Hannah Maakestad

Flux

 

Artist Statement

In this collection of work I tried to utilize line and shape in order to create visual interest. I used contour lines in these pieces in order to create movement, which is an important component of my artwork. To further the movement in some of these pieces I used a lack of focal point so the eye has no place to comfortably rest. I hope this movement allows viewers to get visually lost in these works, as I did while creating them. I also use repeating contour lines throughout my artwork to create unity and harmony within each piece, which I hope to further with my use of color.

Unity is another important aspect of my artwork, which I hope also acts as a theme in all of these pieces as well. This was the main idea behind the contrasting colors used in my “Flux Series” of paintings. Since neither color is more dominant than the other, in these works, they both fight to be in the positive space, pushing the other color back to the negative space. I hope that this has created a playful unity between contrasting elements. My hope is that each person perceives these paintings differently, seeing different areas as negative or positive space, just as people experience time differently throughout a given day, and see the world differently based on their own experience.

Circles and contoured organic shapes are also important in my work. To me these shapes symbolize harmony within nature, in which many chaotic moving parts come together to create a cohesive, symbiotic world. I try to mimic this idea in my work by layering somewhat contrasting elements to create unified artwork.

In the future I hope to further explore these themes, and hope to one-day transition into making installation artwork in both two and three dimensions.