Closed Mouths Don’t get Fed

Closed Mouths Don’t get Fed,” is a series that was inspired by my feelings of anxiety and depression as a college student. This series of water color paintings is a message to what me and others have been suffering throughout our time as young adults. Each painting illustrates emotion of sadness, hopelessness, and fearfulness. Just like music, I believe that art is a staple form of expression and is something that should be utilized to speak out on important issues such as this. Water color is the best medium for this series as the fluidity and looseness of the liquid better translates emotions onto a canvas. Much like how emotions are uncontrollable, watercolor as a medium is as well which is why it is the preferred medium for illustrating my theme. Ever since I saw the works by young contemporary illustrator Hieu Nguyen, also known as Kelogsloops; I fell in love with his approach to his own artworks. I found his watercolor techniques beneficial to how I want to express thoughts and feelings. His choice of colors and his applications of them was a great influence on what I want to express in my works. Each painting in my series was meticulously planned out with different water color techniques in mind. I used salt techniques to add textures to the background and I found that lifting the canvas and letting gravity govern where the water color flows is a great way of conveying my overall theme. Allowing the water color to act on its own is a metaphor to how emotions act. I hope these paintings help me to work through these dark emotions in a way that is also cathartic for my viewers