Kelsey+Erwin

= "I imagine that yes is the only living thing." - e. e. cummings = = = =// Artist Statement //= Kelsey Erwin

=IB ART SL2 2010=

Works from First Semester: "You Were in my Dream Last Night," "A Heavy Heart," "The Beautiful One Has Arrived," "Oni," and "Sowing Season"

"You Were in my Dream Last Night" Ink 15 in x 16 in



"Oni" Markers 12.75 in x 14.25 in

Detail shot:

"Sowing Season" Colored Pencil 8.25 in x 11.5 in



Below are the photos of my first venture into the realm of 3D art, a soapstone scarab beetle.

"A Heavy Heart" (Title taken from Egyptian belief that scarabs placed in the tomb of the deceased are meant to represent the heart and soul of that person. The scarab is weighed in the afterlife against the goddess Ma'at's Feather of Truth and Justice to determine whether the dead will have a peaceful afterlife.) Soapstone Length:1.75 in Width: 1.5 in Height: 1.0 in

View from above



Side Views





Underside (The symbols on the bottom of the scarab are Egyptian hieroglyphs meaning "life and beauty.")



"The Beautiful One Has Arrived" (Title taken from the translation of the name "Nefertiti.") Acrylic paint and ink 10 in by 8 in

My concentration, mechanical beetles, is heavily influenced by the technology of our modern world and how it has seeped into the natural world. Robotic dogs replace live animals. The displacement of nature has led me to wonder if interacting with man-made counterparts is as satisfying as the "real deal." I decided to create my own fusion of mechanical and natural words by taking a creature as simple as the common beetle and turning it into a complex network of technology.

My artwork both explores and seeks a better understanding of the complicated question above. The works, "The Mechanics of Flight," "Organic," and "A Well-Oiled Machine" were meant to illustrate the mechanization of different parts of the beetle. The first focuses on the wings, the second on the head, and the third on the internal structure of the beetle. With the series, "Electric Birth," I decided to mechanize the entire life process of the beetle. Because everyday items in our society are being reproduced technologically, I wanted to make a statement by reproducing the mundane life cycle of the beetle mechanically. This series includes the pupa life stage of the beetle, electronically altered with wires and a battery life sensor; the larva stage, mechanized by the satellite and wires adorning the beetle's body; the now adult beetle emerging from its larva shell, complete with a sensor and battery symbol; and the complete of the beetle life cycle with a beetle giving birth to multi-patterned, electronic eggs, starting the cycle all over again. I chose not to use color in order to enhance the mechanical feel of the illustrations.

This exploration of my concentration, the mechanical beetle, has yielded a fantastic new understanding of the fusion of beetles in the natural world and the electronic world.

__**Advice to AP Testers:**__
My advice to all AP Art testers is this: Make sure that you keep all of your art in one place! I personally had a hard time finding all of the artwork I wanted to submit to AP because some was at school, some was at home, some was hidden away in a portfolio. It would have gone much faster (getting my portfolio ready) if I had kept all of my pieces together in one place.

Also, pay attention to the AP testing date. It's important to make sure that you have all the artwork you want to submit COMPLETED well in advance of the testing date. This really cuts down on the stress of AP testing. I had to finish a few works at the very last minute and it only put more pressure on me. Avoid this and finish your work ahead of time!

Good luck!

__**Four Works from this Grading Period:**__
"Celestial Nap" Ink 13 x13 in



"Moon Mama" Pen 8.5 x 11 in



"Feast" -- __**Also submitted as AP Art (concentration)**__ Colored Pencil 11.25 in x 14 in



__**AP Artwork:**__
__CONCENTRATION-__

The following four pieces are each 10.5 in. by 10.5 in. and together compose the piece "Electric Birth." Ink Concentration





"Organic" Ink 24 in x 24 in Concentration



"The Mechanics of Flight" Ink 9 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches Concentration



"A Well-Oiled Machine" Ink 9 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches Concentration



__**Note: The other four submissions used for AP Art Concentration were detail shots of the series, "Electric Birth."**__ __**I have not included those here as they are merely close ups of these images.**__

__BREADTH-__

"Simplicity" __**-Also the last of the four works for the grading period**__ 12 x 12 in Watercolor Breadth



"Natural" 8.5 x 11 in Marker Breadth



"Autumn" 16 x 12 in Colored pencil Breadth



"Focus" 22 x 24 in Marker Breadth



"Wanderlust" 16 x 14 in Mixed Media Breadth



The next three are part of a series called, "Moody Blues." 8 in x 8 in each Breadth







"Magick" 14 x 18 in Ink Breadth




 * "Comfortable"

8 x 10 in Acrylic paint Breadth



Other Artwork

"The Three Roads to Peace" Watercolors and Ink 15 x 12 in

"Winds of Change" Wire, Fishing net, CDs, Acrylic paint

"Taking Control" "Multiculturalism" "A Simple Solution" "Always Growing"

"Natural Disasters" "Starved" Alternates of "Running on Empty" and "Starved" ATCs Ink All 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches

"Myths of Perpetual Peace" Ink 6 in x 6 in