Self Expression through Art
Photos and Writing by Latisha Jensen
I chose to do my project on a student artist because it is not only visually appealing, but there is always an interesting, meaningful story behind their work. Victoria Deleon has created art her entire life and her mother, who is also an artist, inspired her growing up. Victoria has various pieces displayed throughout the Fine Arts Building and I mainly photographed her painting her final project.
I met with her two separate times and watching her painting of the woman evolve was intriguing. She kept adding detail to her and although they seemed trivial, they made significant differences. I tried to capture each part of the process including mixing the paint, washing her paint brushes and fixing other art work in between working on her final piece. I also made it a habit to capture everything she did by following her around to really understand her life as an artist.
“With each piece that I do, it is something that happened in my life that is kind of hard for me to talk about and really express how I really feel.” Victoria Deleon, senior apparel, double majoring in Merchandising and art, paints her final project and has yet to finalize a title. She decided to major in apparel in order to learn more about fibers, which is her favorite art medium.
Victoria adds more paint to her brush, while describing the meaning behind her art work. Her paintings reflect her experience with relationships. “It’s OK to walk out, you don’t have to stay in a position where you feel vulnerable. I decided to tell a complicated part of a story in a painting, because it is easier that way.”
“I like leaving mysteries for my audience.” Although Victoria bases her art on personal relationships, she wants them to relate to other college students. She first began this art project for a final on Nov. 16. Victoria has spent a total of 24 hours on this piece since she started up until Friday..
Victoria scrapes off excess paint off her palette from a previous session, after squeezing out the main colors she needs. She chose cooler colors like blue, green and purple to set the mood she is aiming to depict.
She adds detail to the face of the woman portrayed in her piece, although she tries not to solidify a facial expression because she wants the rest to be interpreted by her audience.
She prefers to not use stretcher bars for the canvas because it is not as flexible more constraint and she prefers to keep the negative space around the edges. “It allows me to play with the shape.”
Victoria looks toward her piece while mixing her colors before beginning another session to make sure she ends up with her desired color scheme Friday.
Victoria admires a piece of her unnamed painting displayed in Gallery 3 in the Fine Arts Building on Monday. This piece shows the beginning of relationships and the warmth associated with that, which is why she chose warm colors like shades of red for this piece.
After completing a five-hour session, Victoria rinses her paintbrushes. She uses oil-based paint, so she also has to use a paint thinner.
This is her taking apart and fixing a past piece of artwork, which represented her first long-term relationship. The theme for this experience in her life was time.