Curatorial Rationale

The theme of my body of work has changed several times over the course of my IB Art years. Since my first year in IB Art I have been drawn to exploring themes of femininity and creating pieces that feature the female figure. My body of work is centered around the theme of femininity in nature and my art pieces aim to show the relationship between the natural world and the feminine qualities. I have used a variety of techniques and mediums to create my body of work such as acrylic on canvas, paper mache, linoleum printing, digital photography, and mixed media. I chose my theme of femininity in nature because of the variety of ways I could create art pieces within that theme. Additionally, I really like depicting the female body in my art pieces and found ways I could practice creating pieces I liked aesthetically by tying the figures into a greater overall theme. I think it is important to acknowledge the beauty of femininity, and this was what originally drew me to this theme. In my personal life, I have felt that society has rarely celebrated physical beauty of women and often condemned or put down those who embrace it. Though I have noticed a greater appreciation for feminine beauty more recently, especially in the media I surround myself with, I felt it was important to showcase how the qualities of beauty, especially a feminine beauty, are mirrored in the natural world, meaning that all facets of femininity are beautiful because of their connection to nature.

My inspiration came from a variety of sources. I have had the opportunity to visit many art galleries, museums, and exhibitions, on local and international levels. I believe that getting to see firsthand the differences in art pieces, especially internationally, has deeply influenced my artworks. I have also pulled inspiration from historical and mythological figures such as Gaia, the Greek goddess of Earth, who was part of my inspiration for my pieces "Ivy” and “Overgrown.” I also took inspiration from my own personal experiences and observations of societal expectations on beauty when creating my piece “Lightning.” The first piece I made for my exhibition was my acrylic painting “Blue Body,” this piece was actually one of my biggest inspirations when creating the rest of my body of work. I was very proud of how it came out and knew I wanted to tie my exhibition together with similar artistic intentions to those I had when painting that piece.

For my exhibition, I was allotted a small amount of space to show my art pieces, this is due to the size of my art class in comparison to the size of the art gallery where we showcased our work. My organization within that space was to intentionally create a cluster of vibrancy. I wanted my pieces to be a vibrant and bold spot of color and artwork and since many of my art pieces follow a similar color palette, I was able to create a cohesive exhibition that was balanced throughout the entire wall.

In curating this exhibition, my goal was to create a joyful and vibrant collection of art pieces that brought my theme of femininity in nature together with visual aesthetics. My intention is for viewers to not only appreciate the beauty of my art pieces but also to acknowledge that feminine beauty can go beyond traditional notions of beauty and so much of its qualities are seen in the natural world as well. In my exhibition, I aim to show the multifaceted aspects of femininity. From fluidity and movement to symbolic representations of growth and connection, I want my viewers to take a sort of appreciation from my pieces of the beauty embodied by women and how it is mirrored in nature’s rhythms.