p o r t f o l i o a n n a
m a h n k e
portfolio
c o n t e n t s
Graphic d e s i g n
SENIOR S H O W
painting drawing
m i x e d m e d i a
1 - 2
3 - 6
7 - 9
10 -11
d e s i g n
absolute music
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Left: Making It In the Arts Conference poster, 2012 Previous Top: Personal Logo/banner 2012 Left: Art Department Shirt, 2012 Top Right: Absolute Music Logo 2012 Bottom Right: Beer Farm sample label 2012
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SENIOR S H O W
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I EXTINGUISH WE IGNITE
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This piece -an installation of a back-lit drawing, and a sculpture that hangs above itwas my final project for the senior art major requirement. For this work, I was awarded distinction within the art major, and graduated with honors.
Process
installation
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ARTIST STATEMENT
This work began as a meditation on the unexpected death of a very close relative of mine, and as a commemoration to his life. The nature of his death, and the emptiness formed out of his sudden absence, was a cause of great suffering for all who knew him, and to a degree that I had not yet experienced. In constructing this work, I found a vehicle in which to channel my perceptions and fears of loss, emptiness, and impermanence. I have grown to realize that these anxieties are what drive us to ground ourselves in “truths” and “realities” in which we seek reassurance and purpose. Culture, society, religion, and even art, are constructions that act as “sacred canopies” in which we cling to for shelter from psychic and social instability. However, they remain constructions supporting a duality between the sense of self, a product of culture, and the natural world. In the end, our “sacred canopies” fail to reassure us of our fears because they are themselves our own constructions and reflections, and not absolute truths. This is not to say that nothing exists to assure our existence and dispel our fears. Rather, we are liberated from suffering by acknowledging our constructions, accepting our impermanent nature, and extinguishing the duality of a self separate from nature. We transcend suffering once we ignite our understanding of the eternal connection between the causality of all things.
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“I Extinguish, We Ignite” 34”x43” Stabilo on Paper. 2012
The drawing contains many hidden images and icons, meant to be seen from multiple viewing angles. The main image is that of a skier, which can be seen when viewed veritcally. There is also a verse hidden throughout the drawing that goes, “I was born upon the sea to a good mother and father, who told me often, Son, don’t wander far from water.” My cousin, the subject of the piece, is the author. He died in a skiing accident on the ice of Lake Superior.
drawing “Ursa, the Major” 36”x24” watercolor/colored pencil 2012. 7
“Joy” 36”x24” lithograph/watercolor pencil 2011.
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Left: “München:Munich” oil on masonite, 43”x15” 2010 Right: Self-Portrait pencil on paper, 8.5”x11” 2013 Previous Top Left: “Lip Shine” acrylic on paper, 9”x6” 2008 Bottom Left: “Cabin” entire Bic Pen on paper, 24”x16” 2009 Top Right: “Bud and the Girls” pencil on paper, 8”x8” 2008 Bottom Right: “Self-Portrait” acrylic on paper, 18”x14” 2008 9
m e d i a Left: “On the Ice” colored string/colored pencil 8”x8” 2009 Top Right: “Cousins” colored string/oil pastel, 8”x8” 2009 Bottom Right: “The Houda” colored string, 8”x8” 2009
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SCULPTURE
Top & Right: “Lake Topography” wood, 26”x14”x18” 2010 Left: “Vacation Cribbage” wood, 25”x4”x14” 2010 11