The Visual Art Student Internship and Exploration Fund Award
This award is an annual grant that is gifted to a selected University of Wyoming Visual Art Student each year. The intent of the grant is to encourage artistic exploration outside the state of Wyoming and to inspire other students to reach beyond Wyoming in their artist practices. As the recipient for 2021, I chose to focus on the beauty of a small town in rural Nevada with a population of less than 100 people. I felt there must be some beauty that kept the people from leaving this remote location and I intended to discover it.
Concept
I started this project with the intent of highlighting the hidden beauty of a small town and discovered deep-rooted connections amongst the locals that fostered a dedication to each other that could weather any storm. Perhaps that is why there were so many circles of eclectic chairs throughout the town.
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My Project, therefore, focused on the locals via sketching the aspects of their identities that they chose to share with me. I wanted the portraits to be honest, so the backgrounds were sparse to reveal my initial sketch lines, or mistakes. Each portrait was created using the stories and thoughts of each local that I gathered through interviews. A total of twenty-one portraits were completed.
Materials
I chose to use the more natural materials of paper and charcoal due to the town's acceptance and appreciation for nature and the old and broken down. They see no need to hide the "momento mori" that they live amongst. It is with this thought in mind, that each portrait was torn.
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Beeswax was used to render the portraits transparent, thus using the town's sunlight as a medium as well. The fleeting light that is only temporarily caught by each portrait reinforces how transient our lives and towns truly are.
town Exhibition
July 2021
The portraits were graciously exhibited in the local pub and grill. Locals from the town, as well as surrounding valleys attended the exhibition, which was punctuated with a fantastic water fight!
Sunrise
Select portraits were imaged at sunrise and sunset in the town.
Sunset
