Project 1 Artist Statement

Project 1 was a collection of abstract depictions of my alter ego, Megan Windsor, a french female originally from Paris who now lives in New York City. In many of my pieces, I created a juxtaposition of both classical French and modern world themes. Megan took ballet when she was young and dancing is a hobby that she continues to partake in. Now she models professionally in the city and lives with her cat Charlotte. I originally wanted to make her cat white but in researching Le Chat Noir (French for “The Black Cat”), which is thought to be the first modern cabaret nightclub in Paris, I decided to make Charlotte a black cat. I wanted to allude to the Le Chat Noir nightclub in my works to symbolize Megan Windsor’s mysterious yet sophisticated and classy persona. I also wanted to create a homage to the 19th-century French artist Edgar Degas, mainly known for his ballerina paintings. I merged a lot of his famous works into my selfies to represent Megan Windsor’s delicate grace and poise as a dancer. Last but not least, I was inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s character Holly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and wanted to incorporate her hairstyle and imagery into my work. In the movie, she lives with a cat in her apartment in New York City. I would characterize Holly as a tad bit more cavalier in her personality than my alter ego Megan. Rather than going out all the time to parties, Megan prefers to stay at home and bake sweets which remind her of her favorite pastries and desserts back in Paris. Overall, I thought that I did a great job at blending my ideas together to form 12 distinct faux selfies. In creating my illustrations on Illustrator, I took inspiration from my Photoshop pieces and recreated visual representations of standout graphic elements. If I were to do anything differently, I would try to make my selfies even more complex. I am first learning how to use Adobe Creative Suite and still have a lot to learn.