My AP Portfolio focuses on taking paint, a very manufactured material, and disguising it as a natural element. I want to use my art as a way to play with what is considered real versus what is considered fake. I have experimented with different ways of using paint by either letting sheets of it dry and then cut shapes out of it or taking chunks of dried paint and arranging it in certain ways. My goal is to mimic real plants and coral reefs.
Through this process I noticed that the paint takes on a plastic appearance and makes the pieces feel lifeless. I have created works that, at first glance, seem real yet at a closer glace require the viewer to question why they feel “off”. By playing between the border of what is real and fake, I am forcing them to question “what is the material? Why does it seem so stiff?”
