My Final Project

So I'm in this really stupid freshman level class this year. It's called "creating identity through art and performance." And it is just like it sounds. We act, look at art, write about art, and make art. Our final project is a self portrait. We did one at the beginning of the year, this one was very open ended. You could do just about anything you wanted. I drew a mirror with a little girl peering into it. reflected in the mirror were all the things I thought I wanted out of life, a girl dressed in a white dress, a house wife, a happy family, a cross, and a teacher. I then drew a path away from the little girl. On this path I put pictures of all the things that had changed; me with my girlfriends, my rebellious side (tattoo, nose piercing)me with my current family, me at concerts (new religion), and most importantly a picture of me teaching. I wanted to show that since coming to college almost everything in my life has changed.

When we got our assignment for the next final project I did a lot of reflecting. Instantly my mind went to what I want my new tattoo to be.  "Perfectly Imperfect" inscribed down my side. The only real requirement of this project was that we use two artistic mediums. For example I could write a song and take a picture, or paint and act. I decided immediately to write and do a Photo-montage.

As I continued to think more and more I thought about, instead, doing it on running. It has seriously been a huge part of my life this semester. It's gotten me through a lot this last year. I ended up writing a small portion of the perfectly imperfect poem and then knew I just couldn't do it.

Then I decided to do a runner outlined in black as the centerpiece to my artwork. So I cut her out, and then i wrote a poem. I had no idea what my background would look like, or where the poem would take me. When I finished writing the poem I highlighted words that stood out to me, and what was most important. I came up with the title "Bitter Rush" for the piece as a whole. I was going to just do a green or yellow background to represent Bitterness, but it seemed important to get rush in there somehow. Water came to mind right away so I looked up pictures of it, and before I bore you anymore with explanations here it is. I'm very happy with how it turned out :)