Since day one, the main goal of the Fine Arts Academy has been community and connection. Over the past 4 years, I have been taught how to connect with my peers, how to connect with my peer’s art, and how to connect with guest artists. I have learned how to ask questions and to dig deeper to create more meaningful art. Every showcase that we do, has to have a “why?” Why are we creating the art we are? Why is it important to me? In our piece, the focus is community. We are taking data from others and creating a piece that reflects them. Not only will this piece have meaning to me, but my group and everyone else who participates.
Not only will this project require the whole group to learn about new artistic materials, but we will also have to navigate how to work as a team. I have never worked with a material like stained glass before, so the team and I will have to research materials and processes. We will have to figure out how and what we are going to use glass and then actually execute it. This is such hard material to work with, so we will have to go through many trials and errors. This will force us to figure out the best composition. In addition to unusual material, we are also making our installation big. The scale at which you work can make a huge difference.
My art is unique because I like to just go for it. I don’t like to sit around and think about what I am going to do. When I do that I lose motivation very quickly. I would rather do many trials than try to make it perfect on the first try. I like to experiment and see what works. I’m also excited to have an abstract opportunity. We have all agreed that we don’t want to make something very detailed. Since we will be working with specific amounts of color, we will need to strategically place them. I came up with the idea of having a reflection of color when the sun hits the glass. I originally wanted a picture to show up in the reflection, but that isn’t realistic. The amount of research and effort that needs to be put into this capstone shows artistic rigor.
Overall, this project will help my future in art. I will learn new skills, such as working with glass. I will also learn to work effectively with a team. The academy and this capstone have shown/will show me that I want my art to have meaning. I feel as though I have a deeper creative process that allows me to create meaning. This project will also show me that things that aren’t normally beautiful (like data) can be when shown in an unorthodox way.