Ending with the beginning. This project ‘Ego’ served as a reminder for my hopes and aspirations as an artist. It reminds me why I decided to take the creative path in the first place. It is a highly personal work that seeks to entertain.

Concept:

Religion repackaged.

Religion has always received a bad light in this day and age. In the news we see corruption and terrorism. In practice we see it as boring and unnecessary. Without sufficient emphasis and proper education, the wisdom of sages seemed to be misunderstood and on the verge of being lost.

I hope that my art can allow others to see spirituality as something relatable and beneficial to our lives.

In this project I tried to use cute graphic illustrations to narrate a story about my experiences with spirituality and the theme of ‘gratitude’.

This is the first time I am exploring colors and I aimed to use a consistent palette and harmony in each row to convey a clear narrative behind each equation.

1st row:

Curiosity + Imagination = Me

Welcome to my mind. Always seeking to find out new things and loving all that is cute and fluffy. Despite having the body and age of a full grown adult, there is still this large part of me that is child-like and naive. However, there is a special character in my life that helped me to mature and grow. I like to call him the ‘Monk-Prince’.

Using split complementary colors, I attempt to make my compositions colorful and playful.

2nd row:

Anxiety/Depression – Delusions = A gentler reality

In my religion, light is the metaphor for wisdom as we illuminate the darkness to see the realities in life. Having faced many anxieties due to the uncertainties in life, Monk-Prince’s wisdom have allowed me to see the world in a more gentle light. Instead of ‘killing’ off my demons, he ‘illuminates’ and allow us to see that the demons are not that scary after all. With this knowledge, it allows me to approach conflicts more gently. He shows me that through recognizing the inherent good in others, it is possible to resolve conflicts without hurting one another.

The usage of analogous harmonies allowed me to group the objects in the compositions more successfully. Warm colors are used to convey the idea of light and illumination.

3rd row:

 

Wisdom x A Calm Mind = An ideal me

An incredibly profound and difficult field of study, only the truly wise and diligent can begin to comprehend the teachings of the Monk-Prince. I’m neither wise nor diligent, so I hope that by accumulating more wisdom and constantly reminding myself to keep a calm mind, it will help me understand his teachings on a much deeper level. The ideal me is to be able to translate these accumulated wisdom into art in the most accurate and interesting way.

Once again, analogous harmony was used to group the composition as one cohesive subject matter. The usage of cold colors is to produce a calmer and peaceful mood to match the titles of each panel.

4th row:

Dreams or Practicality = Constants (Me in 5 years)

At the end of Year 1 Semester 1 as an Art student in college, I am at a cross road in determining the rest of my time spent in this college. Having fully experienced the full pressure faced by an art student pursuing an university degree, I see 2 endings for this journey: Either I am able to take a step closer to my dreams or I simply receive a validation of going through an university course. ‘Me in 5 years’ is an uncertainty that only time can tell.

In the meantime, I sincerely hope that I am able to stay true to my initial motivation through these 5 years and even more to come.

Analogous harmony was especially crucial in keeping this row consistent. It allowed the row to appear coherent despite the numerous objects present in the composition. I aim to use warm colors to have a more intimate and nostalgic feeling to the composition.

 Overall reflection:

Having taken a risk and enrolling myself into art school despite having no experience, constant negativity and stress occupied my entire mind throughout this entire semester. Seeing the huge gap between the skills of my peers and I, many times the idea of giving up seemed to entice me. Fear of poor grades seemed to be the main worry going through my head the entire time.

However, the generous support given by the professors and my classmates allowed me to overcome the huge hurdles and somehow allowed me to get through projects decently. Having benefited from so many people, I hope to use this project to portray my gratitude for all the help I have received.

At a point, I’ve gone beyond working for the grade. Honest time and effort was spent to make this work entertaining and meaningful.

I think that made all the difference.

Seeing the smiles during the presentation was more than enough for me.

All the best G6. May everyone be constantly well and happy.

Hopefully I ended this short but meaningful journey in a good note.

Have a great day.

KJ