Alvaro Delboy

Portfolio 3

The value of our personal time is something our society takes generally for granted forgetting the mortality of our lives and the constant decisions we are entitled to make every single day. Seconds are insignificant and days go by without realizing and being aware to what is happening with our existence and purposes during our time. Is our life just a spectacle to others or are we truly living for our own purposes? The illusion of gratitude and pride we are all submerged in our culture gives us a sense of good doing. But that is all there is?

Through my self-portrait series I made ten ink contour drawings consisting on a time limit of ten seconds for each of them, one drawn after another without a pause in a total time frame of one hundred seconds. By a process of elimination I choose the self-portrait that best represented me, on a personal approach I discarded the other nine.

Throughout the series by repeating the same drawing over and over again I showed a monochrome narrative that ended up in color as the final piece of the series represents what could be labeled as “the finish product.”

The color palette chose for this series was very restricted to bring a subtle but significant change in how we see the colored lines against the black and white pieces. Through this series I try to open a dialogue to do a self-analysis of our actions and how those affect us tremendously. To do and show ten seconds self-portrait is a very personal experience that limits our ability to change and correct trying to reach an ideal. It is a way of showing our original self and how we feel about our own being.

Portfolio 2

Through my family portrait series I am focusing on converging the past of forgotten memories in a personal scale and bring them back to the contemporary culture. By approaching old family photographs I have brought back figures that are important to my history and past; relatives that by their own decisions and lives have molded the reality I was born to live in.

To bring attention to these individuals I rearranged the composition of the original photographs that were very tradition for the nineteenth century resulting in giving them a new fresh perspective and a modern angle that automatically brings attention to the piece given that we are so familiar with the visual dialogue of advertising and mass culture. I took references of TV advertisings that are currently on air in 2015 and design my work around these elements of strong visual responsiveness.

The series is organized in three images that reads from left to right from the clearer print to the most faded one to show the narrative of time and make an emphasis in how our minds work in the act of forgetting.

The repetitive imagery of the female figure and the geometry accompanying throughout the series is contrasted by the treatment of the photographs and the screen-print technique I used to achieve a ghostlike effect that fades the image back in time and once again forgotten in history. With this in mind, color was definitely out of the equation and black ink was used to let viewers focus on shape, texture and composition.

Portfolio 1

During my years as an art college student I have tried many different ways of expressing myself. From paintings, drawings and sculpture to painterly silk-screening. My themes have varied vastly into many different topics, but always working with a hue of solitude in my pieces. At a first glance it’s not what impacts the most; everything in my work almost always is vibrant and full of color, very harmonious and illustrative. A quality that many might not link to solitude, the aspect of my inspiration.

Through impossible circumstances such as unrealistic animals immersed in an uncommon environment I try to convey the viewer that colorful compositions could hide a lot of more emotion and disconnection behind a very shallow façade. It is true that people associate and have the predisposition to connect artwork containing saturated colors, ranging and shifting around with the color spectrum with their own individual ideas, which in most cases are nothing related to solitude.

What I’m doing now is to try to connect my audience with a personal story and to try them to built their own through my prints, everyone experienced at some point in their life, even by seconds or minutes on the everyday commute the feeling of solitude. One can feel and be completely alone in a crowded place, my animal portraits are a way of dissimilate and act in a way of a mirror of the viewer itself.

I have done through silk-screening is to print in serial method representations of animals inspired on my previous paintings and also new drawings. Through the gaze comes my concept, as to where each particular animal is looking directly, at the most it should be straight into the viewers eyes causing a certain disconcert and intrigue at the same time.

I feel it’s important for people to understand that obvious ideas and easy to digest concepts are important to our lives and serve as a way to help us lighting the path to new experiences, but the subtle and not evident things that surround us on our everyday are the hardest to analyze, some event really don’t ring us any bells and the questions we might have are usually unresolved. We are leaving the doubt for later because the pace of life is non-stopping and there’s no time to waste; feelings must be archived to let the up comings begin.

Life is survived in conjunct with others and, everyday we share so little but with so many words and ways of expression that scares, there is a constant solitude in our minds, our ideas and goals are precise, but up to what extent do we really know ourselves, or have we all fall on what the social norm establishes. Everything must be rational and there’s no space to feel alone.

Image list

Amrin Zakaria

Portfolio 3

A letter to my mom

Everything I am today, is because of you. You have been there beside me and guided me through each step. You are as beautiful inside as you are outside. And today, I want to take my time and tell you how much you mean to me. I cannot seem to explain how important you are in my life because words do not do it justice. Thank you for being patient and kind. Thank you for bringing laughter and joy to our lives. Thank you for forgiving us for all the times we have made mistakes. Thank you for being the best. Most importantly, thank you for being Mom.

My series of prints, dedicated to my mother, is something personal that I have found myself working on. It depicts my emotions and feelings and how I connect with her. Soft colors are specifically chosen to make the portraits lenient. My letter to her is personal and all I want the viewer to know.

Aakash is printed on canvas and layered over with acrylic paint. It exhibits the human mind and how beautiful it is. Precisely chosen colors interprets the mood and emotions that lie within the subject. Everything has a flaw and they can still be beautiful. Texture allows me to play with paint aggressively. Dark colors represent the state of mind and the disturbances that it may interfere.

Portfolio 2

My series if prints are inspired by abstraction with combination of the human mind. Portrays of people I personally know and “diagnosing” their problems is what I focus on in my prints. There is a sense of visual texture on these flat papers, which are created by the shapes, forms, and colors. When observed closely, it shows expression and movement deepening the organization and interaction of the series. The colors used, demonstrates emotions of their current being and/or past difficulties in life. Hyperactive lines create tension whereas soft lines with faded colors create a sense of peace and well-being.

Portfolio 1

Everything beautiful has a flaw. Even the moon has spots. My series of prints exhibits both sides of the human mind. To me, everyone is beautiful. Some have a dark side which we do not observe on a regular basis. It is hidden in their minds. Recognizing their flaws and making something beautiful out of it is what I am portraying in my series. In my series, I have selected people from my personal life, that being my friends and family. I interview them with questions about their current mood, feelings and emotions.

Nabeela is a sequence of portraits where I have exposed two sides of the brain. Nabeela was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has been battling for a year. I have chosen to show two sides of her personality: the “normal” and the “abnormal”. Bipolar and depressive disorders feature disturbance in mood. These include mood that is abnormally low, known as depression, or abnormally high, known as mania. She feels things that we cannot feel and goes through mood changes that she cannot control. Her dramatic shifts in energy, mood and ability to function is what I have taken inspiration from. Therefore, the “abnormal” side is chaotic and not in control. Similarly, for my second sequence, Aakash, I have selected another friend. His recent sufferings has caused him to go through an emotional roller coaster which I have tried to portray in my prints. One shows his ordinary self, whereas the other demonstrates his mind, which is chaotic and restless.

It is fascinating how the human brain works. Emotions and feelings play such an important role in our daily lives. Colors play a character in my prints also. Specifically chosen colors interprets the different emotions that lies within the subjects. We talk to these individuals on a regular basis but never have we opened the book and read them. In my series, I read the book and analyze it in the form of art, instead of judging the book by its cover.

AmrinZakaria_ImageList

Brittany Borcher

Portfolio 3

Observing, examining and drawing conclusions about the human condition motivates me to communicate with an audience. The characteristics, key events, and situations which compose the essentials of our existence, pondered and analyzed from many perspectives, are my gateway into creation and dialogue.

I am also interested in the artist as a private individual and as a presenter/public figure – how an artist arrives at the point of presentation is not necessarily representative of final work, and therefore may remain private. That observations and personal experiences may be used as a source of ideation or as a gateway into the creative process rather than an explanation of meaning, resonates with me. The end result (what is presented to an audience) is not representational of the original source material, nor is it exclusively relevant to the end result unless the artist deems it.

Presented is a collection of abstract images gleaned from personal experiences of living in New York City; a private, visual journal for public consumption. This first set of journal entries provides a momentary cathartic outlet for the urban dweller by evaluating the emotions connected with contemporary life. While viewing, ask yourself what seeking out solace in an overstimulated, de-sensitized culture looks like? What happens to emotion when the need for adaptation in the face of extreme challenges occurs? Do they mix together to create a new tone? What texture best represents the overwhelming sense of anxiety and frustration that affects our overall trajectory of survival?

The aim of this on-going project is to discover a reason inhabitants of bustling urban environments would choose to become a living, breathing contributor to something, that is, at best, openly abusive and completely unapologetic.

Borcher Image List.

Portfolio 2

Observing, examining and drawing conclusions about the human condition motivates me to communicate with an audience. The characteristics, key events, and situations which compose the essentials of our existence, pondered and analyzed from many perspectives, are my gateway into creation and dialogue.

I am also interested in the artist as a private individual and as a presenter/public figure – how an artist arrives at the point of presentation is not necessarily representative of final work, and therefore may remain private. That observations and personal experiences may be used as a source of ideation or as a gateway into the creative process rather than an explanation of meaning, resonates with me. The end result (what is presented to an audience) is not representational of the original source material, nor is it exclusively relevant to the end result unless the artist deems it.

            Presented are two images hung side-by-side, as a diptych. Using a visual vocabulary based in shape printed in the deepest of black inks on cream-colored paper, this pair acts as a stark visual representation of the anxiety-driven, sleepless nights that plague many.

Borcher Image List Portfolio 1

Jacob Cintron

Portfolio 3

 

Portfolio 2

 

Portfolio 1

ImageList-JacobCintronFall2015

Kevin Kim

Portfolio 3

Throughout the second half of the semester I read “Interaction of Color” and just how it talks about colors in that way surprised me. For my final portfolio I wanted to experiment and explore the color theories that I have learned. One experiment was trying to make 2-3 colors look the same- this experiment I enjoyed doing because it had some sort of illusion to the human eye and that was pretty amazing. The second experiment was making a range of colors by mixing two different colors. This experiment showed me that there are many more colors out there, but our English vocabulary is very limited in describing all these colors. This final portfolio wasn’t the end of these experiments, but the beginning.

Portfolio 2

For my second portfolio I wanted to create a pattern that would be interesting to look at with the use of contrasting colors. On top of that I added an organic backdrop to create this tension between the organic and inorganic. However, it didn’t come out to the way I had hoped. Trying to line up the layers was a challenge that I had underestimated. But as much as I tried to plan this out- the other half was just spontaneous choices. For example, the backdrop of the colored water splashes. There is something about the human mind that tends to organize and find a balance of things that are not in order. Perhaps next time I will intentionally try to create something discomforting and see whether or not viewers will try to find the beauty of it.

Portfolio 1

For this first project I wanted to explore the idea of repetition and how something can be displayed. My subject(s) are ants. Why ants? I chose this particular species because while it may seem like they just scatter all over the place, they operate as one being by playing their specific role(s) in the ant society. It’s also fits into how I want to explore repetition and utilizing space not only through the canvas. It had to be ants because I didn’t want something very complicated like a detailed portrait of someone or something simple like a circle. Ants just happened to be the right subject to what I had in mind. In this project I didn’t incorporate color because I wanted to really focus on exploring repetition- by repetitively printing my subjects on to a canvas, can it create what we see in real life or does it not work? I also printed multiples of my subject with the intention of spreading it across the space I’m given.

Image list format PDF

Kristy Timms

Portfolio 3

Process.

Growth, stretching and learning new things are never easy. It’s hard, it’s frustrating and it often calls for start overs — even when you don’t have the time. I approached this final portfolio with these things in mind. However, I wanted to create two separate pieces of art conveying the above-mentioned tension. I wanted one to be free flowing and organic while the other was more controlled, rigid and perfect. Instead, I had to embrace process and all the frustration that comes with it head on. There is no second piece to this final portfolio as I had imagined, in fact the result was nothing like I had anticipated. I experienced one difficulty and complication after another. I re-did the screens multiple times, started completely from scratch twice and spent many, many hours in the studio, frequently baffled by how unfavorably things were turning out. So instead of having a neatly curated portfolio on process and the juxtaposition of perfection vs. growth, I have one piece that is far from perfect and full of growth. If I had another 10 plus hours to work with I would re-do the whole thing again, having learnt from the many mistakes I made.

Looking at the final result I can’t say that I’m overtly proud of it or that this is something I would hang on my wall. But I can confidently say I learnt so much, and although I will most likely not do something like this again, if I was put to the test I would approach it differently and with more refined skill after so many times of failure. I think that, in its most inglorious self, is process to the core.

Portfolio 2

Seasons.

Seasons in life give us space, give us re-dos and give us start-overs. A new season most often also brings uncertainty and questions, and along with it a whole lot of waiting and trusting.

As with the falling of the leaves as summer turns to autumn, it seems to have a slow beginning but all of a sudden it is as if the universe flips the switch and the leaves fall to the ground. The change can be somewhat unexpected and quicker than you would hope. But it happens. And we have several other seasons to enjoy/endure before we experience the pattern again.

I am not only in the midst of the seasonal change, influenced by the new colors spotting the trees and the leaves crunching under my boots. I am also in a seasonal life change, as I graduate college in the spring, and plan for life beyond. Like the changing of the leaves I think I will feel the change rather abruptly, and with it will be large doses of uncertainty and most likely fear. But slowly the busyness will dissipate, and I will choose to rest and certainly clarity will come as excited anticipation builds. The “dust will settle,” so to speak, and the newness of another season I’ll step into; it’s bound to be both challenging and rewarding.

This seasonal change, uncomfortable newness and uncertainty is something I have come to value; as it is coated in hope, learning and stretching but most of all, living.

Portfolio 1

The isolation and interconnectivity of our brains is a fascinating. How often do we link objects with, or without, realizing so? I broached this subject by creating prints, distinctly different, yet inherently similar. The juxtaposition of color, line quality and contrast were several things I challenged my mind to translate and respond to; hoping the viewer would do the same. I worked at seeing how I reacted to a strong, solid and firm line in comparison to a line with more movement, fluidity and curve. In the same breath considering if my response to the line would have been different had my organic object been a flowing river instead of a mountain standing through time. Furthermore, does the thickness of a line affect the way we view it and its strength? When taking color into consideration, what is our eye automatically drawn to without giving us much choice? How instinctively do we realize there to be a change in color? A difference in tone?

With only scratching the surface, these are all questions that arose from this project. Far more questions, instead of answers.

However I attempted to be intentional while going about my day to notice a similarity between shapes and figures, our concept of them, and their form displayed in the “real world.” It was not an action that came naturally, and as quickly as I remembered to calculate my surroundings in this manner, I forgot to do so. What then, do we so often see without realizing? As our grasp of images is far more automatic than curated.  What in the end are we missing out on?

Kristy Timms.Image list format DOCX

 

Nti Bradley

Portfolio 3

Cookies

Usually when I work in color I like make things on a much larger scale. This time around I haven’t felt the need to express myself in that way. I have decided to make prints smaller in size for a more intimate experience. My color palette which I’m calling the rose series which is not actually important to the work but important enough to share is more mature. The colors are still warm in nature in comparison to my last print portfolio but have evolved taking on a laid back hue. The twist and turns that are present in the prints are captivating using four different layers of color, sometimes five. I also integrated mark making using settle pallet knife cuts where I took away some of the layers of color. This addition of subtracting from the prints added another layer of maturity and sophistication. I also decided to name this piece because I felt it was for the first time a necessary tool in communicating the power of the work. “Cookies.” I think the response from the title alone will be huge help in displaying these prints which will be totally unique for each viewer as it was for me. When I looked at these prints together I immediately thought cookies.

Portfolio 2

Using color, light and space I will attempt to create a visual sensation. The sensation will be seen by the most willing of viewer. My color palette is warm and inviting. Your eyes should travel through the ins and outs of the print feeling light and far from reality. Wait there’s more, there is a weight to the print in the flat figures that ideal will drop the eye. Allow it to fall and be picked back up by the waves of color, light and space. Give it sometime, rest with the piece. Do not focus on the optical reactions of color and feel what they are doing. What’s the very first thought that comes to mind?

Portfolio 1

The floating print.

I wanted to explore the quality of marks created though screen printing without having it on a solid opaque surface. The reason being, I wanted the mark to be read as the mark and not a printed mark. It would be just an easy to simply printing the mark on a surface other than a flat piece of paper. My objective is to have the mark appear simple and at the same time complex. Part of my inspiration comes from viewing primitive Cave markings which were usually done by hand. Those marks sometimes were drawn as simply shapes representing Objects from everyday life but were not always so easily interpreted. A simple shaped made to look like the sun would have several different meanings.

IMAGE LIST

Magdalena Zdunczyk

Portfolio 3

The last series of prints Like or Dislike? concerns the idea of social media as an overpowering tool that is a time consumer. The pieces raise questions of whether we are addicted to these social networking applications, sites and especially our phones. With the everyday improvement of technology, we are exposed to these things sometimes even without our own knowledge or power. Many people talk about social media etc., however are effective users of it. In my works I ask the viewers if they feel like prisoners? Do they like it or not? Would they share the message and in what way? Leave a comment about it?

 

Portfolio 2

In this series of the stories I tackle the social issue of bullying. My artworks represent the emotional state of those who go through these hurtful circumstances. I evoke that by simply creating a simple doodle that tells a story. Although the effortlessness of the line, the use of paint creates shading as well as gives each character, depicted on the print, a personality. No to Bullying is a continuation of the smaller pieces. I have decided to present it on a bigger surface because I feel that with such an important issue it is more effective. The artwork is both a call to see the reality behind the problem of bullying as well as a comforting piece to the victims. Anyone can relate to the piece, those who are bullied, those who bully and those who stand indifferent and passive.

 

Portfolio 1

Doodles are an idea of the unfinished process the artist goes through before making a final piece. Most artists sketch or doodle everywhere and everything they see, or at least anything that seems interesting to their eyes. I doodle all the time in my sketchbook, notebook, on the cover of magazines etc. Sometimes even lectures or conversations with other people inspire me and while listening to them I let my imagination take over. Although doodles are often a mix of drawings that probably have nothing in common or are just an idea of brainstorming I have decided to create stories. I begin my drawings with a law of chances, however as I progress the whole idea is developed. Uprising, for instance, was inspired by my polish culture and the 71^st anniversary of Warsaw Uprising which is a very important historical event for my country. The print is supposed to make the viewer reflect. Also, I wanted to depict it in a form of a poster, ripped and fading to give a feeling of that moment in history. Although it was a sad and terrifying event, the print as a poster is more of a call to take a sand, to fight back to take the viewers back in time to 1944. All of the prints tell a certain story, but also explore the interaction of line with color and how both function together to define the story behind the piece.

ImageList2015

Patricia Abrego

Portfolio 3

For my final collection of work I chose to represent my mother as she is the biggest influence on my life and is not often seen in my work.

This entire semester I focused on my admiration for artist Frida Kahlo and referenced her as an influence in my artwork. For this portfolio I wanted to reference someone who influences my life just as much as Kahlo influences my work.

In these pieces I again went for the theme of portraiture and chose an image of my mother when she was photographed at my age. My mother was born and raised in Colombia and grew up with a yard full of fruit trees, large leaves and live animals. I chose to draw in leaves to dramatically fill up the space around her and once again reference Kahlo.

I made three separate prints to show the two layers of stencils I used and how the final product resulted. I then hand painted a print with acrylic paint to add color and another personal layer to the piece. I chose to hand paint the print instead of adding a color stencil because I felt this piece was the most personal and I want the viewer to notice the amount of time I spent with this image and how intimate the work was.

Portfolio 2

In my second collection of work I chose to reference Frida Kahlo, a large influence of mine, into my own interpretation of self-portraiture and thought.

Kahlo is not only known for her self-portraiture but is also recognized for her portraits of her husband and Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera. She has famously written him poems and love letters with one popular quote reading, “There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.” After revisiting her work that included images of Rivera, I decided to not only depict Kahlo and Rivera in my work but to also include someone else who has deeply impacted my life for several years.

In these pieces, I went for the familiar theme of self-portraiture but instead used half of the face to focus on the idea of thought and reflection. I discovered that objects and issues she depicted in her work were similar to my own thoughts in my everyday life therefore I created drawings of a few of those ideas and reused them along with our portraits. I used the silkscreen method of printing to emphasize my drawings and easily replicate Kahlo’s thoughts and mine.

I went a bit further and expressed my admiration for Kahlo by solely printing our portraits on a few pieces and including the images of nature like the leaves and butterfly, leaving out the males and rose to tie us together without the inclusion of other people and their reminders.

 

Portfolio 1

For this collection of work I wanted to represent three women who inspire different aspects of my life, Frida Kahlo, Mathangi Arulpragasam, and Benazir Bhutto.

This was my first time screen printing and I tried to use at least two colors plus a black outline. I also wanted to experiment with a crayon- like texture for the two colors I used. These pieces are the result of several accidents and is unfortunately not finished.

Abrego Image list format DOCX

Veronica Taylor

Portfolio 3

Process & Color

For my final portfolio I took a different approach getting away from experiment and design I focus more on color and process. Using different colors of ink to show contrast. I then used the process of screen print making to lie on top of the mono- print to create depth and layers with bright pinks, blue, purple and neon greens. These steps help me to create my eight pieces of print for my portfolio. I’m very interested in hear feedback about my colors and process.

 

Portfolio 2

Experiment

I focus more on experiment by using color through monotype and silkscreen. Not knowing what I was going to make aloud me to be free in exploring different techniques. I learned how to overlap color that aloud me to create a shadow giving the image a more 3D depth.

Portfolio 1

It has been eight years since I was introduce to High-End Residential Interior Design, Architecture and Professional Organizing world. My background is a tremendous influence on the work I produce and things that I am most attractive too (neat, modern, and straight lines). These elements are incorporate as a basic guideline to help me create my series of prints for my portfolio.

The three paints project was use as a catalyst for my overall theme. The concept was to create a new design by using tape as the main source of material. These painting were transfer by using tape onto the Mylar/ acetate or transparency film. Black ink was applied by brush on and spray on. Allowing the ink to dry I coat the 17” x 21” aluminum – framed screen with photo emulsion. Once dry both Mylar and screen is laid out on a flatbed ready to be exposed. After the screen is wash and dry with image I use color ink to enhance the design and print on high quality paper.

I hope that my designs reflect who I am as a person. It will be interesting to see my classmate’s reaction to my body of work.

Image list format DOCX