IB Visual Arts LINCOLN SCHOOL Costa Rica

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

GLORIANA MONTEALEGRE IB Visual Arts Lincoln School Costa Rica 2015

Artist Statement

by Gloriana Montealegre

I entered the IB art course as a way of expressing how I felt. I’ve always had a very hard time talking about my worries or my feelings. I tend to keep everything for myself and art is the only way I can comfortably let everything out. From the very beginning I started expressing the pressures that society places on the individual. I then found out that my main concern was that society is becoming a homogeneous mass that is consuming everyone, and individuality is being lost.

At first I started off very restricted because as a perfectionist I expected all my paintings to look as realistic and controlled as possible. I discovered that painting with acrylics is my strength. However, my style suddenly started changing. When I saw Salvador Dalí’s “Galatea of the Spheres,” I was completely astonished. He portrays his wife with something so abstract as the atomic theory. So I realized that things did not have to be always literal and realistic. From that moment on I started to become freer. I experimented with tools other than brushes to get out of my comfort zone. I achieved interesting results with palette knives and with linocut as well. Probably the main achievement was creating free strokes and movement. In addition, I started to worry less about the direction of my art and let the materials guide me.

Wabi Sabi philosophy influenced me in this matter as I learned to admire the materials and imperfections in my works. I had to face an internal struggle with my perfectionist self, which I am still fighting. However, the palette knives helped me get out of my comfort zone and experience a freedom I had never felt before.

My style drifted from realist to impressionist, and I learned to use a variety of media and materials such as batik, candles, linocut, photography, and wire sculpting which all revolve around Wabi Sabi.

Ephemeral Beauty by Gloriana Montealegre

Acrylics on canvas

Framed Features by Gloriana Montealegre

Mixed media on cardboard

Inner Struggle by Gloriana Montealegre

Oils on canvas

Loves me. Loves me not. by Gloriana Montealegre

Installation

Loves me. Loves me not. Close up

by Gloriana Montealegre

Installation

Cerebro de Metal, Corazón de Bellota by Gloriana Montealegre

Assemblage

Slimy Hair by Gloriana Montealegre

Linocut prints

Subconcious Self by Gloriana Montealegre

Continuos Line drawing with charchoal on paper craft

On Fire by Gloriana Montealegre

Acrylics on canvas

Lanterns and Koi Fish by Gloriana Montealegre

Acrylics on canvas

Hidden Beauty by Gloriana Montealegre

Digital photography

Trapped Underwater by Gloriana Montealegre

Resin and acrylic paint

Nature's Disintegration by Gloriana Montealegre

Installation

Investigation Workbook sample
by Gloriana Montealegre

Monday, May 2, 2016

FELICITAS MOLINA IB Visual Arts Lincoln School Costa Rica

Artist Statement

by Felicitas Molina

I decided to enter the Art IB course to find myself in art. My purpose in this course was to express my deepest feelings and emotions, as well as to portray my personality. I feel attracted to the oceans, and one of my biggest interests is to understand the energy that the ocean provides us. Most of my works are connected to the energy of the sea and how I am growing as a person with it. I’ve also realized that these themes are connected to my zodiac symbol: Pisces.

I am a dreamer, I live in my own world, and I am a variable. My achievement during this course was being able to be free in what I wanted to do. I experimented with acrylics, oils, printmaking, photography, mixed media, etc. Most of my works are a combination of techniques that I have been developing since the first year of this course. At the beginning I was close minded and too cliché, afraid of using different colors and materials. Nevertheless, I lost the fear of experimentation and I was able to use different combinations of colors and techniques. One big influence since I began my research on Printmaking was M.C Escher. I was impressed by his Surrealist buildings and the sense of space he created through lines. The line quality he uses in his works crates depth and forms the figures, something that I tried to implement in my own creations. Another big influence was Brandon Boyd, an artist, writer, singer and composer. His modern art, based on lines and watercolors is also impressive. His music is also something that has helped me in developing my art through doodling. My art is something that fulfills me, it helps me to relax and provides me eternal happiness.

Investigation Workbook sample

Felicitas Molina

DANIELA DURMAN IB Lincoln School Costa Rica 2015

Artist Statement

Living in a world so rigid and so full of boundaries, it becomes very hard to become free. This was my ultimate purpose when I got into IB Art, to critique the double standards of society we live in as well as exploring my inner self. In my first year I was exposed to many different techniques, and this is where I saw what my strengths and what my weaknesses were.

I worked a lot with observational drawings and I found this very frustrating because it never looked realistic, and it was very hard for me to deal with these kind of exercises every time. Later on we were let loose, and I explored the technique of doodling in depth. I find doodling one of my biggest strengths right next to photography. Doodling is your unconscious on paper. While doodling I do not plan anything, I stop thinking and my hand just starts moving, this I do every single day in all of my notebooks as well as napkins and loose papers. Jacques Lacan talks about theory of the unconscious and this has motivated me to continue my research with the technique of doodling.

Photography is my second favorite because it is an alternate way of art. My photos are not standard, they are not very defined photographs and it is hard to find a clear subject and they all have a very deep meaning that is not clear at first sight. Through this two-year journey I found myself constantly exploring my inner self, and becoming a happier person, defying society’s standards.