It's all coming together...

Revised Thesis Abstract....

As an artist, I'm more interested in engaging an audience on an emotional level as opposed to an intellectual one. Emotions are messy. Art is messy. But there is beauty in how they come together.

For my thesis, I am doing a series of portraits in a somewhat none traditional sense. The portraits go beyond just a face of a person and explore who they are or what the represent but on an even deeper level, they as serve as a portrait of the artist, me.

The theme of memorialization is important in my work, as I work through the death of my mother. I am also exploring how other people grieve and memorialize. Religious figures and memorial shrines seen around the city become a fascinating curiosity to me. And I recognize the city as a metaphor for life, death and rebirth. I see a beautiful poetry in these themes and the cycle of life and hope to convey that in my work.