Organized in somewhat of a flowchart, my “Illustrate Your Week” utilizes bubbles of various sizes to portray the events of my week. Since I generally compartmentalize my thoughts in an organized fashion, each bubble surrounding the days illustrate significant events— the larger the size, the more significant. All arrows are meant to communicate the chronology of the events, all ultimately pointing back to a central, and time consuming event: sleep. The color varies with the days to serve as a method of organization, and was chosen with my established associations of days and colors. The redundancy in the illustrations of items that signify events is meant to communicate a monotone and mundane tone, and allows viewers to see how many days can blur to be the same.

gouache on 18×24″ paper

This illuminated manuscript focuses on a story my mentor, Lea-Anne Jasper, had told me. The story came from a time in which she was the same age as me– around late adolescence, when she was about 17 or 18 years old. On the right third of the page, the story is displayed in handwritten text, and imagery from the story to accompany are illustrated on the first two thirds of the page. Surrounding the four circles are state fruits, flowers, and animals from Texas, the setting in which the story takes place.

Inspired by a memories of dreams when I was a child, this piece encompasses the feeling of being tucked into bed by my mother, and the imagery that would be evoked when she would stroke my ears and hair. The usage of stars and colors (pink, purple, and green), are reminiscent of colors used in toys I would play with at that age, as well as my favorite colors at the time (ages 3-5). The mirror and tulle at the end of the telescope are meant to echo a dreamlike quality/phenomena of a hazy and unfocused phenomena, and discombobulate the viewer into viewing themselves, rather than the object they may point it at. In a way, this piece is self reflective, and disorienting, much like a dream or early memory is.

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