Artists StatementGrowth
24” x 30” Acrylic on Canvas Riley K Hernandez My undiscovered power was shaken when faced with the reality of how fast we can lose our loved ones. It taught me not to take family for granted because they can be gone in an instant. My mother’s pregnancy with my brother, Luke, also taught me a lot the about the reproductive system. She used in vitro fertilization to help aid in conceiving, and was later diagnosed with placenta previa, which resulted in premature birth. This is the root of my story, and because of Luke being a preemie, he needed an unplanned, life-threatening surgery to fix his digestive tract. I wanted to express the root of the story- being the pregnancy- through this painting of a female body. The flowers represent the major organs in the reproductive and excretory systems: the red poppy as the kidneys, the daisy as the bladder, the large flower bud being a uterus and the smaller buds being the ovaries. An optical illusion may also be seen if you look at the thigh gap as a vase. ReflectionThe root of my biological power starts at the reproductive system. My story is about my little brother, Luke. He was conceived using in vitro fertilization. My mother later was diagnosed with placenta previa and had to give birth prematurely. This later gave Luke complications in his digestive tract. He eventually needed surgery and that event was my writing piece.
It was important for me to learn about the reproductive system so I could understand where my brother's complications started and why my mom had pregnancy issues. Homeostasis in the reproductive system would be to ensure optimal conditions for fertility. For males, this would be the regulation of temperature in the tesis to keep the sperm alive. For females, this would be the regulation of the PH in the vagina. It must be acidic to kill all the microbes that find their way in. |
|
I tried to express where my power comes from through this painting of a pregnancy using the beauty of flowers to represent organs. The figure of a woman is supposed to be my mother and the baby as my brother.
When painting, I learned that primary colors are sheer and need to be mixed with white or earth tones to become opaque. We never used black to make darker shades. A challenge I encountered while creating my best work would be shading. At first I thought the shading in my red flowers were too dark, but then I realized I can highlight to create contrast. My teacher also taught me to take a step back from my work once in a while to look at the big picture. Lines that seem harsh up close tend to fade away in the distance. It reminded me to do this in all of my work for the best final product. I am most proud of the time I spent on this project. After school and staff days were put into my work and it paid off in the end. What you put in is what you will get out. |