STATEMENT

I decided to dedicate twelve pieces of art to my favorite love story of all time- my parents’. Using a color scheme in celebration of the 1960-70s, I incorporated acrylic paint on top of my parents’ family photos circa their childhood. I did this to modernize and liven their memories. I chose images that reflected the happy-go-lucky, freedom-reigning lifestyles of the era, particularly images that are vastly contrasted against photography of today.
The images I selected each appear to tell a story, with movement and emotions and connections. Each picture represents a different era in my parents’ lives, ranging from their childhood up to their marriage and beyond. Every stage in my parents’ lives is separated into two pictures each, with coordinating color schemes and subject matters.
The first stage features my father’s grandmother and his childhood friend on a bus. Both pictures emanate simple, light colors, to convey the simplicity and lightheartedness of his childhood. I used acrylic paint here to highlight my great-grandmother’s personality, mimicking a bouquet of flowers, exploding with color and life. As for the school bus, I covered the edges of the photo to draw attention to the quirkiness and humorousness of the subject matter.
The second stage shows my father’s eighteenth birthday party. I used a pearlescent gloss over my marbled paintings to reflect light and add sparkle, like the candles of his birthday cake. I painted a sunflower on the portrait of my father, inferring his romantic nature.
The third stage uses cool, soft colors in compliance with my father’s college friends. Though the groups of men do not play a significant role in my parents’ love story, they helped shape my father into who he is today, and more importantly, who he is as a husband and father. In one of the two pictures, I used white paint to single out the man in the foreground. I did this to suggest that even in a crowd, every single person has a story, and contributes to others’ lives.
The fourth stage depict two things that significantly shaped my father into who he is. My father’s love for baseball gave him passion and spark, and taught him diligence and drive. The second photo is of his parents. Despite a rough patch in their marriage, my father learned from them and their mistakes how to be a loving husband and father. My grandparents have been married for several decades now, and they are still in love   cherishing every day. I wanted to capture a moment in their conversing to show their connection, and how no matter how messy it may get, their love will always connect them together.
The fifth stage shows the progression between the wedding day and married life. The first photo shows my father and his father getting ready for his wedding day to my mother. I had my father stamp his thumb into white paint and cover his face in the picture to focus on the true mood and identity of the photo. The second photo is of our family friend, Joel, performing. Not only was Joel and his wife Julie substantial in the married life of my parents, but Joel also loved music and performing. Music is a binding force for my family, and nothing brings us closer together than singing and dancing, celebrating life together.
The sixth and final stage features my parents after their marriage and their explorations of their new home in California. After leaving their home state of Texas, my parents embarked on a new adventure as a lifelong team in a new state.
I wanted to honor my parents’ love and their journey through my twelve-piece exploration. My desire was to evoke the joy and celebrations of life lost in translation through the past few decades. I aspired to reinvent my family’s history through a scrapbook-esque development, inscribing cherished moments and memories through simple photographs.