More Than Material Art Show Virtual Tour

"Down By The Bay" by Ella Anderson
Mixed Media

Artist Statement

Hello my name is Ella Anderson, I am a sophomore at Apollo high school. This session I created down by the bay using resin, glitter, and broken sea shells. I used resin and glitter in the past and wasn’t necessarily fond of it but here we are. The sea shells are all shells from when I went to Florida with my family for my Spring break that I purposely broke. Before spring break I had no idea what to do for my project but at the beach my sister kept handing me shells she found while she was looking for crabs and other wildlife so I kept them. Again, I had no idea what to do with them but I texted my mentor Shane and he suggested making jewelry and sent me videos to watch. It was something I have never done before which is always good, so I went with it.

To be honest I haven't put much thought behind my art this session, I’ve been using studio time to zone out and do something I enjoy rather than using it to think about more important topics. This session has been kinda hard for me, not PV but my life outside of PV. My motivation levels dropped once again and I started sleeping my life away like an idiot. I have 2 AP , advanced placement, tests next week ( the week of May 10-14 ) and I haven't even started studying and my panic motivation has not kicked in so that's definitely worrying me. On the bright side I am really proud of my art this session. I like to go around and show my work to those near me because of how proud I am since I can't wait for people to see the show because I am impatient.

I was thinking about using the whole “God can take our broken pieces and make them beautiful again” but I kinda did that in my first session when I made blood tears and sweat (BTS) when I broke glass and put it back together using glitter and resin (as I said before. . . not a fan ). So I’m sitting in my room eating hot and spicy cheez-its at the moment thinking of a way to put this. The reason I made what I did was not because I wanted to express something that I believe or think, I like art because of the process. I like the ‘trial and error’ and learning new things. I think that this can be applied to my life. I took 2 AP classes this year, never again will I take more than 1 AP class in highschool. I'm in a spanish class and I'm learning so many new things. A lot of things from PV can be applied to my life like building relationships, knowing how to ask for help, and last but not least being able to speak publicly about my life to a bunch of people I barely know.

I would like to say a thank you to Shane for giving me the idea for my project, as well as those who were in the sculpture studio with me for keepin it real.