Although frequently undetected or ignored, counterculture groups commonly face misrepresentation in popular media and, in turn, society. These subcultures are often depicted as undesirable or dangerous, creating a negative stereotype that follows the individuals who choose to express themselves in the aesthetics and lifestyles of non-normative communities. This creative project celebrates the beauty and sense of rebellion that can be seen in counterculture groups, and provides viewers with a window for viewing them in a new perspective. Considering the vastness of this topic, this project approaches it from three different directions: a series of photographic staged portraits, a series of digitally illustrated character portraits, and a written analysis to begin a discussion around the types of misrepresentation of countercultures and the potential impacts of that phenomenon. The process of planning was difficult yet rewarding, as it was important to ensure that the work would not contribute to the cycle of misinformation, but rather bring visibility to countercultures in the formal art realm. The photographed body of work recreates the composition of famous genre paintings by Judith Leyster and Johannes Vermeer, but substitutes the subjects for a model dressed in the conventional aesthetic of a particular counterculture. There are four portraits in this series, depicting Punk, Goth, Metal, and Emo cultures, using costuming as well as clues in the surrounding environments. By adopting the genre practice of depicting scenes of everyday life, the counterculture communities become normalized for the viewer as people living similar lives to their own. This portion of the thesis is largely inspired by Cindy Sherman, a visual artist who stages portraits of herself as various characters to comment on ideals of beauty and the female form. Continuing to examine the idea of personality in counterculture, the digitally illustrated body of work pulls from four other countercultures to create portraits of fictional characters. Although imaginative, their designs reflect genuine aesthetics of the communities they represent, and are combined with photographic imagery to suggest their connection to real world peoples. The images represent Grunge, Glam-Rock, Non-Binary, and Scene cultures, with each character receiving a name, location, and occupation to challenge first impressions and demonstrate their roles in society. The characters are drawn in a cartoon-like style with the intent to design them as something one might see in popular media (such as in graphic novels). Lastly, these bodies of work are complemented by a brief analytical introduction into the issues of misrepresentation of countercultures in popular media. Intended to be a catalyst for future discussions, the piece discusses the importance of representation and the harmful effects of misinformation in media, and explores contemporary examples of such issues in depictions of Punk and Goth communities in television. In combination with the two series, this analysis will guide viewers as they proceed to interpret and internalize their own meaning from the project.

My creative project involved the creation of a short, abstract animation set to EDM music. It's meant to mimic the graphics displayed in the background of EDM concerts and was inspired by Beeple and the graphics he designed for EDM artist, Zedd. Under the guidance of my director, Meredith Drum, and with help from my second committee member, Muriel Magenta, I was able to use Audacity to edit the music, Autodesk Maya 2016 to model and animate the animation, the HIDA render farm to render the frames using Maya Software and mentalray, Adobe After Effects CC to assemble and edit the animation, and Adobe Media Encoder to export the end product. The final animation included 20,855 individual frames, totaling to 14 minutes and 28 seconds in length. The project takes the viewer through seven worlds to express the idea of feeling isolated in your home, exploring the world, and then returning home with a new perspective. Each world evokes a different emotion through the interaction of its visual and audio design to allow the viewer to experience the intended storyline without explicit characters or plot detail. Due to the importance of maintaining plot flow, I utilized beautiful, yet difficult, design elements including glass textures, ocean shaders, and paint effects to create drastically different world designs specific to each song. These songs were chosen from a variety of EDM artists and edited to flow together seamlessly through each world and evoke a different emotion. Throughout the thesis process, I gained more skills in animation and editing and greatly improved my ability to use each application. While there is plenty of room to grow, I have improved exponentially as an artist from when I began this project to the moment I completed it.

Anthropomorphic animal characters are common in animation, but there is limited data on the factors that contribute to such a trend. I studied how animated animals in popular movies look and behave like humans, and what that indicates about us that we prefer them that way. My study was conducted via literature review, film review, facial measurements, and the creation of my own character. I discovered the physical importance of eyes in proportion to the rest of the face and the emotional importance of those animals acting as metaphors for us as humans.

My work focuses on the themes of grief, closure, and celebration of life. Life is a catalyst both celebration and grief. Feeling joy when a life is introduced is as common as feeling pain when a life is lost. When I lost my maternal grandmother nearly a year ago, I felt grief accompanied with guilt. I never got a chance to say goodbye since we lived so far apart, her residing in the Philippines and me residing in the United States. In order to get rid of these negative emotions, I sought closure. I attended her funeral, and now I want to celebrate her life through my artwork.
My work comes in two parts: an illustration book titled The Butanding and an illustration exhibition. The book will be published through lulu.com and made available to the public. The exhibition component will be held from March 2nd to March 6th in Gallery 100 as part of my senior exhibition Post Pre-Production with six other colleagues in the School of Art. The illustration book is a narration of a little girl and her growing friendship with a whale shark. The overarching theme of the creative project is closure with the passing away of loved ones.
The Butanding is a narrative illustration book about a young girl befriending the local menace of her village, the whale shark. Similar to my own experience, the main subject—the young girl—of my narrative is shown suffering from grief and guilt over her grandmother’s death. My work illustrates a progression of the young girl’s emotional state as she goes on a journey with the whale shark or locally known in the Philippines as the “butanding”. It provides the scenario of a grieving individual who gets the chance to reconnect with a deceased loved one and rebuild relationships that were lost.