Project II: What Are We in the Beginning?

Words:
Growth/Life/Living
Contemporary
Metal

In this piece I wanted to create a connection between the viewer and the artwork. I am fascinated with the similarities in the early stages of life in all living things. The embryos and early fetal development of chickens and humans have striking similarities. I wanted to create a scene where the viewer looks at the representation of a human embryo and views his/her reflection through the image; viewing themselves as the growth and life of a living human being. I wanted to contrast this personal connection with a connection to a chick embryo. I chose to present the chick embryo in the same form as the image of the human embryo, where the two would be difficult to distinguish next to one another. I would like the viewer to have the same connection with the reflection in the chick embryo as with the human embryo. Therefore, the viewer is intended to see their reflection both as the growth of a human as well as a chicken without immediate realization.

Unfortunately, I don't think I was as successful with this project as I wish I could have been. I felt limited with metal as my material. I would have liked to place the image directly onto a mirror so it would be easier for the viewer to understand the concept of the piece, but I opted for a subtly reflective piece of metal instead. I was able to adjust the piece slightly after critique and removed the distracting "pie" aspect to the piece I showed in class. I think it is a bit more successful, but I would like to find a better transfer method to make the image clearer. I would like to re-visit this piece at the end of the semester and re-work it using a mirror.