My central theme/concept behind these pieces was to create landscapes that seem otherworldly. I thought of different space themes and wanted to play off the unique colours seen in galaxies etc. While creating a unique landscape, I also wanted to bring an aspect of life into each piece. I did this by making my sculptures look like houses, buildings, and cities. With the backgrounds being the main eye-catcher of the works, I created the sculptures to be simple but bold, attempting to contrast them. While wanting to make a sense of life in each image and also having this otherworldly atmosphere, I tried to communicate a theme of new beginnings throughout my pieces. It is almost as if people have come to a new planet and are building a civilization, wanting viewers to feel a sense of mystery, hope, and unruliness. I really enjoyed this assignment. I think it allows everyone to create something from their own perspective and allows for complete creative freedom.
My initial inspiration for this work came from David Trautrimas and the photo composites he has made in the past. I like how he made his sculptures look like actual buildings creating a sense of life within his artworks. When I first started this assignment, I know I wanted the setting for my piece to seem otherworldly or space-related. I felt that this would allow me to have more creative freedom with my background choice while also letting me be abstract (which is my favourite type of art). To achieve this space-like background, I photographed the inside of several soap bottles with a bright light behind them until I got the shots that looked the best to my eye. There were several options for my background images, but in the end, I went with my gut and chose the ones that felt right to me. For my sculptures, I wanted to do something simple while also using my inspiration from David Trautrimas. I decided to take my love for architecture and create houses, buildings, and a small cityscape out for staples for my sculptures. By doing this, I achieved one of my goals of bringing life into this space-like background. I believe that the backgrounds and sculptures contrast each other in a way where they bring a sort of balance to the entire piece making each one fascinating, even on its own.
A unique approach I used in this project was using soap bottles to photograph for my backgrounds. In the beginning, I really took the name of this assignment and ran with it. I thought it was an excellent idea and allowed for a lot of creativity. When thinking of "Hallucinatory landscapes," I knew I wanted to create an artwork that reflected the project's name. I started brainstorming and ended up landing on a broad theme of space. I knew I wanted something trippy, colourful, unique, and intriguing. When I first thought of the soap bottle idea, I didn't know if it would work due to the small openings, but then I cut the top off of a shampoo bottle and when to town on it. I did this on several other bottles (saving the soap after) and got results that I am very happy with. I believe they represent my theme well and create a space that makes the viewer think.