Visual Symbols

The original artwork was destroyed and never photographed. Thus the information, research, and inspiration is gathered below.

My Project:

For this visual symbols project I created the two required sculptures. For the bust I created my thoughts on the devil to show evil and ignorance. There were physical symbols for Satanism carved onto the bottom of the bust underneath the shoulders. My devil had a long tongue and horns with a devil tail as those are the most prominent objects when thinking about the commercialized devil. For the second project I decided to create a sharks open mouth with their traditional rows of teeth. I created traditional sea trash like a boot, cigarette, plastic bag, tire, etc. and then I placed them in the sharks mouth. I did this to symbolize the consistent defacement that the ocean faces everyday. Both projects were made out of clay, wire, and paint.

Inspiration:

Melvino Garretti 

https://parkergallery.com/artists/melvino-garretti 

Butaoxi

https://www.instagram.com/firstofmay.k/?hl=en

Kimberly Chapman

https://www.kimberlychapmansculptor.com/

Research: 

This website talks about how and where what we know as sea trash comes from. Most of the trash that ends up in the ocean is discarded by ignorant humans using the earth as their own personal trash can. The website also talks about how harmful this trash is on the ocean, polluting the water and creating life long effects for the oceans wildlife. 

https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/learn-about-aquatic-trash 

This is an image of traditional tattoo of the devil to give me inspiration for the horns and the chin for my sculpture.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/996524551/red-devil-traditional-tattoo-print-flash 

This website shows and talks about the stigma surrounding the devil starting with the bible and showing a lot of the different ideas that people have about him. 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-10-28-9410280329-story.html

 

Reflection Statement: 

My intent for both of my pieces was to create a shock and to make a statement. I wanted to focus on the devil and the dynamic of evil versus good because I thought that this would be the best to show worldwide symbols even if they were symbols for Satanism. I wanted to also focus on cultural issues like sea trash because keeping the ocean and the earth clean is very important to me. I decided to include traditional symbols like an upside down cross, the pentagram, or the sea trash. Tis piece allowed me to explore the ideas that people have surrounding sea pollution and the stigma surrounding the devil.