AP Art & Design Portfolios
In AP Art & Design, students work throughout the semester to create a well rounded Art Portfolio that they may present in a Final AP Art Showcase and submission to the AP Exam Board for college credit. Students must establish inquiry questions, fully develop a concentration, show experimentation, revision and the highest level of art skill.
AP 2D Art & Design
Facilitated by: Ms. Jury
Kat Etheridge
Inquiry: How can I combine abstract and realistic elements to redefine my understanding of self portraits? How can I capture my neurodivergent experiences in my self portraiture ?
When I think of self portraits I immediately think of realism. I began my inquiry wanting to explore how I can push this definition but still feeling very compelled by the obvious display of technique that a realistic portrait portrays. I began my portraiture with an idealized version of myself and my artwork. I researched a variety of portrait styles. Using Adobe Illustrator, I practiced digitizing several of my hand-drawn mandalas to achieve concise lines and uniform shapes. I experimented with filling in the mandala with vibrant colors but ultimately chose a complementary color scheme featuring blue to feature my eyes. In revision, I changed the mandala back to black and white in order to provide more contrast as well as establish the focus on the form.
I knew that I wanted to merge abstract elements to not only display the physical features of myself but more importantly my experiences. I took the opportunity to think about how I see myself as well as my personal mental and physical struggles. I quickly learned that my struggles with ADHD heavily influence my art and style choices. I often get lost in the minuscule details of what I previously referred to as “meaningless doodles”. In one piece the pattern continues in general style repetition until it is pushed back by my hand, symbolizing my desire to draw something more realistic and to break out of the two-dimensional pattern, showing similar frustration to that of my failure to live an ordinary life with a pattern and a plan. I practiced drawing hands, distorting mandalas and colored pencil mixing.
My idea of what defines a self-portrait has changed significantly. Although several of my pieces include realistic representations of my physical self I was able to embrace abstract representations of my thoughts, personality, character, and flaws. I came to think of my doodles as “mind maps” that provide insight into my experience as a neurodivergent artist.
Madi Whalen
Inquiry: How can I show appreciation for the special places in my life who have contributed to who I am? How can I utilize mementos in my art to capture the individuality of each place?
As a senior, I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on my childhood, specifically the places and experiences that I hold dear. I choose to investigate how I can show appreciation to these special places through my artwork. I began accumulating momentos and photos that might inspire my work but after peer feedback I began experimenting with physically incorporating those materials into each individual piece. For example, in Buffalo Point I used photos taken as well as a map and pamphlet I gathered on our trip. Waffle House was created on a real menu from our location. For my English Landing paintings, I made my own paint to use as the base using rocks from the park itself. With each piece I attempt to capture the unique aspects of its place, therefore they are very unique in themselves. Some pieces have input or are signed by the people who I associate the place with.
My inquiry guided me to experiment with materials beyond painting. I researched and practiced techniques that might best represent each place. In Our Place I chose to wood burn a map because I feel that best represented how my neighborhood friends and I viewed the place, and doing it on a piece of wood connects it to the nature of the real place.
By the end, my investigation led me to the creation of postcards made out to each of my places. This allowed me to show appreciation to each place individually in a “love-letter” of sorts as well as showcase some of my photography as a final thank you to each place. The postcards also create synthesis between all of my pieces by providing the opportunity for individual messages to all of the places in the same format.
Grace Gasperi
Inquiry: How do I use “weird” imagery to depict uniquely human experiences I observe in my life?
As an autistic person I have always found the complexity of humans fascinating and infuriating. The concept of human nature and my experiences drive me as an artist. I chose to focus on a “weird composition” because America’s idea of comfort needs to be destroyed in order to understand the human animal. My ultimate goal with the mixture of weirdness and the human experience is to make people confront their uncomfort with the very concepts of being a human.
My inquiry required a lot of research into not only the meaning of “uniquely human” but the concept of weirdness. I concluded that “uncomfortable” and “weird” have many meanings so I decided to explore all I could. After my use of the frame in my first piece, Masculinity, to give a feminine contrast to the piece, I was inspired to continue to use alternative materials to add meaning to my pieces. I experimented with alternative canvases in my next two pieces, Heart on a Silver Platter and You Ruined Me. However, in You Ruined Me the raised texture of the snake scales were highly praised. I then continued 3D elements to create texture and form in Social Graffiti and Meat Suit.
Beyond simple composition changes, I revised pieces to add depth, character, and realism. The most prevalent example is my piece, Social Graffiti. In this piece I originally made the composition and colors hard and bright making the entire work hard to look at. While that is what I wanted at the time, I eventually revised by collaging a digital version over the original painting to keep the 3D elements. To keep the graffiti notion but not take away from my detailed work I took a wire brush to weather the certain parts that were censored before.
Tristen Tiscareno
Inquiry: How can I depict the people I’ve known in my life through humanistic creatures?
The guiding question I presented to myself is “How can I depict the people I’ve known in my life through humanistic creatures?” I’ve met many creatures in my life. Human creatures who are shaped by poor choices or the poor choices around them. I knew I wanted to depict their stories but the literal circumstances felt secondary and invasive.
My original statement was how I can depict the personal struggles that are present within my family. I later revised this as I came to a realization that there's so many more stories to tell outside my family that have also affected me.
Feedback from my peers led to revision of how I approach the stories, create lineart and handle color. I’ve tried practicing shading techniques within linework. I experimented with both adding and eliminating color. I’ve worked to make the stories that inspire the creatures more present as per peer feedback.
For example, my 2nd creature with the female figure was about a man in my life who recently passed away. His death brought about some complicated emotions and confusion. His actions toward our family caused conflicting points of view between the few of us. I decided for the sake of my family to make the figure a female instead, as it portrays how I saw him in my life accurately along with his actions, rather than making a simple distorted male figure. My final 2 pieces are a prime example of synthesis within my investigation, and are examples of what I wish to get across within my works. For both of them I took people from my life and made creatures based on the negative or positive things they deal with within themselves. I don’t wish to create literal references, rather portrayals that represent who they are and their challenges.
