Final Image

Artist Statement

For the spectacle I wanted to make an image that represents self-discovery in a unique and shocking way. The idea of learning new things about yourself fascinates me, because in theory, no one knows you better than yourself, so when you do discover something about yourself it is a genuine, brand new discovery. I started out by thinking about what self-discovery means to me. I thought about how a person is completely controlled by their brain. The brain is where every bit of information on that person is stored. I thought I could represent self-discovery by showing someone literally dissecting his or her own brain and exploring it. I chose to use pictures of myself. The first one is of me sitting down, and then I photoshopped my head to make it look as if the top part of my head was cut off and my brain was opening up. The second picture is of me again using a flashlight and a knife to explore my own brain. I put myself in a dark, smoky setting to make it seem like an amateur experimental place, such as in a basement, similar to where Frankenstein was created. In my sketches I have some drawings of contortionists because I researched the term “spectacle” and read an article on how the term used to be associated with “freaks,”  so another idea I had was to create an image of people who would be considered freaks.

Sketch 10

Sketch 9

Sketch 8

Sketch 7

Sketch 6

Sketch 5

Sketch 4

Sketch 3

Sketch 2

Sketch 1

Audrey Morton Kngwarrey

Audrey Morton Kngwarrey's landscapes are all composed of a series of strokes or shapes. This technique of portraying landscapes inspired me to try it myself.

Textured Pasture

Another idea I worked with was taking an image of a landscape and simplifying it into a pattern of abstract shapes. 

Gary Myers

I got inspiration from Gary Myer's landscapes because of the color schemes he uses. His artwork uses very vibrant colors that would not normally be found in the natural, organic settings he illustrates. 

Urban Island

My first idea for a digiscape was to take and urban, cityscape and make it feel vibrant and alive by altering the colors of it. I used an image that originally looked like a dull, run down, city area, and enhanced the colors in several different ways to make it look as if it was bursting with life and energy. I wanted this digiscape to relate to a Hawaiian sunset. When I visited Hawaii this past summer I was amazed by how colorful the sky becomes when the sun sets and was captivated by how unexpected it was. With that in mind, I made my cityscape extremely colorful to evoke that same unexpected factor. 

Alex Pardee

Alex Pardee's work helped give me inspiration for making the Disney park look demonic and nightmare-like. His landscape illustrations gave me an idea of how I could make my landscape look creepy in terms of content and color scheme. 

Disney Nightmare 2

After finishing my first image I realized my image was not the correct size I was supposed to be working with. This is the more compact version. I don't like it as much because it feels cramped to me. I don't know if it looks that way to an objective viewer, but it does to me because I literally was trying to cram as much as I could into the designated space. 

Disney Nightmare

This was my original digiscape. There are a few creepy creatures embedded throughout the image. It's hard to tell from seeing the image at this size, but there are ghosts in the sky, a skeleton crawling on the ground, and a man giving an evil gaze in the reflection of the water.

Digiscape Artists Statement

The digiscape I created resembles the landscape of a childhood nightmare. I began with an image of a Disney World amusement park. Initially, the image looked like it was supposed to portray a place of fun and magic. When I examined the photograph more carefully I noticed some things that gave it a bit of a creepy aura. The first thing I noticed was a big, dark, looming cloud in the sky. Then, the ferris wheel and Mickey Mouse rides reminded me of a circus with clowns. These small details inspired me to make, what is supposed to be a wonderful land, turn dark and scary. I also played with the idea of how Disney is meant to entertain children. I thought it would be ironic to make Disney World a place that embodies everything children tend to be afraid of.

To make my image of Disney World look more as if it were part of a nightmare, I began by altering the color of the sky. I made is a dark, yellowish-green color, which is often associated with zombies and ghosts and scary stories. To give my digiscape more depth. I extended the cloud and connected it to an image of a giant hand reaching towards the viewer. Then, I found an image of an evil Mickey Mouse and replaced it with the one on the rollercoaster. I added in some demonic looking creatures in obscure places so when the viewer does notice them it’s startling. I also added in some dark tree branches on the sides to give it more of a creepy feel.