Quarter 1 Artist Statement

Desireé Mack

Senior Art

            This first quarter my senior art class we talked about recycling objects to make artwork. Looking at discarded things and seeing the beauty in them. I am inspired by nature and the changes that it goes through so I decided to create a piece with that in mind. Walking through the streets of Philadelphia trudging through the leaves I got my idea. The leaves sprout and are beautiful and through the year so many changes happen to them and then they fall from trees and die.  At this point in my life I am going through so many changes, not all of them bring me happiness. With this piece of work I wanted to show that there is beauty in change even though you may not see it at first.

            For this piece I gathered leaves from outside and sewed them together and with a needle and thread. At first I was going to create a blanket, then a bag but the leaves started to form a shape of their own so listened to what they wanted to be shaped into and made it so.  The most important part of creating this piece was remembering to be delicate with the materials because they could crumble at any moment, just like the decisions we make in life.

             A lot of artists say the best work is of a tortured artist. To me that means when you go through things in life that are not exactly the highlight of your life use it as inspiration to create something beautiful that allows you to release some of the stress and emotion you are feeling. That is what my work will start  show in the future.