Sunday Afternoons

Abstract

In the beginning of my undergraduate career, I was exposed to several modern artists who had strong voices in their artworks. These artists created large works of art with cohesive themes tackling issues in society while also incorporating deep symbolisms. When compared to my own artwork, my artwork felt flat that did not have clear themes in it. In the past my artwork was based on assignment criteria. I struggled with finding inspiration from my life to add meaning to my artwork. In my last year I had a project based on identity and a person’s background. I was inspired to create a painting showing the process of baking my mom’s chocolate pie recipe. The painting was focused on portraying movement while baking a pie and connecting my memories from baking with my mom. I realized that my work did not have to portray societal issues. I have been inspired by artists such as Will Yu who uses movement to highlight normally ordinary actions. I am inspired to portray a normally mundane task like baking alongside my family members. This body of work is inspired by various forms of baking memories. I’m painting a series of portraits of the women in my family and scenes of baking family recipes with these women. My work is inspired by the connection between these women and with their own mothers. I created these paintings to encapsulate the movement of baking along with the connection between me and these women. The multiples of arms, hands, and heads are meant to show the long process of baking. These are inspired by my memories of Sunday Afternoons spent baking with my mother and grandmother. These paintings look back onto precious memories of moments with these women. They celebrate the connection between these women and their mothers through baking recipes. Which have been passed down through the generations. The medium and materials are acrylics and oils on canvas, but the technique is incorporating movement in the act of baking. The paintings represent the closeness of my family when we bake together while also connecting both sides of my family. I also painted portraits of me, my mother, and grandmother separately to show the women as individuals who are tied together in the act of baking. The paintings will alternate between one horizontal scene of baking placed next to a vertical portrait of a woman in the scene.