Throughout the semester at home, no one illuminating idea came to me. Instead of constricting this flow of ideas, I chose to let my hands wander with my mind and create sketches and pieces that range in multiple kinds of art mediums. That is why even though I did not consciously create a “series,” I have chosen to group pieces together into series.
NOSTALGIA IS NOW
pen on paper, charcoal frotage on paper, red chalk frotage on paper, linocut print edition
What was usually handy and satisfying to me was pen to paper. With this, the options for what I drew were quite limitless, even though it was so simple at the same time. I spent much of the time sketching my surroundings, as seen in both the drawing of a living room and drawing of a stove. The living room is mine at home, and a place of comfort and centrality not only now, during the pandemic, but also previously in my life. This drawing captures both nostalgia AND the present, something that I didn’t realize was possible to have together in one piece until now.
To build on these simple pen drawings, I created prints, and experimented with frotage by rubbing charcoal on paper over the plates for the prints, creating a warm, fuzzy element that feels very different than just line drawings.
SIMPLE AND COMPLEX AT PLAY
pen, sharpie and watercolor on paper
To expand on pen to paper, I added watercolor. With watercolor, I first created simple floral images that were simply just pleasing to make and look at after. From there, I created a kind of doodle with watercolor spheres, pen, and sharpies. This image was honestly inspired by how my mind felt at the time. I felt as if the chaotic yet cohesive image represented something less tangible, which is an outlier from the rest of my pieces that are very representative of more tangible things, items, or spaces.
FOR WHEN I SEE MY FRIENDS AGAIN
8×4 ft wood hand painted and coated with epoxy resin
This table I made almost felt silly to include, as it is just a collage of pop culture, Bowdoin, and Maine elements. Then I decided the time and work that went into creating each section as well as the processes of creating a design, hand painting, and coating this table wasn’t to be undermined even though it was a project intended to be just for fun and to look forward to a time when we are back at Bowdoin with friends.