INTRODUCTION
In this unit, we are exploring “me” and expressing our values through the media of art. In Digital Media, we first talked about our core values and, later on, expanded them into a Mandala production and a video; in English, we used the book College Essay Essential for our personal essay, brainstorming the core values that can best represent ourselves and embedded them into our essays; in Design, we did Aboriginal art using elements of our astrological signs, spirit animals, and symbols from ancient aboriginal arts. All classes reflect who I am from different perspectives, visually as 2D art and video and literally as an essay. This unit provides an opportunity for me to know myself better.
Please enjoy!
CORE VALUE VIDEO
MANDALA [Secret Garden]
The process of making my mandala is a very relaxing process. We first made the temple and clipping mask for the artwork in Illustrator. I chose the 12-piece template and started on my draft using the brush tool, which later turned into this piece. The elements in my mandala are very earthy and floral. Therefore, I chose to take the final product in front of the plant, visually presenting the concert of the “secret garden.”
Black and white mandala artist statement
I want to use this mandala to memorize my childhood with my mom by using natural elements and curve domain art forms to express warmth and loveliness through this piece. The whole shape of this work looks like a blooming flower combined with other small pieces of dragonfly wings and flowers. My home in China is surrounded by different types of flowers in the garden; butterflies and dragonflies are always flying around. Playing along with them in various colors with floral fragrances was one of my favorite things to do as a kid.
colored mandala artist statement
I want to use this mandala to memorize my childhood with my mom by using natural elements and curve domain art forms to express warmth and loveliness through this piece. The whole shape of this work looks like a blooming flower combined with other small pieces of dragonfly wings and flowers. I chose floral colors to match the theme.
I want to use this piece to honor my mom and my childhood. I incorporate natural elements such as insects and flowers into my art, and I think having the pattern engraved onto a wooden pizza board is perfect for my elements. I also added a natural scene as my background, having a linear composition guiding the audience’s view, and plants growing out are visually interesting, which also created a balance between the product itself and the picture as a whole.
Seeing the final product being engraved onto the wood pizza board, the whole point of a meaningful pattern design was perfectly presented. In conclusion, I really like the process of thinking about who I am and reflecting on the values of an art piece; I think this process is so precious and is also what makes art great, and I will keep this practice in the future.
COLLEGE PERSONAL ESSAY
The Personal Essay is not only a part of your college application; rather, it reflects who you are. Helping you get into a good college is only one of its benefits.
The process began with reading College Essay Essentials, which was a very helpful book for me during the brainstorming process. Using the guidelines and activity provided, I listed out my core values, similar to those listed above in the video, and embedded them into my essay. I chose to write about my art classes outside school and how I grew not only technically but also as a person. Lastly, I state my foresight of plans for my future.
Record and embed the mp3 of your personal essay.
DESIGN PRODUCTION
In Design, I did three projects in total to reflect on ourselves. We started with a warm-up activity, making a collage about our summer and incorporating an art style we picked. I chose to incorporate Dadism because of its distorted composition and surrealistic visual effect. The next project was a PSA about a social issue we chose; I picked social media and the social isolation caused by it. The final project is creating an aboriginal piece using elements of our spiritual animals, astrological signs, and aboriginal symbols.
SUMMER COLLAGE
ART…
This collage is about my summer. I spend my whole summer attending a 10-week art camp and doing nothing except art for the entire time. I chose surrealistic compositions and incorporated art-related objects to demonstrate my summer in an abstract form.
PUBLIC SERVICES
Internet or Isolation? — PSA
The topic of my PSA is the negative impact of social media on our social life today. I chose to use blue and yellow as the main colors because I want to express a sense of isolation and sadness through blue and use yellow to visually draw attention and create isolation in colors. I placed the main figure in the middle of the composition and colored it bright yellow, with four layers of other figures colored in different blues surrounding it with their phone in hand. These people do not have any interaction with each other and all focus on their devices, ignoring those who are next to them. At the top of my PSA, I wrote “ INTERNET or Isolation?” with the first part before “Isolation” in white and the second part in yellow, the same as the main figure, symbolizing the main figure is the one that is being isolated by this vast internet-based society.
I created this piece through Adobe Illustrator. I mainly used colored shapes and incorporated principles of design such as contrast and balance. The hardest part of this project is how to visually communicate the meaning through pictures and text. The placement and color of the text and the composition are very important in terms of visual communication. But I overcame them through practice and adjustment.
ABORIGINAL ART
Emblem of Life Force
I placed a snake as my spiritual animal drawn in aboriginal style in the center of the composition, representing transformation and rebirth. It also contains meanings of navigation towards challenging times with newfound strength. It is always linked with one’s personal and spiritual growth, which matches my current situation as a high school senior applying for college very well. In the very center is my astrological sign, Taurus; I placed it there to emphasize my centered composition, which symbolized it as the center of my spirit. I incorporated aboriginal sign resting spots on the frames and stars into my composition, showing the meanings of “path” and “guide” in my life path.
I designed the shape of the snake first in my sketchbook, then redrew the final draft onto my Photoshop file. I used the brush tool in Photoshop to draw all the dots with the desaturated colors I picked. One problem I faced was the placement and arrangement of elements in my composition, but after trying multiple solutions I figured out the best effect and turned it into my final work.
Overall, I think this is a great chance to reflect on myself using different kinds of media. I fully enjoy the process, and I will use this practice in the future.