Maggie Carpenter
University of Kentucky (Honors) in Lexington, Kentucky.
When I walked into the art studio the first week of my sophomore year, I could never have imagined myself reaching the point I am today in my artistic journey. As an academically driven person, it was rare for me to express my creative side, instead focusing on the facts of knowledge and the kinds of ideas I could learn from a textbook. However, my artwork began to become something that made me think totally outside the box. In the studio, there is no right or wrong, no instruction manual to follow or textbook to learn from. It is simply you, your hands to work with and your mind to provide the creativity that inspires your artwork. During my three years of art, I have discovered a whole other side of myself, one that allows me to create things from my own imagination instead of being directed by someone else, and it was this transformation that ultimately inspired the pieces highlighted in this portfolio.
In my first piece, Akribos, I wanted to create a functional piece that provided a sense of movement while also including the precision to detail that is so key to my own thinking. The coils running throughout the piece help to provide directional force within organic movement to draw your eye throughout the piece.
My second piece, Allaso, carries a more simplistic approach while keeping a sense of functionality. This piece represents the catalyst for change and uses the imagery of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly to signify the deeper metamorphosis that is occurring. This idea of change is the focus of the rest of my portfolio that uses the seasons to describe a transformation that can be applied to life, from the more literal transfiguration of a butterfly to the more abstract changes of individuals and humanity as a whole.
When I think of spring, I think of it as a time of renewal, of new beginnings being generated. This is why I chose to symbolize it in Paliggenesia with a cracked egg as a base overflowing with smaller eggs that represent the new starts that spring brings. From there, we move on to summer, which is almost a break in the process, a time to refresh. This is depicted in Anapsuxis by a sun and moon which represents the continuation of time to the next season. However, once fall comes, it is a time of shedding the old. The tree-like structure in Ecdysis that encapsulates the roses that are slowing opening and losing their petals as your eye is drawn to the top of the piece depicts a visual representation of this time. Finally, winter is reached, when everything has been shed and we are left with the bare bones. In Osteon, I chose to represent this with a skull and bones because when all our outer layers are shed, this is what remains.
I think that this theme is representative of my artistic journey, one of recognizing who I truly am on the inside, both within my art and in other areas of my life. As things in my life evolve and change, I change with them, just like metamorphosis and the constant cycle of seasons. Through this transformation, I have become a more open-minded person, no longer focused solely on academics, but instead looking to see what else the world has to offer, oftentimes through my art. For this reason, I hope that my art inspires others to think outside of the box and see what kinds of transformations could come their way if they are willing to step out of their comfort zones and try something new.
