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THE THESIS 2016

Three years ending in a conversation and a coffee cup in two cities.  Please see the thesis below for full details.

Saying "thank you" is something your mother teaches you to say when you are a child. This phrase is so common we rarely realize how important it is. In 2014, while I was in graduate school in Savannah, Georgia, I was walking my groceries home through Forsyth Park when I was shot at point blank range by a gang member. I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for the systems that saved me, the Police Department, the EMTs, and my friends and family. If this experience taught me anything, it's to appreciate people and live life to the fullest, and my thesis expresses that philosophy. People are the key part of the experience, and making sure they feel honored and respected is my work as an artist. My thesis has three parts. At the center is a café table with chairs, representing a shared experience. The second part are paintings of San Antonio’s Five Missions, representing my home and community. The third part of my thesis is the people themselves, coming to see the paintings, sharing in the experience. This is best represented by a coffee cup I designed that I presented first to the Savannah Police Department, the people who helped me that night, and then to my friends and family. The coffee cup hides almost unnoticed at the start of my show but is my thesis completely: people coming together to share an experience and have a cup of coffee, thus making art everyday.  

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