Tag: Craft

The Artist’s Inspiration

Being a writer, I am always looking for a sort of inspiration and depth; images that delve into the mind and explore the deepest desires within us all. This is exactly the reason I chose the piece Blank by Jasmine Hernandez as my favorite art piece. Not only does Blank split the idea of love open under a microscope, but the artist uses contrasting colors and vivid detail to engage the reader and tell a story no one else can. In it, I see the idea of human connection. The heart, which has always seemed to embody the emotions hiding within us, is in the exterior bringing into question a subtle battle between external and internal that I am too familiar with as a writer.

This conflict is what I always seek for in my writing. I use my character’s desires and needs to fuel the piece, allowing them to tell their own story, and that is what I feel that this piece does. I fell in love with this art for the same reason I fell in love with writing; having the ability to craft something new and give readers something to think about. Here we are viewing the struggle between an exterior world and interior emotions, which is both individual and universal, striving to strike a chord with all who see it.

I believe that the piece also represents Elan in this way as well. The art gives every person a voice by expressing the “heart” within us all, and I believe that this is also the mission of our literary magazine. We strive to make artists voices heard and express the emotions found within each and every one of them. As a team, we put a book into the world which holds something that cannot be recreated and is all new. After being on the Elan staff for almost three months now and finally experiencing what it feels like to upload a finalized issue, I can say that the book feels just like the heart in the piece. The art and everything in the book strive to evoke new emotions and with each twist and turn there is something lying under the surface you didn’t expect. To the staff, Elan is our heart and it is something which we hope to share externally in order to captivate an audience within.

I love this piece and Elan because they allow for the exploration into the self without confinement; they bring emotions to the forefront and speak not only about our emotions, but also the connection of our physical being and the things we feel.

–Lexey Wilson, Junior Editor-in-Chief

Transformative and Tranquil

One of my favorite art pieces from the Fall 2017 edition of Elan is “Tranquility” by Kaylin Hillman. Coincidentally, it happens to be the first piece of the art in the book, which I think was a great choice. This piece is generally a very visually appealing one, especially with the blend of colors, but I think it represents much more than that as well. This piece is important to the current events going on throughout the world, all rooted to the connection of humans. There are so many human rights movements and huge decisions being made in the community right now that I think this was a perfect piece to be accepted into this issue.

All of the artwork in our current issue is astounding, but I connected to “Tranquility” immediately, which I think is a huge part of the piece and its message, the universality. The first thing I noticed was the colors, and how beautifully they blend together. The pastel colors stand out against the dark background and caught my eye. After that, I took in the message of the piece and the way the people have come together as one, no matter how different they are. Because this book deals with posing a lot of questions about humanity and ourselves, this was the perfect piece to open with because it visually offers the ideas that are laced throughout the issue.

Another reason I really liked this piece is because it literally brought a sense of calm and tranquility over me. A part of this is definitely because of how aesthetically pleasing it is, but another part was also because it made me think about my own life and the actions I take. Instead of being hateful or avoiding problems that don’t pertain to me, it’s important to speak up and act. As shown in the piece, we can come together peacefully and create beauty. The color of the two-people’s skin may be different, but the shades laced throughout their skin are the same, their shape and bodies are both the same and living. They both exist and in peace. Even if I don’t speak up act, it’s still important to connect with others and be there for people, because we’re all human and need someone from time to time.

This piece is a great representation of Elan. Not only does it represent the work and vast spectrum of what is published, it also shows the people who create the work published. Elan publishes work from all over the world, who create art and writing that differ in many ways. This piece shows a bit into the diversity and range of people published throughout the years of Elan, whether that be the artists themselves or the people found in the artwork. I think this piece is a beautiful mixture of Elan’s current mission and goal as a publication, and what it strives to grow to be.

–Kinley Dozier, Senior Managing Editor

Our Own Journeys

As artists, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut of our own art form, and forget to look at the other ways people can express themselves. An aspiring actor might go to plays, but never visit any art museums. A filmmaker could attend dozens of movie premiers but never pick up a novel. Sometimes, the best cure for stasis in our own art form isn’t to continue to immerse ourselves in it. The best cure can be to remove ourselves completely, and experience artwork that’s completely different.

While we were compiling the fall edition, I got a chance to see some really beautiful artwork. I was amazed at the talent displayed by these teenage artists, some of whom were even my peers. I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about visual art, but in some ways, that makes my reactions even more pure. I have no knowledge about art composition, or any of the technical terms associated with the craft. When I respond to art, it’s purely based on what it makes me feel.

Several pieces stood out to me, but one that really resonated with me was Comfort of the Holy Mother, by Victoria Sherwood. Everything about this piece just drew me to it: the vibrant colors, the clear focus, even the details of the background.

In my writing, I’m often guilty of being too concrete. I can bog myself down with meaningless details and pointless asides. I’ll spend paragraphs describing something that ends up not being important to the plot. It’s hard for me to let go of reality and move into the abstract, and this is something I envy about a lot of art that I love.

Comfort of the Holy Mother portrays a girl, surrounded by a green aura, floating in the night sky. No other context is provided. Even my interpretation could be incorrect—maybe she’s not in the sky. Maybe she’s in the ocean. The title of the piece gives a little background information, but not much. It’s enough to pique your interest, but it doesn’t reveal too much.

And in a way, that’s the point. There doesn’t have to be an explicit intent. Everything doesn’t have to be explained. Art has value simply because it is art and it is beautiful. That applies to visual art, yes, but it also applies to other forms, including writing. Sometimes as writers we think that we have to express our ideas in ways that other people can easily understand, but that’s not true. There’s something appealing about complexity, about a little bit of mystery.

In Elan, we have a variety of work, from a very diverse group of students. The topics covered in our magazine span from difficult familial relationships to the struggles of growing up, and each piece explores life a little bit differently. We are all a little removed from reality, floating through space on our own journeys.

–Meredith Abdelnour, Junior Layout-and-Design Editor