Laurel Neubauer
I create both drawings and paintings that work to portray different yet common aspects of human life and interaction utilizing charcoal and watercolor. I successfully make my audience aware of similarities among humans, and reflect upon their own identities and values through various techniques. The charcoal piece of a girl is a representation of joyful and playful friendships, which I convey through the images obscure angle. The charcoal piece of the fingers is a representation of intimate emotion achieved through a close up perspective, specifically emotions that present themselves discreetly. These fingers are drawn as if the person were picking at the skin of their thumb, a habit due to stress. In the watercolor with the phrase “Say I love you”, the need for love and human connection, along with the betterment of human kind with this love, is conveyed through radiant coloring. The watercolor of a cityscape conveys a sense of isolation, particularly in public settings, due to the vast buildings and silent streets. The watercolor with the two matching dolphins is a comment on sibling relationships, as they are owned by my brother and I, who is now away at college. Facing them away from each other represents the distance that grows between familial relationships at particular points in life. My series, composed of three charcoal pieces, aims at representing the same overarching theme in regards to human relationships, but particularly involving communication technology and the way they are embedded in our day to day lives.