For my final project, I was inspired by my childhood. Ever since I was a child, I identified with cartoon characters. My favorites were Spongebob, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Adventure Time, and Rick And Morty just to name a few. When I watched the shows, it was almost as if I saw myself in the characters. I identified with their originality, humor, and quirkiness. In my adolescent years, I never felt like I really belonged. I've always had an original sense of style and people thought that the things I liked were uncool or weird. I literally felt like an alien and imagined myself as so. So I decided to reflect that in a painting. I painted myself as a cartoon alien. The background of the piece resembles Times Square. New York City played a big part in molding my style and some parts of my identity. My dad used to work at MTV studios in Manhattan and would take me to work with him. When I went, I felt a sense of belonging. It was like everyone was "weird" like me. The shirt in the portrait is inspired by one that I had as a kid. I added a few quirky things like making the billboard sign reflect a few things that I like. This painting is a direct reflection of me reclaiming my weirdness. Reclaiming that being different isn't weird at all.
My alien-like figure took some inspiration from Wangechi Mutu. I liked the fact that she envisioned and embodied herself as this out worldly being. I also liked how she uses the alien-like structures to reflect her emotions and how she felt/feels internally.
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