot simply be attained with on-the-surface methods. We must dig deeper and be passionate about our faiths in order to reach ''enlightenment'' and gain a greater sense of fulfillment. The fisherman's rod hovers above the surface, the hook barely entering the water. He hasn't caught any fish yet; it takes time for them to swim to the surface, much as it takes time for the wisdom we expect from religion to sink into our souls. There is also this whole abstract, colorful world underneath the sandy island upon which he sits that he will not be able to experience if he is not willing to submerge himself fully into an ocean that is much larger than his current island. Religion is the same; we must take the dive and have the patience to gain greater knowledge and experience the most meaningful things (which aren't actually tangible). The light at the end of the tunnel, however, is brighter than anything else we have ever seen.

To execute my vision, I utilized Adobe Illustrator to graphically create the sky, sea, fisherman, and island because they are concrete objects, separate from the ''religious'' aspects of my artwork that are intangible. I then used acrylic paint and a little ink to illustrate the colorful mass, portraying the many forms, degrees of complexity, and emotional states. I chose not to create this digitally to establish a contrast between this and the rest of the piece because of its deeper meaning. I produced the fish swimming towards the hook using Illustrator because they are the tangible incentives the man is seeking.
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