Midterm Artist Statement

My big idea is death. Specifically, I chose to explore the many forms of death. So what is death? Some say it's a living, breathing being. Others say it is just a spirit, a soul. Yet there are those who claim that death is simply an obstacle in the eternal path we must all take. I believe that death is all of the above. Through my research into the big ideas, death seemed to me to be the most diverse. By looking at Gustave Dore's work and the way he portrays many forms of death, I decided that I would try to manipulate death's many forms. I have explored the relationship between life and death and have tried to form a picture of it. Death, however, is impossible to summarize with just one picture and requires multiple interpretations. Therefore, I wanted to portray death as being both good and bad. I took a good image of death, the angel, and turned it evil. I also turned an evil image of death, the reaper, and made it more pleasant. The visual cues that I use to portray death include the contrast between living things and dead ones, darkness, skulls, and fear. The idea of death is important to me because it is one of the most feared subjects. No one has experienced it and lived to tell the tale, yet we all wonder what death is like. I hope to portray my own interpretation of death through my research.