Artist Statement:

This piece is a reflection of my journey as an artist. The first thing I learned how to draw was an eye, when I was about 8 or 9 my aunt taught me. Throughout middle school and high school the main thing I would draw was eyes. I never enjoyed drawing the rest of the face, leaving most drawings feeling unfinished. Eventually I decided to take the human aspect out of the equation, opting to draw creatures or even just disembodied eyes. I was known as “the girl that draws eyeballs”. Essentially, eyes were in every art project I did. Though most people enjoyed my art and thought it was cool, I’d get the occasional comment that it was the only thing I did. Most of the comments were intended as constructive criticism, but it started to get to me. When I got into college I felt the need to prove that my art could be just as good without eyes. I limited myself to one ‘eyeball project’ a semester and I couldn’t depend on it to be the main focus. I succeeded. I received As on my non-eyeball work and people continued to react positively to it. With my last year of school, I have nothing left to prove to myself or others. So, this project was my way of revisiting my beloved eyeballs as a choice instead of a crutch.

Description:

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