Siany Riegger

What viewers should be able to see in my artwork revolves around the concepts of the sublime and of nature in general. I am inspired by wildlife and encountering new birds on trips and am curious about the idea of nature in my work. For example, a painting that was done for an art history class in Baroque, depicts a robin on a branch, which is supposed to represent humility and how humans can look to nature as something of reverence. In terms of sublime, I create artwork about monsters and use compositions with unsettling conceptual themes or aesthetics. As far as a specific medium goes, I work mostly with oil paint on canvas. My work Inner Demons was a response to The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters by Francisco Goya. It emulates the sublime and the idea that certain thoughts, or lack of, can create personal monsters within. Another work like this is a painting that incorporates the use of complex color schemes by having intense red and green artificial light with clashing same colored objects. The colors in the composition are what convey the idea of the sublime due to the eerie nature that is typically associated with red and green. Some of the paintings made more recently have been utilizing the sublime in nature by using the theme of predator and prey. One of these works in particular, depicts a display where 2-D painted versions of origami birds are placed in a naturalistic setting. Some of the prey birds are seen floating in the water, while others are hanging by strings to mimic flight. Meanwhile, a naturalistic representation of a hawk is in the process of swooping down to tear apart one of the inanimate birds in the water. By using the theme of “survival of the fittest” in my artwork, it bridges the gap between horror and nature to create the sublime, a more complex theme.https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/1050/thumbnail.jp

Scattered

What viewers should be able to see in my artwork revolves around the concepts of the sublime and of nature in general. This is done by utilizing the theme of predator and prey relationships to portray the sublime. One side of this work involves the predator and prey relationships with animals, particularly birds. This is where I am inspired by wildlife, which makes me curious about the idea of nature presented in my work. By using the theme of “survival of the fittest” in my artwork, it can bridge the gap between horror and nature to create the sublime. For these works, I tend to work mostly with oil paints on canvas. The other side of my work involving the sublime engages in conversation about Catholicism, and the nature of demons in this sect of religious faith. It is an interesting concept because the way evil is interpreted in theism is not as widely accepted as the good in theistic faiths. This is a new addition to the current sublime concept, which forces how to gauge predator and prey relations along with different topics revolving around religious culture today. The way this happens is by forming a satire of how demons are portrayed within the Catholic sect of Christianity and how they are portrayed in media. This is a way of satirizing this theme through real life means, and from widely accepted portrayals in media. For artworks like this I use painting materials and drawing materials to conceptualize my work.https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art499/1024/thumbnail.jp