2008 Senior Show

Being a graduating art major at Georgetown, I was required to have an art exhibition in our prestigious campus gallery including works all completed during my senior year. My theme revolved around the premise that mankind's advancement is destroying our the natural beauty of our environment. It opened on April 17th and will be up until April 27th in the Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery. Here is the postcard I designed with the given theme and preferences of the seven other featured art majors in mind:

Here is my artist statement and thesis statement and some pictures from the actual show!

Artist Statement
I do not doubt that the paleness of my skin may have at one time been attributed to my Irish descent, but that was before I became an art major. Now, although it has yet to be scientifically proven, I am almost certainly convinced that my fair complexion can be directly credited to how I spend a vast amount of my time. The neon tan I exhibit is no doubt related, if not completely caused by the glow that is daily, nay hourly, emitted from my computer screen and onto my pallid face. As a digital art and graphics major, my computer is my canvas and paintbrush, my clay and kiln, my outlet and release. I nurture it daily with attention and in return it provides me with the means to create. The enjoyment I obtain from the collaboration with my computer is not because of the computer itself, but comes from the experience of making art. Knowing that I have the power to produce something that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also thought-provoking and emotion inducing, makes the experience all the more pleasing and worth while.
It is my goal to help combat the mass amount of graphic design atrocities that have become so prevalent in our amateur-photoshop world by producing quality and skillfully-crafted images with substance. My work generally speaks for itself, however, if one should choose to investigate it further, there is always a deeper story behind each of my pieces. Many things inspire me, but God’s beautiful creation (nature and people) is what I have found to be the greatest stimulation for my art thus far. I often incorporate my own personal writing into many of my pieces with the hope that someone may get a glimpse into what goes on under this pale skin of mine.


Thesis Statement
The rippling grass tickles the rolling hills ever so delicately as it sways in the gentle wind. Pink highlights glisten off the backs of the thoroughbreds as they gallop through the pastures against a sunset backdrop. To the left there is a magnificent magnolia tree, its impressive trunk leading to each branch, and each branch to a fragile white blossom. To the right-- a neon orange traffic barrel. They are building a road; destroying this landscape…
My work for this show is centered around the premise that natural beauty is superior to the man-made structures that tend to corrupt it. In many of my works, I have attempted to reveal the sharp contrast between a scenic place in nature and how it is ruined by something “artificial” that has been placed there by humans. This is to demonstrate how we, as a society, have no regard for what is truly beautiful and are gradually ruining the gorgeous creation that was originally intended for our enjoyment. I have used several technological items such as computer monitors and Polaroid cameras to represent man’s ideas of advancement, but then have included some of my thoughts about how these ideas have become damaging to our natural environment.
It is my hope that through these works, I can help people to regain an appreciation for the natural beauty we take for granted on a daily basis and to understand the danger of how our selfish advancement is destroying it.