Sketch 6: Collage

This is a collage of the past few works that I did in photoshop. I chose my favorite elements of each of the last few sketches.

Sketch 5

original

This is my proposal for a site specific sculpture. It is based on an arch constructed by artist Andy Goldsworthy made from sandstone but instead of keeping the natural sandstone color, this arch features the colors of the background, the trees, sky, flowers, etc. It is a yoga meeting ground, which is why there is a lady sitting in lotus position under it

Sketch 4: Erasing History

Altered Photo

Original Photo

For this photoshop project I chose to alter an iconic picture of the Twin Towers exploding on September 11th, 2001. As a native New Yorker, remembrance of this date is a quintessential part of our culture and community. To this day, every September 11th is a time of mourning in the city, as a bright memorial lights up the sky for the entire month and hundreds of police patrol the West Side Highway. In New York, The World Trade Center and the people who’s lives were lost on that day are remembered and celebrated constantly, but this year, as I spent my first 9/11 outside of the city, in Chicago, I realized that everyone else in the rest of the nation has pretty much forgot them. It struck me that when non-New-Yorkers think of 9/11, if they do at all, they don’t think about the great minds lost inside necessarily, or the loss of part of the NYC skyline that lived in infamy. They think of an explosion and a brief national state of emergency, a day frozen in the past. I tried to represent this phenomenon by leaving the fire, smoke and debris in the photo and taking out the towers themselves, so that the “action-movie-esque” explosion is the subject, and not the people or the towers that were the real victims of the tragedy.

Photoshop Collage (Sketch 3)

For this photoshop collage, I used about 10 different layers of different images I found on the internet. This collage illustrates the concept of different cultural aspects of my life “swallowing,” in essence, personal experiences or childhood memories. For the base I used a painting I found on tumblr.com of a mouth swallowing waves. The mouth is growing what looks like bacteria, but is actually a close up of the molecule THC, found in marijuana. The patterns on the skin are the sign for “ohm” embedded in a lotus flower, which is a chant used in mediation. Meditation and eastern asian culture is something I have always been interested but have strayed from due to the fear of cultural appropriation. These images represent parts of my life and culture I am influenced by. The picture of a landscape in the waves is a photograph I took of my grandparents village in the south of France, called Sauve. The figures floating in the water are actually Will Smith, posing in a scene from the Fresh Prince of Bell-Air. These last two images represent big parts of my childhood.

Photoshop Homework

photoshop homework

georgia o’keefe original

This photoshop project was the first time I’d ever attempted any digital media and, while I’m still wayyy an amateur, I feel like I’m getting to know my way around. For this project I chose Georgia O’Keefe’s Cow Skull with Calico Roses, one of my favorite paintings. What I like about this painting is the very slight variation of color of the subject in contrast with the stark variation in color of the background. I think its a a really skillful way to identify the subjects and define the forms. I tried to emulate this in my recreation, but reversed. (As in; the subjects are bold forms while the background is a soft gradient). Enjoy!

An Introduction

Hello all!
My name is Sam Hultberg and I’m a Brooklyn born artist living in Chicago, attending my first year at SAIC. I’m both a designer and an artist; my work stretches across several mediums from painting, pen&ink, sculpture, photography and drafting. In my work I attempt to explore an aesthetic balance between geometric and organic. I love to create relationships between forms within a space and observe the affects they have both on each other and the viewers, which is why I’m currently in the Interior Architecture department. I’ll post some of my work below (above?) to give a better idea of what I do.
Enjoy and thanks for reading!