CPS All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions

Collaborators:
Teaching Artist:
Teacher Name: Elizabeth Chisholm
Grade: 12

Materials: Digital Art
Dimensions: x” &times x”
Description:

Artist Statement: As a part-time artist and full-time human being, I feel most compelled by character; if not literally developing a character from the ground up, then finding personality and vivacity in the world around me. Investigating the fantastical and unfamiliar in visual mediums is how I introduce others to the narratives too grand in scale for me to simply tell. I feature digital illustrations prominently because my style has been heavily influenced by the iconography of modern cartoons and animation. I’ve grown up fascinated by folk tales, pop culture, ancient religion, comics and cartoons, and as I create I choose to let my more contemporary skills intersect with these influences. I’m attracted to distinctiveness and persona; as a result, arbitrary colors and unconventional designs are most prominent in my newer works as I strive to portray my subjects’ vitality and rich origins. A more prominent source of inspiration for my recent works has been mythology, particularly my family’s Mayan heritage. Mythology is the well where all storytelling hails from, and in a world where culture is lost–or worse, maliciously destroyed–preserving the art of story and character feels paramount to our survival. The individuals and places I invent are uniquely original, but my body of work is a love letter to all the tropes, archetypes, and stories that came before. Through this lens, my affair with character creation has become more intentional and purposeful. As I move forward in my creative journey, I find myself with a clearer vision of what I want to accomplish with my character creation, and the role I hope to one day play in the modern pantheon of stories and culture. I want people to remember the role women and queer people have played in American history, and to remember the original cultures of the Americas. If nothing else, I want people to think of my ancestors and remember a community of thoughtful, artistic, irreplaceable people. Characters are how our stories endure, how they survive, and most importantly to me, how they continue to exist after they end.