Building Blocks: A Series of Paintings
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Sarah Jantzi
College
Arts and Sciences
Discipline(s)
Communication and Visual Arts
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-19-2023
Abstract
This series titled “Building Blocks” is an exploration of shape, size, color, and poetry. The playfulness of concrete poetry, or visual poetry, in relation to my style of orderly and organized geometric abstraction is the main subject of my senior thesis project. I am intrigued by how the relationships of these elements can change how they compliment or juxtapose each other within a set of rules and limitations. These paintings are a playful puzzle, a kind of organized and orderly pattern through geometric abstraction, while the poetry provides an expressive and dynamic combination. The illusion of space and depth is created with color and shape while the gradations provide the effect of movement. I discovered that a seemingly insignificant change in variables provides a variety of surprising outcomes.
I want viewers to explore the various elements of each painting, discovering how the concepts of what is concrete and what is abstract can overlap and interact. I find that my paintings envelop a kind of rhythm, which can be enhanced or challenged by the hand written poetry. The poems are all original, and all of the straight vertical and horizontal borders of each shape are hand painted without the use of tape. This series is a record of my growing and changing ideas. They display a combination of skills of poetry writing, a study of relationships between shape, size, and color, and the gift of having a steady hand.
Recommended Citation
Beres, Anna, "Building Blocks: A Series of Paintings" (2023). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1130.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1130
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Anna Beres is a multi-media artist and graduating senior. She has been conducting creative research and has been experimenting with the various interactions of shape, size, color, and poetry. Her senior thesis project explores the combination of these themes. She plans to continue to build on the ideas presented in her Building Blocks series of paintings after her graduation. She is a Northwest Indiana native and will be selling her artwork across the region in various events. She is excited to start her career after her graduation in the Spring of 2023.