JanayaDelone
Delone
Valley View High School｜Moreno Valley, CA
TEACHER: Michael Bernbaum
2-D Art and Design
Though the image is supposed to illuminate the divide between the well-to-do and the less fortunate, It most powerfully communicates the pressure, shame, and harsh judgment we cast on "others" when they do not live up to the expectations of the fortunate.
Home Sweet Home｜15 x 12 in.
Idea(s): My sustained investigation followed the broad topic of "Twisted Reality." I wanted my work to incorporate a fantastical and an unsettling feeling.
Material(s): Digital Drawing
Process(es): Software used was Firealpaca. Hardware used was an HP laptop and a Wacom Cintq tablet.
Student statement
Student
statement
Janaya Delone
Throughout my sustained investigation, I aimed to explore our reality by depicting it in a visually and psychologically twisted way to create works with a sense of dark fantasy.
In Home, Sweet Home, I wanted to literally "shine light" on the reality between the rich and the poor. Every day we scroll through the media and we see it - videos, photos, and streams of the homeless, the hungry, and the less fortunate. While they are trying to simply make the most of what they have, we just stare at them blankly through a screen, then scroll on to the next video automatically putting money into the pockets of the streamer or media company. The well-to-do publicize the lives of those who are far less fortunate than them without lending a hand.
Though the image is supposed to illuminate the divide between the well-to-do and the less fortunate, It most powerfully communicates the pressure, shame, and harsh judgment we cast on "others" when they do not live up to the expectations of the fortunate.
I intended to create an artwork illustrating people with houses for heads from the very beginning. I chose "house heads" to make human identity anonymous as we usually are with the media. And secondly, to represent another way of showing wealth and power. They are similar to the clothing that we wear. The bright intimidating beams of light that peer through the colorful house's windows are the ever-watchful eye of the media and the rich looking down on the poor, who are made the center of attention and benefit little from that attention.
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Material(s): I used Lightroom and Photoshop Fix to edit this photograph.
Process(es): During the revision process of this photo I revised which photo would include the mural the best.
Teacher
statement
Michael Bernbaum
Janaya is an exceptional example of the type of artist our AP program strives to encourage and develop. She is an innovative and independent thinker who masterfully crafts digitally illustrated scenes with a whimsical incisiveness that turns the viewer's gaze inside out. Behind the visual humor of her compositions lies a deeper commentary about human nature. The images are surreal commentaries on family dynamics, personal self-worth, gender roles, class inequity, fear, anxiety, and frustration.
The question I often had when looking at Janaya’s works was “Who is looking at who?” Is the viewer looking in on the illustrated scene or, are the characters peering in on the psychological inner thoughts and behaviors of the viewer? This is what made Janaya’s digitally illustrated compositions so compelling to me as a teacher. While she was insightfully exploring ideas in her work, she was requiring me to explore and engage those ideas through a similar lens. This is the type of student–artwork–teacher dialog that makes experiencing and teaching AP Studio Art and Design so affecting and meaningful.
Janaya Delone
