Kristina Gray
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Getting Back to Myself
2020
Oil, Watercolor, Pen & Ink, Encaustic, Digital
Statement
My thesis has been focused on my own healing. This past summer, I wanted to explore my mental health through artmaking. I reflected on my many emotions and anxieties, and then worked to capture the imagery that came to me. I focused on how expressing those feelings could lead to further progression and healing.
My perspective grew in this process. At first, I focused on all of the negative things I was feeling: anxiety, hurt, anger, pain, sadness. I then brought images and color to those feelings. I came to recognize that dwelling on the negative aspects of my feelings and experiences would not completely help me to heal; I also need to focus on the positives. I can acknowledge the negatives that have conflicted me, but also the positives that have helped me heal. Working mostly representationally with my art, I wanted to grow further by working abstractly with color. The waxy qualities of encaustic painting --made of beeswax and damar resin, then heated and fused on a surface-- permits me to work freely with mark making and expression.
As a teacher, I want to create an environment for my students that promotes their own self-healing, and show them how art can be a restorative part of their lives. I want to give them the space in my classroom to explore their feelings and emotions through their art making.
Teaching (MAT) Students