SimonaLisa Clausnitzer's Senior Work

Artist Statement

2010-05-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

I love art! For the past four years, I have been learning what this statement really means to me. It means looking at others’ work, and it means expressing my voice by making my own. These are things I have been pushing myself to cultivate during my time at BAA.

My artwork is evidence of my learning. They are all final pieces, but the real growth has happened during the process of making them, as oppose to hanging them on the wall. I have struggled with almost every single piece up on the wall today, but I have also had fun making every piece up there. Each one took time and patience, but what kept me going through was how it made me feel—happy, and like I could express what I had to say. My process was experimentation. I have always loved trying out new materials and techniques—that is what has kept art interesting for me throughout the years. Getting my hands dirty with all sorts of things has been my tool for creating meaningful pieces. I know I will continue to experiment as I move on in life, and that I will always hold onto the passion I developed here.

The Noise of the Media

2010-05-03T05:37:00.000-07:00

This piece has been a great learning point for me. I struggled enormously with the form of the body-- i repainted everything over and over, constantly refining. I learned so much just from this struggle. Its not a finished piece-- it is more of a process piece, documenting this learning. Enjoy!

Glass Still Life

2009-11-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is a still life i have been working on in class this past week. i have been trying to focus especially on how the glass actually looks, as oppose to how i think glass should look. it isn't all white, it's made up of the colors behind the glass. i'm working to get my pieces of glass to stand out, while they still take the colors of the background. quite the challenge!

2009-10-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

The critique was very helpful for me. i got to hear from my peers what i should work on, and what i am good at. the most important part of it for me was listening to the critisism, because once i hear it i can begin to work on it in my pieces. i heard some specific suggestions that were really helpful next steps for my strawberry piece, such as making the shadows larger, putting more detail into what they are sitting on, and making the chocolate a tad more shiny. i hope to continue my work on this piece soon.

2009-10-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

The newest piece i am working on is a painting about the food of my childhood. the two foods that always make me think back to my mom and dad with a little Simona sitting in between them are chocolate covered strawberries and apricots. i always used to take these and dip them in melted chocolate chips, and then eat them with my parents. my painting is my attempt to recreate the memories i have from back then. i chose to have a composition that mirrors how a small child would see these sweets in one of those large cases. they reach their hands over the edge and peer over to see the mesmerizing treats, drooling all the way. i chose paint because i feel it can capture the richness and color of fresh fruit and chocolate. the food is very decadent, and so is the paint. i decided to paint it in large scale to convey how huge the chocolate covered fruit would look to a small child. i can't wait to finish my piece!

2009-10-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the pieces i am currently working on-- a graphite drawing of a metal pot and interesting can opener. One thing i like about my piece is how the reflection of the can opener in the pot is shown. you get to see the back of it directly and the front of it through a reflection, so you are able to see all parts of it. one difficulty i am still struggling with is how to make it look like metal. i have to look especially hard to capture all the lights and darks, the reflections, the contrast that make it pop out, and this takes lots of time and precision. i am still working on capturing this in my piece.

Photography: Cape Cod Shack

2009-10-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

These are some digital photographs i took the last week of summer vacation while i was in an old cape cod house my friend rented. It was a beautiful house, it was mostly made up of wood, and it was right by a marsh. in these photos i was really experimenting-- i tried to find old and decrepit, but still beautiful, parts of the house to capture. none of these were in any way edited. straight from my camera to this blog. (the red pictures i created by placing my finger over the flash!) sorry for the quality of these, somehow they got a lower resolution when i put them on the blog.

Bike Wheel

2009-10-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

This is a piece i'm working on in my own time- its coming along slowly, but surely. i'm really looking at the patterns the spokes on the wheel of a bike create. it's almost an abstraction! i started out with a general concept of what i wanted my piece to convey. then i did a more detailed thumbnail. after these two, i moved on to a larger sheet of nice paper for a final draft. i'm still working on this part.

Avocado Study

2009-10-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is half an avocado i've been working on drawing. it's in graphite, and is 14x17". it was originally a homework assignment for Ms. Osediacz's studio class, but i've been adding to it in my own time. i really do love avocados...

Figure Drawing Blue and Yellow

2009-09-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of my most recent figure drawings, done in blue, yellow, and white pastel on black paper.

Walnut #2 in progress

2009-09-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is the second walnut piece in my series, also in progress. It was done in a mix of walnut ink and watercolor.

Walnut #1 in progress

2009-09-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is an in-progress graphite drawing of a cracked-in-half walnut from a level perspective. I look forward to finishing it soon!

Welcome!

2009-09-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Senior Visual Art Blog. Here, you will find some examples of my finished work as well as my work in progress. Enjoy and check back frequently!