Artist Biography
Life In Color
As an artist, my interests are in people, culture, travel. In my travels I have built an appreciation for different cultures and perspectives, which has informed my outlook on life – to embrace differences and realize that the world is a vast place. I often find myself drawing inspiration from current events in addition to culture and individuals in society. As an artist my pieces work to express a deeper meaning, and my process allows me to connect with the world around me and create a better understanding of both myself and my subject matter. I strive to create artwork that encourages the viewer to stop and think as well as reflect on what message is being sent. In building my series for this thesis, I turned to my friends, black Americans and dedicated my series to people of color. My medium of choice is oil paints for its glossy finish and workable layers. I felt that this series “Life in Color” would be most successful in the oil paint. My series offers six oil paintings on 30×30” wooden panels, each of which portray a portrait of a black American in both realist and expressionist style through the abstract use of color. My hope is that the paintings provoke an opportunity for people of color to feel a sense of representation and inclusion within the art community; and for all viewers to gain a broader perspective of color.
Thesis Abstract
Color Psychology: Decoding Race Through Color Theory
The United States has experienced an alarming amount of racial and societal injustices that in turn has led to an outpour of movements sparking change. The Black Lives Matter movement was coined in July of 2013 after a string of anti-black hate crimes resulting in the deaths of innocent black Americans unfolded, but became a worldwide phenomenon in 2020 as the hate crimes progressed. The use of art therapy can help explore racial trauma, and intersectionality offers art therapists a means to adequately identify cultural complexity and issues of power from personal, national, and global perspectives. Through a literature review and arts-based research this thesis explored how people of color cope with racial trauma, and how color, both theoretically and psychologically, plays a role in the healing of racial trauma. The goal of this thesis was to bring awareness to the importance of color psychology and the impact racial injustice has across the world. Six black American young-adults were selected to participate in an informal conversation about the influence of color in their lives, and to be photographed. The photographs were used as a reference to create a portrait painting of each participant. Six oil paintings were created on 30” x 30” wood panels depicting portraits of each of the participants. The series, “Life In Color” works to emphasize the need to establish an understanding on creating a non-bias space for healing which promotes multicultural and ethnic awareness in an art therapy setting.