Exhibit Work
My senior project draws inspiration from the "I Spy" books that captivated me as a child. I was not only fascinated by the challenge of finding hidden objects, but also by the surreal, dreamlike quality of the imagery. The photography in the books felt like insights to worlds that were almost impossible, and even now, I look back with nostalgia and curiosity at the intricate, otherworldly details that seemed so tangible. This project is a marriage of that sense of wonder and with my deep love for surrealist art, particularly influenced by the work of Remedios Varo.
For a long time, I have envisioned creating a piece that merges these elements—the playful, hidden magic of children’s media with the ethereal, mystical dreamscapes of surrealism. The children’s media I grew up with was whimsical, soft, and often had a quiet, contemplative nature. I believe it has heavily shaped my artistic endeavors, and as I reflect on today’s children’s media, I feel a strong desire to reintroduce that sense of wonder to the upcoming generation. My project strives to capture the whimsy and tranquility of my childhood and offer a world where every corner of the image invites the viewer to linger and discover, The tools I used—Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign—were crucial in bringing this vision to life. I applied textured paintbrush techniques in Photoshop to emulate the delicate, hand-crafted feel of the illustrations that inspired me. Each artwork is specially framed, a nod to the "Bavarian jewelry box" books popularized in early 18th-century Bavaria. This sense of framing, of containing a miniature world within a larger one, is central to how I want viewers to engage with my work.
Architecture plays a key role in my project, blending my love for designed spaces with surreal, dreamlike imagery. I view architecture not just as functional spaces, but as art—art that we inhabit and experience. I draw inspiration from rustic, old-world Spanish architecture, where every building tells a story and each structure feels timeless. These structures and landscapes come together to form my ideal world—a place where art and architecture intertwine to create an immersive, surreal experience.
Often, as I fall asleep, I imagine this dream world in my mind—a place where whimsical structures and nighttime landscapes meet, a world that feels both familiar and entirely foreign. This project is an illustration of my dreams, an invitation for others to enter a space where reality and imagination blur, and where the quiet magic of childhood wonder can be rediscovered.
