BFA, Studio Art (Painting & Drawing) 

lexiy.gray911@gmail.com
https://express.adobe.com/page/Wv2feiaTLjYKZ/
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www.linktr.ee/rivernex
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Artist Statement

In my painting series, Musical Reflections, I show that celebrities can have a huge impact on the audience, especially children and teens. I illustrate the power of the public’s eyes on celebritydom (The state, essence, or world of a celeb) and I reflect on how growing up watching favorite celebrities do the things they do affects can affect their fans. Celebrities influenced how I think about certain topics and how I have handled them.    I draw references from artists during events, interviews, and anywhere they are photographed. I also use photo albums of myself throughout my childhood and adulthood as a reference. The colors in my paintings are chosen from awareness ribbons to represent mental, physical, and social issues. These colors are lime or bright green for isolation/mental health, teal for rape, and purple for body positivity.    The pairs I represent are paintings depicting myself at a stage in my life, alongside a particular celebrity story and scandal. I represented Melanie Martinez for her wrongful convictions of rape and how that changed my whole personality when I found out. I depicted Bo Burnham because he spoke about the isolation and loneliness, we all developed throughout Covid-19’s peak. Lastly, Billie Eilish for teaching me that “Barbie” isn’t the ideal body in the normal world. Each of these moments lined up with a depiction of myself.    While I am not like these people, I have seen their moments through exposure to media; however, these are just constructed depictions. I created this work to show that it isn’t always wise to look up to celebrities because they are just people who have flaws and make mistakes. My advice to viewers– check into the controversy surrounding your favorite artists to see if you want to support them with everything they have done.