XPI Student Showcase
Welcome to Xpress Plugged In, our new online gallery of student expressions. Please follow the submission instructions CAREFULLY. New work will be posted every Monday.
-- Nancy Green, editor of XPI
Selections for the Week of 3/14/2011
Spotlight on Jordana Carlson, 12th grade
Howard W. Blake High School, Tampa
Artist Statement
--Jordana Carlson
My concentration is on fairytales and children's literature; besides the fact that I find the odd stories that have lasted through generations interesting, it's also satisfying (and difficult) to try to see things through the eyes of a child. To a child, even the most outlandish stories can make sense, while most adults would scoff and roll their eyes at the possibility of a woman having hair long enough to fall to the bottom of a tower, or a girl falling through a rabbit hole and meeting a talking rabbit. As people grow up, they sometimes forget how to think and feel like children. Through my work, I wish to show that no matter how old you are, you can still do that.
The most subtle thing that ties all of my pieces together is the fairytales within them. There might be a few pieces in which it's more difficult to figure out the fairytale, but that whimsical wonder and childlike feeling of invincibility is there.
The research that I've done has enabled me to take new directions and try new paths. The biggest things I've taken a liking to are Greek and Roman pottery. My next few pieces will be based on two well-known Greek vessels, an amphora and a lekythos; I recently finished a small scale hydria. Robert Arneson was helpful, since he had done similar themes, such as nuclear power plants and a few fairytales as well. It was eye opening to see the same thing attempted in a completely different fashion by another artist. The art history I've studied also has made me want to attempt things in bold new ways.
Over the next couple of weeks, I intend to push forward with the newest fairytales I've sketched out: Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Goldilocks. I am going to try to add more detail: I want to be able to see the wrinkles in Goldilocks' dress and Rapunzel's strands of hair as she lets it fall down. I want to tell more of a story, instead of just creating an abstract piece that represents a story.
Original work by Jordana Carlson, 12th grade,
Howard W. Blake High School, Tampa
Forest Fire
Alice in Wonderland
Framework Teapot
Waterfall 1
Waterfall 2
Meltdown
Mary Mary Quite Contrary