From Digital to Mixed Media

I’ve been working on turning one of my artworks that I made in Photoshop into a mixed media piece. In this process, I used a myriad of materials and media, including paint, acrylic markers, cardboard, and wire. I turned the digital artwork into 3D by redrawing and formatting the drawing in Photoshop so I could print the image on a piece of paper, which I then cut the image that was then glued onto a piece of cardboard. In addition, I constructed a phone by cutting cardboard into simple shapes that were glued together. On this phone, I glued both the printed robots and the little girl, as well as text messages of the girl having a conversation with her friend surrounding the girl, almost like thoughts in her mind. I made the choice to place the phone tilted on the edge of a box, causing a sense of urgency and uncertainty in the viewer. The original digital art was about a girl surrounded by technology yet with no other humans to interact with, reflecting the current issue of children having too much access to technology.

My mixed media piece has a similar meaning, yet a few changes were made. Instead of simply being alone, the girl is actively forcing those she is close to away, as shown by text messages found on the cardboard phone depicting her friend asking to meet in person, as the girl continues to find excuses. A major change is how the girl is much larger than the robots, capable of escaping the isolation if she wants, yet she chooses to stay, thus choosing to be alone. I found the completion of this artwork very interesting as I got to experiment with materials I rarely work with, and along the way, adjusted the meaning of the artwork itself.