Francetta Letizia
BFA Painting Major
A Safe Place
"In the Room"
Oil on Canvas
18" x 24"
"The Air Above"
Graphite on Paper
3" x 5"
"Here Right Now"
Oil on Canvas
36" x 42"
The series I am in the process of creating called "A Safe Place" encompasses both the existential crises I deal with and the light at the end of the tunnel I one day hope to reach. This year could not have been a more chaotic environment to question every system, every institution, and even every moral or value one believes/participates in.
In these works, they first emerged as a way to confront power dynamics, intimacy, and ideal images. As they developed and created an environment of their own, I realized how not only my practice became my comfort, but also the settings I was creating. For me, these paintings are somewhere I can escape to and feel loved and safe and not alone. It's hard to say that if the events that took place this year didn't happen, I would have still created these works. While it felt like everything I knew was imploding and the world became a cesspool for chaos, at the end of the day I had control over where I felt safe and it was in these works.
As of now, there is no end in sight for when this series will end. I can see myself continuing with the same themes or characters even when the world returns to some sort of normalcy. Despite that, I know I have learned many things in producing these works about what I ultimately want the artwork I create to say.