Excitement, Rejection, Abandonment
Ahn J.
Watercolor, pencil, pen
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My art, at a glance, is a simple collection of adorable photos--a lovely cat playing with a shoelace, hissing at its own reflection in the mirror, and watching its owner as they complete their homework. Animals are often adopted simply because they are cute. Then, when people no longer want to be responsible, they are thrown away. As if animals are objects that can be sold and returned. As if they aren't living beings. My art may look just "cute," similar to a cat being given up for adoption. But if one looks at what's going on at the surface, they'll never understand how deep it is. My art depicts the transition from being excited to have a pet to rejecting and abandoning it. Excitement, followed by annoyance and rejection, and ultimately, abandonment. Playing with the cat, laughing as it gets scared by its own reflection, trying to ignore it as it sticks its paw out on to the paper, and in the end it's all alone, staring at flowers that have been drained of color. I hope my "simple" art stirs complicated and perhaps even uncomfortable emotions within the viewer, giving life and depth to a "simple" creature that people choose to treat carelessly.
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Creativity is freedom: Freedom to express myself and the complicated thoughts in my brain without being shackled by what others think. Creativity is what makes me, me--my ideas, values, and beliefs mixed into what sometimes looks like art made by a toddler, sometimes a choreography, and sometimes a blank page.
