Artist Statement

                                                            Shannon Smith

                                                            Painting 1

Artist statement

            My oil on canvas piece is entitled Breathe. I was very inspired by how graphically Frida Kahlo depicts things like hearts and her spine in The Broken Column (1994). Her attention to detail is what inspired me to paint the lungs and ribs the way that I did. My piece features a figure that is meant to represent myself, with the lungs and ribs showing in the chest area, a cherry blossom tree, a breathing tube wrapped around the tree, three flowers and mountains. I used a wide range of colors to represent a wide range of emotions as the viewer looks at the painting. I used variants of red and pink for love, family and femininity; I used black and white for fear and hope respectively; yellow was for happiness and green was for money.  I decided to use all these colors because of the experience that inspired the painting itself, over the last winter break, my grandma was hospitalized for around two months due to a collapsed lung. It was a very scary and stressful time and has left a lasting impact on my family as she now must have an oxygen pump constantly among other things. I wanted to use this painting to show how I have personally responded to the event emotionally. The piece is meant to show that my fear is mostly in the background now and I am trying to embrace the fleetingness of life now.