During my first year we covered a wide range of media including lino printing, oil pastels, collages and mixed media work. I found that my drawing skill can be used in every project and are a valuable assets when i create mixed media pieces. I find that using mixed media for bigger pieces in my project is very effective and lets me communicate a range of ideas through multiple techniques. Last years practice has also helped me develop the way i go about communicating ideas and concepts to the viewer. I want my work to be something where people can understand my messages clearly, whether they are involved in art or not. -112 words

Project concept 

I want to create artwork and outcomes with the theme of ‘how I view myself’. I started my project by looking at revolution as cycles. I now want to continue that thought experiment, cycles of thoughts, feelings and states of being. During this period of my life, I am going through rapid periods of change, violent mood swings and very little plans for how I am going to move forward. This all influences how I view myself, both consciously and subconsciously. The media often portrays trans people as an ‘issue’ or a ‘threat’ which directly impact my life and the policy’s that effect my life. This also has a massive impact on the way I view myself and the way I view my future. I want trans people to ab able to relate and empathies with what I'm saying but I also want to give people outside my community insight, since I believe most people have apathy towards trans people. In my project I want to specifically look at how the media characterizes trans people. The research I am currently/planning on doing is on the BBC and other media outlets, how the media presents trans people, mental health studies on trans people/youth, what the public think of trans people as an ‘issue’.  212-words 

Evaluation 

I will document my ideas in my sketchbook with appropriate annotations but every week i will also record everything that has happened in my weekly journal and reflect on my work, outcomes and the progress of my project as a whole.

Fionna and cake is an off spin series to the original show adventure time, unlike adventure time Fionna and cake is aimed at young adults and covers more serious topics. I think the Fionna and cake series ties nicely into mental health and cycles, but specifically the relationship of two of the characters in the show. Betty and Simon are two characters in love and their troubled relationship is heavenly featured in Fionna and cake but is also relevant in the original adventure time series. 

Betty is a character who, once falling in love with Simon, puts her lover for Simon above everything else. This is shown both in Fionna me cake and adventure time, her accomplishments are always linked to Simons and she abandons her own goals to support Simon. When Simons mind loses its sense of reality and he becomes a completely different person Betty cannot accept this. Without Simon she is no longer complete, since she’s sacrificed her sense of self to follow Simons goals. Betty is aware that she’s doing this and even tries to change by accepting Simon isn’t coming back and she need to become an independent person. But she ends up sacrificing herself for Simon to regain his sanity.

Simon is a character who doesn’t have malicious intentions but doesn’t realise the errors of his ways until Betty is permanently removed from existing as herself again. During his relationship he doesn’t realise that Betty is sacrificing herself for him and always leads with what he wants. He only realises he’s hurting Betty when he plays a game (created by his future self). The game has two characters Nova (representing Betty) and Casper (representing Simon) and every turn you get to pick one out of two options, one option is leans towards Caspers goals and one Novas. Simon plays the game and at the send of the game he has to pick out of two options, both of which have unfortunate outcomes that reflect the current situation. While complaining about these options his companion tells him that he might have had different options if he’d picked some of Nova’s options. At this point he becomes aware that Betty had been sacrificing herself and that this outcome could have been avoided. 

For a long time Simon and Betty had been stuck in a sate where they can’t be with each other as their real selves. They were constantly chasing after the other one and never coming to terms with the fact of being separated. Simon breaks this cycle at the end of the series by accepted that the choices they made were flawed but neither he nor Betty can change that now. By accepting this fact and ceasing to chase after Betty he can continue with his life without constant torment. 

Overall i think these series are something people can relate to, accepting a break up, grieving a death, losing time over something tragic. Breaking that cycle can incredibly difficult but the first story to healing and moving forward.