Curatorial Rationale

In this exhibition, my goal was to become a self-expressionist artist focusing mainly on abstraction. My work represents a gallery of me including my various interests and depictions of myself. Following my work should be like invading my privacy by walking around in my brain and soul. I wanted my art to penetrate the viewer’s brain to make them self-reflect and find themselves within my work. 

The predominant feature of my pieces is my use of lines. Given that my goal is to invoke emotions out of my viewers I used a large array of lines in order to create movement in my art. I wanted my art to take a life of its own beyond my own to radiate my unique energy to the world. This connects to a major side of my persona: active energy. The continuous movement displayed in my work mimics both my metaphorical and literal inability to stay still. As it is challenging for me to remain still I wanted my art to reflect this sentiment of movement within 2 dimensions. Despite the strong sense of movement, I make it a point to remain unity and balance within my works to prove the saying “an organized mess”. A term that represents me perfectly as my thoughts are often scattered but at the same time, I am a collected individual. 

My first piece of the exhibition is Tough Decisions which also happens to be the first work completed in the IB program. This serves as the perfect introduction to my gallery because it represents my head in the most abstract manner. My use of a variety of line thicknesses paired with a vibrant pallet of colors all within a black border emphasizes the extent of the cognition power within the brain. As the brain is the motherboard of the human body, Tough Decisions is the director of the works that follow. Inside the Mind is the final piece of my gallery because it acts as sort of a new beginning since it is like the opening work an interpretation of my brain but instead is more literal as to what ideas are present. There is a shift from a purely abstract work towards a mixed media piece with literal photos constructed in an abstract manner. 

My 2nd work, Who? is my rendition of a self-portrait where the ambiguous nature of the form represents my perspective on people. Despite the tendency to judge others based on appearances, I am one who notches the vibe and energy one omits rather than their physical attributes. Next, Coming Through pays homage to the importance of language which is used in both text and speech in order to convey one’s thoughts and feelings. The addition of tiny dots of paint is linked to the colored balls in Who?, which is to contrast the two ways of my self-expression. After, In the Zone, is an abstract representation of my beloved sport of basketball and the emotions that I encounter while on the court. Basketball is an integral part of who I am and I represent it through my abstract interpretation. 

In Door #2, it is apparent that besides the medium, my techniques have also changed as well. This outlier is to represent the chaos that ensued following the COVID Pandemic that put my life to a screeching halt. I used a repetition of hands played with the unity and balance of the composition to mimic the uncertainty and fragility of life at the time. In this photomontage, movement is still a dominant feature but it is developed by the placement of my body and hands rather than the use of lines. Never Still is my acceptance of the “new normal” and the way I found a whole new world of opportunities to continue with my life all while my physical body staying stuck inside in quarantine. This piece would lead me through the integral role of technology during these times towards establishing a new identity. As a result of the lockdown there is a significant reduction in the activities available to me and Never Still is representative of me embracing the new normal.