thesis

1. I explore the pre-Raphaelite movement, which explores nature, celebrates a distinct romantic medieval aesthetic - evoking feelings of nostalgia with a Surrealistic edge – and emphasizes the fleeting beauty found in the purity of girlhood. Just as the movement advocates the return of the naturalistic era before Raphael, my art advocates for the return of the naturalistic era of youth by showing the disconnection the modern girl has with nature. Through the gradual desaturation of color in my portfolio, I display the gradual loss of connection girls have to the natural world over time.  
   2. To continue with the pre-Raphaelite theme of realism, I chose photography as a medium. My art observes the transition from girlhood to adulthood by using a symbolic shift in setting from natural to urban. From being submerged in flowers (C#2) to having a lacy shadow reflected on the face (C#10), I consistently incorporate a continuation of flowers to symbolize the purity found in youth. Through a gradual desaturation of color, my art explores the feeling of colorlessness that comes with urbanization. Beginning with spring colors of greens and pinks to emphasize elements of girlhood tied to nature, the saturation degrades into an eventual snowy whiteness with the juxtaposition of a red cape. As childlike pink fades to an adult red and fertile spring to deadly winter, the girl reaches an irreversible detachment from nature by becoming urbanized. My art warns of the dangers that urbanization brings through conveying themes of loneliness and detachment that appear in the later pieces. As I progress through the portfolio, I explore themes of death and decay: using fake/dead grass (C#9) and a digression of saturation using the element of color, ending on C#12, where I placed red against a white background. The peak of my exploration with the progression of life to death can be found in this piece's juxtaposition, (with the bloody red cloak place against an urban snowy background), using the season winter to convey the theme of death. Through the transition from spring to winter my art conveys themes of loneliness that accompany the adolescent death of girlhood.