THE ARTIST STATEMENT
Paola Chen
Word Count : 345
IB Art
is a place to explore and to venture out. I used to hinge on realism because I
wanted beauty. I wanted proportionality. I wanted accuracy. All I wished for
was reality, where I could create an aesthetically pleasing artwork with
nothing else beyond that flat surface. Somehow my head couldn’t grasp there was
something outside “realism;” that realism was not the only technique to achieve
beauty. The reason I chose IB Art was because I aspired to cross the threshold
of “average” into an unknown place to color my mind and grow.
Words
never come out easy for me when talking about feelings, so the only way I voice
out my opinion is visually. Thus, I started using art as a way to express my
reaction towards the flawed societal demands and the doubt of identity. I
struggled with finding a true style that reflected this theme, but the many
techniques I learned throughout the course, such as media testing, encouraged
me to experiment with different brush strokes and finding a style. Everything I
did before was painting inside the lines, so in order to overcome my weakness I
regarded everything as a media test. This thinking helped me because then I
wouldn’t have the pressure of making a mistake. It made me feel unbounded.
Furthermore, the media I explored the most was acrylics. I call myself more of
a drawer than a painter precisely because my hand was untrained in this area,
but later I was exposed to splashes of paint and the freedom of a canvas.
Near
the end of the course I realized the progression of my art, where line quality
and color became my strengths. I was majorly inspired by the Expressionist
movement. The dynamism and color in "The Scream" by classical artist
Edvard Munch became the origin of my Expressionist period. Similarly,
contemporary artist Shin Kwang Ho and his renditions on the nature of identity motivate
this exploration and beyond. Influenced by them, I came into a conclusion that
my artworks reflected specks of Existentialism and Expressionism inside a
realist silhouette.
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| "Demon" Acrylics on canvas by Paola Chen |
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| "Goldfish Memory" Oils on canvas by Paola Chen Li |
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| " Physics" Sculpture with wire by Paola Chen |
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| "Positive" Assemblage by Paola chen Li |
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| " Too Much Crying " Watercolors on watercolor paper by Paola Chen Li |
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| "Hush" Acrylics on canvas by Paola Chen Li |
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| "Lemonade" Acrylics on canvas by Paola Chen Li |
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| "Below Zero" Acrylics on cardboard by Paola Chen Li |
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| "Lost & Placed" Acrylics on canvas by Paola Chen Li |
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| "Become Intangled" Acrylics on canvas by Paola Chen Li |
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| " Growing Younger" Acrylics on canvas by Paola Chen Li |
INVESTIGATION WORKBOOK SAMPLE
By Paola Chen Li
