EXHIBITION STATEMENT

Introduction.  

Science and fantasy are two topics that are implemented in the visual arts and popular culture. The central question of my project is "How can Fairy illustrations & the art nouveau style be used to represent various chemistry disciplines?” My capstone is titled "Chemistry and Fairies". For my capstone, there are 2 character designs, drawn by me, of fairies that symbolize a particular chemistry field, such as astrochemistry, and environmental/green chemistry. 

Literature Review.

For each character design, I implemented the art nouveau style. The art nouveau movement started in the early 1900s which had subject matters of flowers, nature, animals, and mythical creatures. Alphonse Mucha is one major artist of art nouveau, well known for his posters. This art style was an important inspiration since there are artists who have drawn fairies in the past. Another concept I relied on was the American Chemical Society's list of chemistry-related fields. According to ACS, there are many fields of specialization in chemistry, and areas of chemistry (some lesser known) that one can study ("Areas of Chemistry"). This was a useful resource to check back on when planning my character designs.

Methods.

My methods for my project were visual planning and implementing digital art tools. I read the ACS website to learn more about chemistry fields and chose two that will be the focus of my characters: astrochemistry, and green chemistry. Then I made image boards for each field, adding symbols relating to the subject and wings. Afterwards, I drew rough sketches of each character using these image boards. I uploaded these sketches to Adobe Illustrator and colored the final designs. 

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Audience & Impact.  

My main audience for my capstone is anyone interested in fantasy & mythical art and science. I chose this audience because I believe that my final project would hopefully be visually pleasing for them. I want them to know more about the art nouveau movement and chemistry subjects. The impact this capstone had on me was the learning experience of using Illustrator and its tools. Prior to capstone, I had little experience of using Adobe, but after reading tutorials and experimenting with effects, I have a better understanding of Illustrator.

References.  

“Alphonse Maria Mucha.” Alphonse Maria Mucha - The Complete Works, 2017, https://www.alfonsmucha.org/.

“Areas of Chemistry.” American Chemical Society, ACS, https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/chemical-sciences/areas.html.

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Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Heather, Harold, and Gabi for helping me through the semester and guiding my capstone ideas.