Charles Bethea

Artist Statement: Donnie Darko is a chaotic film that dives into themes of mental illness and time travel. The three translucent plates are stacked purposely to symbolize the connection between our universe and the tangent universe depicted in the movie. The two contrasting paintings I used as the table background represent the contrasting mental state of the protagonist. On one side he is a light-hearted high school student and on the other, he is a cynical mastermind. The ice and the metal wire are symbolic of the elements needed to time travel. Much to my surprise when the photo was taken the reflection from the mirror created a portal very similar to the portals shown within the film. Overall my goal for this assignment was to explore a sense of chaos and depict a dark undertone, both of which are man themes of the movie.  

Artist Statement: For this assignment I chose to explore themes of nature and surrealism. When conducting my research I chose to attempt to camoflague the model with the surronding setting. I purposely wrapped the torso and legs of the model tightly to symbolize a strong foundation, much like the roots of a plant. The tightly wrapped torso leads to a free flowing material that is meant to depict certain aspects of nature. I chose to leave the feet unwrapped to add a human aspect to the photo and was pleasently surprised with the outcome. My underlying theme of this assignment was to show that it is important  to recognize our roots in order to grow.