2011 Concept

I have an idea for a photography project.

I am going to take a picture of my window everyday. Today I start, the day my aunt is put in hospice. I will take a picture of my window, from the same spot, until her funeral.

My reasoning follows as such... now maybe this is just me but I always find myself looking out my window. In the car, in my room, in class. Why is it that people look outdoors to day dream? I think its our attraction like bugs, to natural light. I think its a look into the unchanging. I could zone out in my room but I would be distracted by the clutter or looking for bugs or thinking about chores. When I look out my bedroom mirror all I see is the weather. Rarely do I notice the change in the trees until leaves trees are bare or covered in snow, and I think, wow, when did that happen? How did I not notice that?

My aunt was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 21, less than a year older than me. Before the disease took over her life she had a husband and a son. Now she is in her sixties, her husband divorced her when her ms took a turn for the worse (her son remains close, my cousin, and he is good. He is a police officer. ) and she is taken care of by her eighty something year old mother. By the time she was forty, the age of my parents and most of my friends parents, she was already confined to her mother's house. Over the years her condition has grown progressively worse. My 20 year old brain cannot even comprehend what it must be like for a mother to outlive a child.

My documentation of my escape is rather dark. What I do to forget thinking, dwelling, crying is to look out the window. To let my mind go blank and look outside, which - compared to daily life activities and how quickly things can take a bad turn- doesn't seem to change that much. People I love are constantly reminding me that life goes on, that everything will be okay... and thats what I am trying to capture. I am going to take a picture everyday of the same scene. I will put the date on the bottom of the picture. The day my aunt passes away I will write that as well as the date. I will arrange the images like a calender. The idea being life goes on, with or without you. It is not the end. The rest of the world carries on and its your job to keep up.

In the name of design, Kellyann Learns to Cook

Hello Kellyann here, the class's token ginger.

I am not one to cook, in fact one of my life goals is to use my oven for storage- I am thinking shoes. When Monique gave each of us a bag of pasta I did not know what to do with it. I have gone through my first two years of college at dining halls or ordering food; eatblue.com and I are close friends and I am single handedly supporting the Taco Bells of Ann Arbor. Yes you may conclude not only do I avoid the kitchen but I also tend to avoid the bottom food groups of the food pyramid.

When I saw the three minute cook time I was thinking “Okay Kellyann you got this. Put your big girl pants on and just make the freaking pasta.” True to my nature I had to go out for a special trip and buy some alfredo sauce since the only content of my mini fridge are small coffee drinks and freeze pops.

I put water in a pot, put it on the stove, selected high, turned the fan on (I did not water the fire alarm to go off) and dumped half the bag of pasta into the still cold water. Apparently I did this wrong for when I told this story to my mom I got an eye roll and a sigh. The second time I did it I let the water boil first and then added some salt and I didn’t watch it (Get the pun here? A watched pot never boils…okay I tried). It took three minutes! Even my roomies, whose diets consist of mac n’ cheese, pasta, and eggs, were amazed. They were all like “Kel there is no way you did that right. That was too fast. Let me try it.” Turns out I did do it right, and they kept asking for more bites of my pasta… hmm, interesting. In conclusion, I have finished my first package of al dente pasta (fiesta colors, very pretty) and it will not be my last; however I will definitely be making it when I am alone otherwise most of my scavenger life roomies tend to consume most of my delish meal.

Heres a pic! I sent it to my mom. Her response? “DID YOU MAKE THAT BY YOURSELF???”

* she always texts in capital letters, my sister and I have tried to explain that in text language that translates as yelling, yet she refuses to change her ways. Regardless she was impressed and asked me to make it for them. We will see about that…

First General Artist Statement

Over the past two years in the School of Art and Design everything I thought I liked to do was completely subverted. In my early days as an artist and creative thinker I was all about painting and drawing people. I only used Photoshop to manipulate my MySpace picture to make my teeth whiter, my hair redder and I would do assignments exactly as they were given to me: rinse and repeat. At orientation I was thrilled when I learned my freshman year was already structured for me. I wouldn’t have to make decisions yet! Boy was I wrong. I had never been exposed to open ended projects where I was actually given the opportunity (as I learned to call what I once saw as challenges) to do what I wanted to do.
I feel as though I have always known what I wanted. Sure I am young and still have a lot to learn but I am the most passionate person I know. My dream is to become a museum curator. I love the atmosphere and history behind museums and am very much interested in getting involved in the museum system, one I understand I must work my way up in, that it doesn’t just happen. I am currently an art and design major working on a minor in history of art. I am involved in a student docent program at the university art museum as well. I believe going to an art school is a good choice because I think the best way to understand something is to experience it on your own. Why read about it when you can make it? To get inside the mind of the artists’ whose work I would be curating I think it would be best if I were an artist myself; therefore I would be easy to relate to and understand.
The classes I have enjoyed most are the design classes I have taken: designing for exhibition being my favorite. I was the only sophomore in a class of juniors and seniors. At first I was intimidated by their experience but they were all great mentors. I learned so much from them and have found a few great students to look up to. The surprised looks on their faces when they saw my first project left my smiling for weeks.
Those are the moments I live for in this program. Sure there are days when I think, why the hell am I here? I have been torn apart in a critique where I thought my project was spot on and I have slept on the building’s sofa to be the first one to use the printer at the media center. Those are some of more unhappy moments in my career thus far but they are just as important to my development as the good ones. Finding out I was one of the freshman winners of the All Student Art Exhibition and having my stop motion video on the school’s website stay fresh on my mind. In those moments I was so sure, so confident of myself and who I am as a creative thinker.
I want to take more design classes like Typography and Organization of Visual Spaces. Since this is an open program I would also like to try watercolor and maybe a 3D design or building class. I never want to stop trying new things and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I recognize the need to know one’s own limits as to stay sane, but when a person slips into his or her comfort zone they begin to settle, a state of being I never plan on accepting. I rather create something incredible or something dreadful than something mediocre. I always want to be pushing some sort of boundary as to expand my own horizons so I can never stop growing. Attending the school of art and design has allowed me to do this both in and outside the studio.
What I enjoy most about being an artist is making something out of virtually nothing. I love being responsible for the way colors, forms and textures come together to make an image. The process of creating is very important to me because that is the period of time when my mind does the most work and my hands come second. My favorite time of the day is late at night after most of the world is asleep where I come up with an idea and in that moment I feel like a genius. How was this not thought of before? Although I wish I did not have to be delusional from lack of sleep to get my best ideas, then end product and critique makes it all worth it.
Being a visual artist has also helped me with my creative writing, another form of expression I very much enjoy. It is a very rewarding feeling to be able to paint pictures with both my words and my hands. I feel as though I can easily transition between the two forms’ symbiotic relationship.
In conclusion, I know where I want to end up but I am ready to enjoy the process of getting there. I know what I want the end result to be but I am ready to challenge myself and my ideals on my way there by taking demanding courses outside my comfort zone, getting involved in the local museums, and staying passionate about every task I am given the opportunity to experience.

General Information

Name: Kellyann
E-Mail: kawargo@umich.edu

Age: 19
Education:
Currently enrolled in the University of Michigan School of Art and Design.
Attended Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan.