Figurative Bust Sculptures

 

A Cultural Conversation on Elderly Care

Air dry clay, wood, acrylic paint, chalk pastels, and colored pencil.

Both sculptures approx. 6" x 4" x 2"

    With this pair of sculptures, I wanted to create a space for conversation about elderly care in different cultures.  On the left, we have "America," who is clothed in a deconstructed American flag pattern.  She sits atop the cold architecture of an American nursing home.  On the right, we have "India," who is clothed in a deconstructed Indian flag pattern.  She sits atop a brightly painted village home, whose doorway is cheerily draped with flowers and whose windows and doors are invitingly open.  America has a slightly lowered head, while India's head is proudly erect.  This contrast depicts the difference between the pride India places on the elderly, verses the forgotteness of the elderly in America.  I did not make the sculptures to say that one culture's treatment of the elderly is more correct than the others.  I simply wanted to display both approaches and allow the viewer to reflect on them. 

America

India

Research:

    In India, there is a stigma against putting the elderly in nursing homes.  It is expected for grandparents to live with their families in their home, and for their children to reciprocate the care they gave to them.  Grandparents are considered the head of the family and even at an old age they make the important decisions.  In villages, extended families care for each other, so responsibility for taking care of aged parents does not only fall on their children.  To Indian society, being put in a nursing home means that there is no one who loves or cares for this person.  Some even view them as equal to orphanages.

[https://www.idealismprevails.at/en/the-stigma-around-old-age-homes-in-india/]

    Villages such as Shani Shingnapur--where this house is located--have no doors or locks.  Villagers believe they are protected by a 300-year old rock slab that washed ashore.  This further emphasizes the communal mentality of Indian culture.  They trust their neighbors to watch over their doorless houses when they go away.  People come in and out and are welcome at all times of day.  I chose to paint India's base after this home, to represent this concept of an entire community caring for the elderly.

[https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160526-the-village-with-no-locks-or-doors]

     In America, it is commonplace for the elderly to be put in nursing homes for the remainder of their lives.  This does not have the same stigma here as it does in India.  Many people are unable to care for their aging parents, so putting them in a facility is not deemed abandonment.  Data shows that the number of elderly placed in nursing homes will rise as time goes on.  By 2030, it is expected that 3.85 of 77 million baby boomers will be put in nursing homes.  Today, there are only 1.4 million people in nursing homes.

[https://www.elderneedslaw.com/blog/how-many-older-adults-will-wind-up-in-skilled-nursing-homes]

In-Progress Photos:

 

 

  

Gregor's Room

 

Under the Surface

White copy paper and ink.  No adhesives.

A visual response to the short story The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka.  

Bed measures 11" x 8" x 11"

 

    I wanted to portray Gregor's room before his transformation.  I felt that the beginning of the story was the clearest depiction of Gregor as a person, and set the stage for how he would respond to his traumatic metamorphosis.  When I imagined his room, I saw warm, inviting colors.  However, I pictured the furniture as very minimal and hotel-like.  He is a traveling businessman, and is constantly on the move.  So his trunk is always packed and his briefcase always ready to pick up and leave.  I also imagined his room to be very bare, because his money is all spent supporting his family.  Beneath the calm authority he holds as provider for his family, is internal chaos.  I depicted this with the wrinkled sheet beneath the symmetrical quilt.  I put the brief case spilling over with papers and cloth, because his work life spills over into his personal life.

In-Progress Photos:

Masking Tape Shoes

 

Dinner and A Movie

 Best Served Cold?

Ice, kitchen knife, candle, black fake roses, leaves, velvet robe

Inspired by the movie The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

    My image explores the concept of revenge that is central to the plot of the movie.  The dish is frozen, playing on the expression "revenge is best served cold."  But as the protagonist learns in the film, revenge is never without emotional cost--it is never really served cold.  The knife wrapped in black roses is a cultural symbol for curses and revenge.  The protagonist spends decades of his life in prison after being betrayed and falsely accused by his best friend.  Even when he is released from solitary confinement and escapes prison, he is internally isolated.  The one burning candle represents his isolated life.  I placed my dinner setting on purple velvet, which symbolizes the wealth and riches the protagonist accumulated in order to exact his revenge on his former friend.  There are three roses to represent the three characters involved in the revenge plot: the protagonist, his enemy, and his true love.  This love triangle is what caused the antagonist to betray his friend, so the knife (also a symbol of betrayal--being "stabbed in the back") separates the protagonist from his love.  However, the candle also melts the ice near the roses.  The protagonists' heart begins to warm toward his enemy by the end of the film.  Though the protagonist gets his revenge, his life back, and everything he ever wanted and deserved, he feels regret and sorrow for his enemy.  No character is left unscathed by the end.

100 Objects

 

100 drink umbrellas installed in a sandbox

100 drink umbrellas installed on my bathroom window

100 drink umbrellas installed in my dishwasher

Touch Assignment

 

Unveiling Internal Physical Perception

Digital Artwork

 "What is a sense of one's self?  To a large extent it has to do with touch, with how we feel... Not that our sense of self is necessarily accurate.  Each of us has an exaggerated mental picture of our body, with a big head, hands, mouth, and genitals, and a small trunk...Touch fills our memory with a detailed key as to how we're shaped.  A mirror would mean nothing without touch."

-Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, p. 95.

 

With this drawing, I wanted to visually capture Ackerman's description of how we internally perceive our physical bodies.  This sense of constant awareness through touch is represented by the spiritual, glowing figure within the mirror.  The outer glow represents touch--the wider the glow, the greater the perception of that area of the body.  So, the head and hands have a large glow, which gives them greater touch significance.  I placed the "perception" figure in a mirror, to show that--though she looks at an exact duplicate of herself in the glass--the woman is also seeing this 3 dimensional, holistic version of herself there.

The Hidden Life of Hair

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

8.5x5.5in 

 

"Besides being sexy to most people, head hair protects the brain from the sun's heat and ultraviolet rays, helps to insulate the skull, softens impact, and constantly monitors the world only a hair's breadth away from our body, that circle of danger and romance we allow few people to enter."

-Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, p. 87.

 

When I first read this quote, I immediately thought of plants.  They are living and active--yet their realm of time is imperceptibly slow.  To fully see their wonderful movements, you must speed up time.  In a similar way, you have to alter time--and a little of reality--to fully visualize all the wonderful things your hair does unbeknownst to you.

Though I took a surrealist approach, hair truly takes each of the exaggerated forms I painted.  The woman's hair floats and swirls into a magnificent sunhat, protecting her from the sun.  It wraps itself around her in a protective embrace.  However, it also wraps around the man--inviting him into its intimate and vulnerable circle.  His own hair coils and transforms into monitoring eyes.  These represent the way hair senses the world around us--the follicles feeling every movement we can't see with our eyes.

A Few of my Favorite Things

 

1. Green Glass Butterfly.  This butterfly was given to me by my great grandmother.  She asked me if there was anything from her house I wanted before she moved, and this was the only thing I chose—but it was a treasure I'd wanted since I was a little girl.  My grandmother is an important figure in my life and one of my greatest role models.

2. Topaz Ring.  This ring was given to me by my grandparents on my 16th birthday.  The blue topaz is my birthstone.  It always makes me think of my grandparents and is one of my greatest treasures.

3. Airpods.  I am always listening to music.  Whether I'm working on a project, driving to class, cleaning my room, or painting, there is always music in my ears.  I pride myself on my ability to find really good indie bands and I love sharing what I find with others.  My Airpod case also has a Flagler sticker on the front.  Flagler College is one of my very favorite places.

4. Guitar Pick.  I play acoustic guitar.  When I'm not listening to music and making new playlists, I'm strumming my guitar and singing.

5. Paint Brushes.  I'm an art student, so art supplies are the bare necessities of my existence.  These particular paint brushes are special to me because I have used them all my life.  Many of the well-loved brushes in my collection were my mom's when she was my age.

6. The Great Gatsby Collectors Edition Book.  This book was given to me on my last birthday by my best friend.  I had my eye on this gorgeous gold-leaf hardback for months.  She heard me mention it once and then surprised me with it.  Though beautiful, the book is actually special because it shows the thoughtfulness and care of my friend.