This week we are featuring an art piece by Eric Mckinley from DiN's first issue. In this issue, Mckinley had entered three art pieces as a collective, which all had the identical style of combining multiple different art styles into one visually stimulating art piece. This can be a bold move as an artistic choice because it can be easy for styles to collide with one another, making the piece seem messy without a clear direction. One way that Mckinley avoids this is by having none of the visual elements (i.e. every visual object that consists of a different style, such as the girl and boy, the toy horse, the pair of hands, etc.) intersect with one another in this work, which lets each element occupy its own space and giving them room to breathe. By having this space between each element, it makes them seem like they are so focused on their own actions that they are not paying attention to one another. This gives each of them the chance to tell their own story. For example, the little girl and boy seem to be too interested in what they see over the horizon that they are not paying attention to the pair of hands' shadow puppet show. By having this separation, it highlights each element’s individuality while also having them coexist with one another in Mckinley's artwork. Another way that Mckinley avoids messiness, is by having all the colors be soft and slightly mute, which ties the elements together, creating a small sense of consistency to the art piece. Mckinley could have assigned very loud and contradictory colors to each element, having them stand out from one another more, but this would have made every element try and demand your attention and it would fall into that category of having a visually messy artwork. So, by having both of these features, similar softness to colors and differentiating art styles in his artwork, there is a sense of balance between individuality and uniformity, which is compelling because it shows that even very different looks have their place with one another without one being better than the other. Each element is an art in its own right and they should all be celebrated.
By Jessica Brandenburg
Currently, Jessica Brandenburg is an English major and the treasurer of the English Undergraduate Student Organization at New Mexico State University. She also occasionally posts her own artwork on Instagram.
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