Project #1 “Beauty Beyond the Surface”
Date: September 2025
Materials: Golden and Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints
Size: 18 x 24
Artist Statement – Reflection/Analysis:
For my Project 1, The Artist as Self: Subverting the Gaze, I created the piece titled “Beauty Beyond the Surface.” This was based on how we can look at ourselves and know that it is ok to have expectation versus reality thoughts but still accept ourselves as how we are. In this piece, I included a blank white canvas, size 18 by 24, and creating a bright pink underpainting, to help alleviate the anxious blank canvas. I used Faber Castell graphite pencils, 2B, HB, and a Pentel Mechanical pencil, size 0.5. Tombow MONO Eraser was also included in the making. For the painting, I used GOLDEN and Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints, including paint brushes, ranging from assorted sizes.
My approach on “Beauty Beyond the Surface,” is to let others know that the natural beauty we have is the most important thing we have. We are all different in our own ways and we should not feel as if we do not fit in anywhere. We all think and see that we should all look a certain way, as an expectation, but in reality, be the person that you are. Yes, we all have our own ways of expressing ourselves in several ways, but that does not mean we are doing it in such a way that could be negative but in a way that delivers confidence. We all think we are expected to look some type of way and that negatively affects us in ways that can harm our well-being. In my choice for this approach, I want everyone to look at my artwork and understand that even the beauty we have on the outside goes beyond the surface and we can see another perspective that can help us connect with our self-love and emotions, I looked into the Artist Janine Antoni, understanding her work on a deeper level with her connections. I stuck to a strong self-portrait depicting myself with makeup, along with an image of pure natural beauty as well and accepting that in a deeper connection.
Going out of my comfort zone for this project was working on a larger canvas. I say this because I have worked on canvases ranging from sizes of 16 by 20 and below. This project was the largest I have done. I also worked quickly to make sure my acrylic paint would not dry quickly, along with the help of a wet pallet.
The most challenging aspect of my project was the angle measurements to accomplish the intricate angle as if standing in the mirror. Another challenging aspect was making the right skin tone tints, shades, and tones. When I work with paints, I do not like to buy the already made skin tones, I like to mix my own, this was a challenge as well as my paints when mixed with water, they became too watery, not shading smoothly as I expected. I did experience failure (a la Halberstam), by messing up on some areas of my canvas, but I kept trying and trying to accomplish my final piece.
Some aspects of my project that could use some improvements are filling in my borders with more paint, due to the pink underpainting that is coming through the black paint. The most successful part of my project was having a focal point of where the gaze goes first, usually landing on the face in the reflected mirror. Along with a rhythm of where the viewer’s eye’s move continues to observe and see other strong focal points.
Images of Progress:
