Artist Statement: My capstone is 3D Art (ceramics), and my theme is beasts. I wish to see how the color scheme and design of a piece can affect the mood of its viewer. For example, a piece glazed with dark colors and an intimidating appearance would doubtlessly be labeled as “scary’’, but would that be the case if it was glazed in bright, vibrant colors? Or perhaps an otherwise harmless-looking piece could come across as scary if it were all glazed in black? Additionally, I want to see how colors can interact with a piece’s design. Can blue really make a piece look unhappy? What colors make a piece come across as “alien’’? I hope to answer these questions by experimenting with a series of quirky, colorful, caricatured monsters. Each of them are small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand, as this can help tie the whole group together. Each monster is an experiment: “What if I put wings on this piece?” “Will underglaze look good on this piece?” ‘Will using paperclay make a difference?’’ The question that I found myself asking the most was “This piece looks alright, but how can I improve it?’’ If I’m unsatisfied with a piece, I’ll make a second version that is closer to the original concept sketch, because (artistically speaking) I firmly believe in second chances. On a rather amusing note, my theme was originally “Memory’’, but I soon changed it to “Beasts”. However, my capstone was inspired by what I remember of the “Mini Monsters’’ project, so in a way, I ended up following the theme I had originally chosen.
Bio: My name is Elie Aqui. I am 13 years old. I was born in Portland, Oregon, and I love living here! I enjoy playing video games, such as Super Smash Brothers and Tomodachi Life. Art is a large part of my life. I also enjoy reading comics, novels, and all sorts of books. In my free time, I like to draw, browse the internet on my iPad, or tell stories. I also enjoy whistling to my parakeet, Polly, who always whistles back because she thinks it’s another bird tweeting. I’ve enjoyed working with clay since I was eight years old, and I’m glad that I get to frequently work with it this year. I will likely be attending Lincoln High School next year, and I’m very excited to take one of its Ceramics courses.