New A Life, Still Submission Christine ShenExpired California Institute of the Arts Digital Output 24” x 36” Artist statement about the piece: A poster for a fictitious exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum titled “Expired.” The exhibition as well as the art chosen for it reflects the motif of symbolism in the still life and its diminishing fate historically through imagery of death.    Given only the theme of the still life and the location of the exhibition (a contemporary museum, in this case, the Hammer) the objective of this piece was to create a contemporary poster that included inventive form-making, visual appeal, typography, and most importantly, conceptual meaning. The still life has always harbored historic and symbolic meaning, so I chose to analyze the fact that it currently has become an artist’s tool to create something visually appealing through their ability to flaunt technique, leaving symbolic significance behind. To further emphasize my concept, I replaced the familiar fruit and flowers of a typical still life with objects that represented decay as well as death, to show that these objects that were once ripe in their time have now expired.    Photos taken with a Canon Rebel T2i, then manipulated in Adobe Photoshop, then montaged and added type in Adobe InDesign. Short bio about the artist: Originally from Lafayette, CA, Christine Shen is currently in her second year earning her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Graphic Design at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. Aside from Graphic Design, she has been an illustrator and a fine artist in drawing as well as painting and works hard to incorporate these other mediums and techniques into her design work.

New A Life, Still Submission

Christine Shen
Expired
California Institute of the Arts
Digital Output
24” x 36”

Artist statement about the piece:

A poster for a fictitious exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum titled “Expired.” The exhibition as well as the art chosen for it reflects the motif of symbolism in the still life and its diminishing fate historically through imagery of death. 

 

Given only the theme of the still life and the location of the exhibition (a contemporary museum, in this case, the Hammer) the objective of this piece was to create a contemporary poster that included inventive form-making, visual appeal, typography, and most importantly, conceptual meaning. The still life has always harbored historic and symbolic meaning, so I chose to analyze the fact that it currently has become an artist’s tool to create something visually appealing through their ability to flaunt technique, leaving symbolic significance behind. To further emphasize my concept, I replaced the familiar fruit and flowers of a typical still life with objects that represented decay as well as death, to show that these objects that were once ripe in their time have now expired. 

 

Photos taken with a Canon Rebel T2i, then manipulated in Adobe Photoshop, then montaged and added type in Adobe InDesign.

Short bio about the artist:

Originally from Lafayette, CA, Christine Shen is currently in her second year earning her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Graphic Design at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. Aside from Graphic Design, she has been an illustrator and a fine artist in drawing as well as painting and works hard to incorporate these other mediums and techniques into her design work.

Tags: art north carolina museum of art California Institute of the Arts graphic design still life symbolism submission