Under The Influence - Grief

 

My three images are being worked with the final portfolio. I am wanting to do a series on grief and the many ways that it appears.

Straying away from deeper or troubling imagery, I instead want to use various elements that evoke thought or individual interpretation while being aesthetic and/or surreal. With this I am still utilizing photographs from my own personal experience from my mother's passing.

With the first image, it is a beautiful butterfly escaping from the confines of Earth. The butterfly is a square that was on the patchwork blanket that she had on her as she passed. It helps for me to see that while there is pain with her leaving, the pain she experienced in her life is now over and she is free to fly.

The second image is more darker in tone. It is my hand reaching out to a lighthouse that is no longer lit. The symbolism is more apparent in this one, but is my feeling of being lost without her guidance. The pull of the weight of the water with no other people present also evokes the feeling of being alone during a dark time. 

The third image is a clock sitting in the water on the edge of a beach. The blue hue from the water slowly turns to black and white by the time it reaches the clock, where there is no longer any semblance of color. Just empty space. The time on the clock is the time my mother passed away and reflects how everything changed at that moment and now looked different. 

-Kim

(All original photographs used with no AI or stock images)

Under the Influence-Sara Aftimos

 For this project, I based my work on Ozan Karakoc. I wanted to incorporate his style of interesting textures and focus on a subject with many colors displayed while having negative space within. I was interested in learning how Ozan uses digital compositing to combine portraits with natural elements, as well as different colors and textures. By focusing more on the elements he employs in his pieces, I aimed to mimic this technique while adding my ideas. I used only one image from Freepik for my first composition to add a scratched texture. The rest of the photos I took used various colorful textures and vibrant places that I would incorporate into my pieces. I also included myself in these compositions experimenting with the placement of the elements and playing with the contrast.

Under The Influence - Miranda Santana

The influence I took for this project was the work of Alyn Spiller; specifically I aimed to try my hand at creating atmospheric fantastical landscapes. I aimed to create a feeling of mystery and scale in each of my pieces, using the juxtaposition of smaller familiar objects to create reference for the size and or distance of the primary focal points. I also employed my own twist in the form of unifying the color pallet of each piece using overlays and gradient maps to create a specific mood. 

 

My first composition is of a creepy castle in a snowy mountain location. The area is tinted by a creepy blood red moon and an ominous red sky. A river of blood and discard human bones were placed in the foreground to add further to the sense that the viewer should think twice before passing through the valley.

The second composition is of a giant tree on a floating island. Up the stairs and in the side of the tree is a doorway leading into the tree. The moon is centered behind the tree and there is a motif of glowing stars around the island. I also had the clouds transition abruptly into a starry sky in a likely impossible way. I aimed to create a mystical, otherworldly but peaceful vibe, as though this was a sacred but safe place.

The final one, admittedly, is entirely a visual play on the expression "lighting in a bottle". There wasn't a lot of meaning behind this, I just thought that it would be a fun idea to try to implement. The idea was to make it look as though a storm was forming, and escaping, from a giant bottle floating in the ocean. I'm the least satisfied with the execution on this one, specifically with how the bottle sits in the water, but I still enjoy the atmosphere and concept.

 

 

Vampire's Valley

 

 

Tree Temple

 

 

Lightning in a Bottle

 

 

Images used were sourced from Pixabay, and fall under their content license.

Under The Influence - Hunter Iler

    For this project, I was inspired by Erik Johansson. I wanted to incorporate his surrealist style and imaginary themes into my work. I specifically chose to play around with the idea of reflections and the different ways I could convey them. My goal was to push my imagination and create three convincing photographic compositions that tap into the unexplainable as Erik Johansson does.

Skyline

Nostalgia

Deep

Under the Influence–Pablo Villanueva

    In my three compositions, I drew inspiration from Henry Flores' distinctive use of vibrant colors, layered imagery, and abstract themes to explore the fashion industry as a movement. For the first piece, I conveyed the dynamic interplay of elements that come together to form a polished and fashionable look. Using a combination of bold colors, geometric shapes, and hierarchical layouts, I emphasized movement and structure, mirroring Flores' intricate layering techniques. The second composition introduces a more chaotic feel, incorporating unorganized frames overlaying a shirt design. This approach reflects a raw, deconstructed perspective on fashion, drawing from Flores' ability to blend realism with abstract textures. For all three compositions, I applied posterized textures to the poses, enhancing the visual depth and creating a distinct, almost surreal quality that aligns with Flores' layered and abstract aesthetic. Finally, the third composition focuses on a masked portrait, where posterized textures and photo posters highlight varying emotions and poses, gradually unifying into a cohesive narrative. Across all three, I used contrast, filtered textures, and text to evoke a surreal yet cohesive aesthetic, inspired by Flores' ability to create depth and drama in his work.

Under the Influence - Aliyah Valcin

Lorna Simpson is the artist I am drawing inspiration for this project. Her work uses black and white and sienna-tone images of mainly black women as her focal point. She also incorporates experimental ink tones. When viewing her works it allows the viewer to fill in the blank spaces and be free to use their imagination to interoperate her art. For my interpretation, I used unique items such as napkins and a photo of an old radio. To add my take I added various colors to each composition on an off-white background. Also incorporating a full image, I could separate multiple parts of my photo. To relate to black history, I incorporated images of the Black Panther Party magazine. I like manipulating modern photos to have an older feel to them similar to Old is new project. Each image focuses on some element that ties back to African American history. 

Under The Influence - Jennie Keophaphone

My inspiration for this project was Anwar Mostafa. I wanted to combine how he used portraits and combined them with elements of nature through digital compositing. He also experiments with a variety of textures and colors, against a more so muted background to create an interesting surrealist composition. My goal was to replicate this while taking my own spin by experimenting slightly more with the background and emphasizing more of the brushes he uses in his pieces.

 

Meg Neal - Under the Influence

My inspiration for this project was April Greiman. I wanted to use her collage-like style, and include similar elements such as, animals, people, and scientific looking illustrations and text. Greiman worked with early computers for her work, so I also took inspiration for colors from earlier digital aesthetics. I combined this digital look with more historical illustrations and text to create a juxtaposition in the works. I also kept similar color palettes, reused some photos, and used the same model to help bring the three images together to look like a collection. 

Under the Influence - Bryce Locaylocay

    For this project I based my work off of Marcus Wallinder, better known as MeanwhileInNowhere. He is a minimalist graphic artist who mixes AI tools with traditional digital techniques to create bold and thought-provoking pieces. With a background in photography and graphic design, he pulls inspiration from minimalism, surrealism, metaphysics, and geometric abstraction, while also tapping into current cultural trends. His work often features monochromatic tones, fragmented portraits, and dreamlike distortions, exploring the balance between chaos and order, and form and abstraction. His work is beautiful, simple, and effective. The goal was to create something just as abstract and surreal as his, something that feels a little off and has that eerie, dream-like vibe