Artist Conversation #1

There is no doubt that art is a form of creativity, form of expression, a way to break barriers such as with language. Art acts as the steppingstone for bringing those closer to us to create peace and love. The art gallery I choose to appraise was ‘Trauma’ by Chanmeala Huy. Huy is a Undergraduate student who is currently is in the Pre-Production in Illustration / Animation Program at California State University Long Beach. Huy had illustrated that in fact after being in the program, she does not have as much interest in Pre-Production Illustration as she had thought she did. But made it a point to discuss that she does enjoy the animation aspect of the program and loves the concept art which is an admirable thing. Huy had stated that her work explores the nature of mental illness, things that tie into health such as anxiety, and stress.
It is clear that, her work is illustrating a message. A symbolic message of futuristic aesthetics, it is admirable to see how much time, effort, and most importantly patience that went into each piece that resembles future technology. The form of each art piece is relatively the same, they all depict a message, illustrating bright colors, the people in the painting are ‘hybrids’ similar to something out of this world but also in this world. Each stroke from the brush seems as if it was perfectly placed to make a masterpiece. If you notice, each painting looks as if the individuals are floating, as if they do not have a soul since each of their eyes are not relatively the same to human eyes. The eyes are shaded in completely, with the elucidation that they have no pupils, just eyes. When you are looking into the paintings, it is as if the artist only used vivid primary colors, maybe this was done to showcase that primary colors attract the human eye more frequently. Also, the paintings are relatively small, if you were standing in a art gallery, you would need to see it up close in order to get the full effect of the painting.
The paintings are about you, if you are struggling with mental illness these paintings can speak to you the most. Huy had illustrated that the purpose of creating these were to express that mental illness is a serious matter and should be handled with the proper care and etiquette it requires. Most importantly, Huy also illustrated that the art depicts a message, which is ‘how do we find ourselves in this world.’ By meaning of this, Huy wants the observer, in essence the audience to ask and come to the conclusion onto how do we find ourselves in this world, and what steps should take to find ourselves along with truly understand the meaning of life and the importance it withholds.
For the reasons above, this art gallery ‘Trauma’ by Chanmeala Huy illustrated to me that the Arts importance, the meaning that everything going on in your life, good or bad, in the end result, everything will be okay. No matter the hardship, everything happens for a reason and it is your job to stand up and continue to fight for your happiness. I feel as if this art gallery does indeed resonate with me because I have suffered with mental illness such as anxiety. The symbolism with the Art is that when I feel upset, I tend to just take a second out of my day and just draw, by doing so it helps give me a sense of calmness, that everything is going to be okay.