Desires was my final senior art project in college. The goal of the project was to capture images of people and the things they desire in sets of two images, rendered in cutout construction paper and with illustration drawn over them.

These images were based on previous pieces I’d done throughout my four years at Pacific, as well as this simple study that I did to test the method:

This piece uses spray paint as an additional element, but I didn’t feel confident enough to use it in the final pieces. I also didn’t want them to smell like paint!

As you can see, the image of the person is more defined, while the image of the desire is much less so. I wanted to convey how intangible our desires sometimes are, even though we think we’ve got a good idea of what it is we want.

I also tried to tie each portrait and desire image together by using one particular color stronger than the others. This helps each set remain unique from the rest, even though they all use the same basic colors.

I like the idea of creating art from simple things like construction paper, cardboard, and felt-tip pen. I don’t have an aversion to more exotic materials, but I think that sometimes, when you use things that are more of a known quantity to viewers, it can help them appreciate the work you put into the piece, and help them better see what you’re trying to show, instead of standing there puzzling over what you used to create your art.

Desires was a fun project for me. It took me outside of my box and got me to interact with people on a level that I generally didn’t normally touch, and it made me investigate some of the basic things that make art imagery come together, like color and value. Like so many things, I wish I would have had just a bit more time to polish things up, but I am still pleased with the overall outcome of my work.

For the curious, here’s what the back of the boards looked like. The boards were made to jut from the wall at different lengths, with set pieces overlapping a bit on the edges.