Time

The train symbolizes time because it’s moving forward. I am showing the transition from night to day, which symbolizes how we can’t control time and can’t bring back what we lost. In reality, there is no going back and the train keeps moving forward but there is time when the train does stop, just like those moments in life when all goes still. The train passing the station represents the moment when we miss our stop and we can’t go back to it until the next opportunity arrives. In life we can’t seem to fix what has been done, but can only create new moments. As my materials, I used Acrylic paint on a 14x18 inch canvas.

As the entertainment industry continues to expand, our values of time are disappearing and we waste hour after hour watching T.V. Yet again, our time is passing by, overlooked and unappreciated. We have become consumed by our addiction to electronic devices, something that can affect us later. We try to avoid reality by keeping ourselves encapsulated, and end up exhausting our time trying fixing it. We need to take more advantage of our free time because you can’t turn the clock around. I wish time didn’t get overlooked; we are growing and getting busier each second. I focused on making every minute count to get through this piece and take my own advice.

My Experience

    

This is a personal piece inspired by my summer trip in 2012, when I went to International Falls, Minnesota in Camp Ogichi Daa Kwe. This was my first time away from my family and it was my first time out in the wilderness. On the second day of the trip we were stuck in a creek for six hours. The water was black and had a foul odor and we had to go over so many beaver creeks. I wanted to depict my intensive experience through these paintings. I wanted to capture the environment surrounding the canoe and I decided to use watercolor since my trip was related to water so much.For these drawing I used water color on a 9x9 inch paper.

Observational drawing

This is an observational drawings/still life called “Get Your Crayon”.I used chalk pastel on a 18x24 inch newsprint paper.

This is an observational drawings /Still life called “A Hint of Color”. II used oil pastel on an 18x24 inch newsprint paper.

Personal Work

This is an observational piece of a model. I came up with a background to make it more interesting which was based on a narrative.For this drawing, I used charcoal on a 40x50 inch drawing paper.

This is my way of describing prison. This is me being undecided about many things, such as my future and this period in my life feels as if I was in a prison. My definition of prison is anxiety, stress, burdens, and loneliness. This is me contemplating on a decision and illustrates how I see my current situation.For this drawing I used charcoal on a 30x40 inch drawing paper.

Figur Drawing

I used charcoal to draw on a 18x24 inch newsprint paper. I really wanted to focus on the model’s back because you can tell so much about a person when you look at someone’s backbone just like I can tell who a person is by looking at their hands. For example, if we think about a construction worker, you could almost tell that they are a construction worker by the way their body is built. I found this subject interesting because my father is a construction worker and I can relate or reference him. I used charcoal to draw on 18x24 inch newsprint paper.

I wanted to use a different method from the first one so I used my eraser as the drawing tool after going over the paper with charcoal.For this drawing, I used charcoal on an 18x24 inch newsprint paper.

Self Portrait

This is a grey scale self portrait study.I wanted to show the colorless side of me and challenge myself, moving away from the usual colorful pieces. This is on a 16x20 inches canvas in acrylic.

It was inspired by Whitfield Lovell. He did many of his art works on wood. This inspired me to do something similar, so I covered up my canvas with wallpaper that simulated the texture of wood and I drew my portrait over it with oil pastel. The wood pattern behind the portrait creates a visual effect.This is a self portrait on a 16x20 inch canvas drawn in Oil Pastel.

In this piece I emphasized details such as the Hijab to show my identity as a Muslim female. This self portrait was made out of paper cut by an exacto knife and glued onto a 14x18 inch canvas.

It illustrates my love for nature and bright colors and represents the beauty of culture and nature. This painting was inspired by Frida Kahlo. She created a lot of symbolic self portraits and had a lot of colorful floral designs on it.“Butterfly” was painted on a 16x20 inch canvas.

I focused on the concept of a “doppelganger”. I choose a picture of Beyonce where she was holding a phone and crying. This is a rare side I don’t show to anyone even when I am sad which is a side of me my friends have never seen.

This illustrates me wearing a “Hanbok” which is a traditional Korean outfit. I wanted to represent my fascination with Asian culture and tradition.This was painted on a 16x20 canvas with acrylic paint.

Artist Statement

My name is Mehnaz Sultana and I’m 18 years old. I attend Foreign Language of Global Studies High School and currently a senior. I also take classes in Parson The New School for Design I started focusing on art starting my sophomore year in High School. My art teacher, Mr. Dufour, introduced me to the world of art. He inspired me to work hard and create new art works. I was able to experiment with new material such as charcoal, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor and collage. I have been able to create art work in which I feel satisfied with since I know I put all of my thought and work into each and every piece because of Mr. Dufour’s encouragement.      

As an artist I feel like I am able to capture moments in my life and then create them through my art in order to remember them the way I want to. In a sense I feel like I tend to draw things the way my mind perceives them. In his class an artist I was introduced to Frida Kahlo, who has inspired me because of the way she presents herself in her portraits. She is not afraid to show the world how she sees herself. She encourages me to do portraits that are not beautiful but a depiction of how I actually appeal. I like to show my thoughts through the images I draw.

 I have tried to use different variety as possible. Overcoming challenges has become a second nature for me. Through the rigorous use of new mediums I have been able to explore the qualities in art that tend to be looked over. In my work I feel like I have been able to express my feelings and thoughts with every brush of paint or line erased. I try to depict my experiences in each of my pieces and give the viewer an insight as to what I have seen or done in my past or present. I am able to accomplish the work I have done so far with the help of the people and programs I have been a part of.

My portfolio is called kaleidoscope because each pieces of work represents me and my experiences. My art work reflects on my personality and I wanted to do several portraits showing different sides to me. I did this in series of four portraits and I have purposely placed this as my first portfolio pieces because this is something people don’t see right away someone wise and young to portrayed this in some of the pieces I look older. My first self portrait is a grey scale study. I wanted to show the colorless side of me and challenge myself, moving away from the usual colorful pieces. This is on a 16x20 canvas.

Reflecting on my work, I want to apply to Fine Arts because this way I can work in different variety since I am still not sure on what to do and I feel that going in to this major will help me explore and get the most out of it.