Fire and Ice
9
"Fire and Ice"
"Fire and Ice"
Morphet
Acrylic on three canvas panels, 10x20"
Self-directed
2010-2012
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
8 The Lady Eve
8
Morphet
"The Lady Eve"
Graphite on Plastic
9x12"
I found the plastic in a garbage can at a printing store. It had just enough texture to hold graphite. I drew this free-hand from a 1941 movie photo by the same name. Self-directed.
2011
7 A Star Remembered
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7
Morphet
"A Star Remembered"
Rubber Stamps, Black Ink
18x24"
One of my favorite stamp portraits, all made with stars. Self-directed.
2010
6 Nutcracker Still Life
6
Morphet
"Nutcracker Still Life"
Pastel on Wallis Paper
9x12"
My first serious attempt at a still life, set up on my desk. Self-directed.
2008
5 Cutting Free
5
Morphet
"Cutting Free"
Graphite on Paper
18x24"
This is the companion piece to "Cutting." The piece describes the process of healing from self-harm. It is based on life experiences that I have turned into a manuscript I eventually hope to publish. Kay Stevenson Art 1110.
2012
4 Cutting
4
Morphet
"Cutting"
Graphite on Paper
18x24"
A layering of life events. Illustrating self-harm and the desire to move away from it. The girl does not have a mouth because she does not have a voice. Kay Stevenson Art 1110.
2012
Thursday, February 7, 2013
3 This is a Violent Painting
3
Morphet
"This is a Violent Painting"
Liquid Acrylic and Charcoal on Watercolor Paper
24x36"
A statement about the hesitation in our society to openly discuss violence. Completed exactly a year after I was in a car accident. Kay Stevenson Drawing 1110.
2012
2 Ben Lomond Blue
2
Morphet
"Ben Lomond Blue"
Acrylic Paint
Approx. 9 feet long, 6 feet tall
Ogden City commissioned the sculpture of a fiberglass horse to paint for Pioneer Days. Self-directed.
2009
1 Self-Portrait in Butterflies
1
Morphet
"Self-portrait in Butterflies"
Rubber stamp, Black ink
18x24
First stamped self-portrait. Self-directed.
2008
Art and Life
Holly Morphet
BFA 2-D Emphasis
BFA 2-D Emphasis
Art and Life
My artwork interprets the perceptual reality of my subjects. I do this either from studying photographs, working from imagination, or more recently, working directly from life. I once believed good art was about accurately representing a photograph. The closer I came to mimicking the photograph, the more successful I believed myself to be. Art school has challenged me not only to create my own rules, but to question the validity of these rules in the first place.
While my aesthetic remains consistent throughout several bodies of work, I am developing a practice overstepping the perfectionism and rigidity of the past and moving into a state of urgency which becomes more relevant and even more truthful. I realized I love to study what is around me yet I have rarely worked from life. I have ventured there before, as in Nutcracker Still Life, yet I still judged my work by how accurately it represented the smoothness of a photograph. I wanted to continue working in this way, yet distrusted myself to let loose into a world always in flux. I especially feared working from a live model.
Working from life has become more important as my subject matter grew in complexity and sensitivity. I am writing a transformational memoir, Cutting Free, about using new experiences to heal from self-harm, and I want explore this theme further in my artwork. In BFA Seminar, I set a task to do a large painting of roughly one hundred hours, combining the scars of one model with the face of another. My professors encouraged me to create studies along the way. To my surprise, the raw studies overshadowed the hours put into the single painting.
The future of my artwork is to continue pushing beyond the constraints of my past. I understand that the photographic representation I am capable of has its place, but it is not the only option, nor is it always the best option. I am developing a language with my paint, and the truth of the experience can be more engaging than a smooth surface.
I feel I am a worthy candidate for a visual arts scholarship because I have pushed myself both artistically and academically, and have become open to change. I think that is one of the most helpful tools an artist can have. I greatly appreciate this process and the help and support of the faculty and fellow students at Weber State.
While my aesthetic remains consistent throughout several bodies of work, I am developing a practice overstepping the perfectionism and rigidity of the past and moving into a state of urgency which becomes more relevant and even more truthful. I realized I love to study what is around me yet I have rarely worked from life. I have ventured there before, as in Nutcracker Still Life, yet I still judged my work by how accurately it represented the smoothness of a photograph. I wanted to continue working in this way, yet distrusted myself to let loose into a world always in flux. I especially feared working from a live model.
Working from life has become more important as my subject matter grew in complexity and sensitivity. I am writing a transformational memoir, Cutting Free, about using new experiences to heal from self-harm, and I want explore this theme further in my artwork. In BFA Seminar, I set a task to do a large painting of roughly one hundred hours, combining the scars of one model with the face of another. My professors encouraged me to create studies along the way. To my surprise, the raw studies overshadowed the hours put into the single painting.
The future of my artwork is to continue pushing beyond the constraints of my past. I understand that the photographic representation I am capable of has its place, but it is not the only option, nor is it always the best option. I am developing a language with my paint, and the truth of the experience can be more engaging than a smooth surface.
I feel I am a worthy candidate for a visual arts scholarship because I have pushed myself both artistically and academically, and have become open to change. I think that is one of the most helpful tools an artist can have. I greatly appreciate this process and the help and support of the faculty and fellow students at Weber State.
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