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foreword The city of Florence is like no other. It is a vast heaven of beauty shining in art, cultivating artists over the centuries with its transcendent ability to inspire. Many have been drawn to its legendary beauty, including myself. I spent a semester in Florence as a college student, and have returned several times since then in an effort to count more of its stars. The shining stars of Florence speak to each artist individually, and Hannah has discovered a message hidden just for her. I first met Hannah during Ringling’s PreCollege, where she was a student in my painting and illustration immersion courses. I’ve since had the privilege of working with Hannah during her Junior and Senior years, and have witnessed her artistic growth - especially upon her return from studying in Florence for a semester. Hannah brought back with her a divine spark, evidenced in her unique take on the works of Michelangelo. Her work echoes the same transcendent qualities found in the sculptures, paintings, and architecture of the Renaissance. She has searched the skies, contemplated beauty, and in her effort to behold the heavens, has powerfully reflected its light. Katy Betz Professor of Illustration
artist statement The summer of 2019, I studied in Florence, Italy. During that time, I was exposed to stunning art and new techniques that flooded me with inspiration. This experience truly changed me as an artist and breathed new life into my art. I have loved Michelangelo’s work for a very long time, but while abroad I was able to see many of his pieces. I fell in love with one of his lesser known series of sculptures; his divine interpretations of the times of day. With these statues he represents each time of day as a god or goddess, using varying characteristics in each piece that help represent that particular time of day. They were beautiful, and the second I saw them I was completely inspired. I did many studies, and in the end, I decided to do my own take on this concept and bringing it into my own illustrative realm.
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Within my series, I decided to focus mostly on the personalities and individual relationships between these gods. I have also expanded my thesis beyond his 4 original concepts. In my pieces, each divinity holds the light or “time� in some form; certain ones are represented as a dust or glitter, and others are a liquid- like honey. Because of this, I am also showing the gods and goddesses interacting with one another and handing off their light to each other; this is done in order to show the transition of time. For example: sunset moving into night, or night time turning into dawn. Much of my inspiration is drawn from works that I saw in Italy, pieces that truly took my breath away and left me in awe. My hope for my thesis is that you can see some of that inspiration spun into these pieces. I hope you enjoy my work, Hannah Grace Boswell
Daylight, 2019 I wanted to portray daylight as a glorious figure, showing strength through his body language and surrounding colors.
Sunset, 2020 In my personal opinion, sunset is the most glorious time of the day, and I wanted to represent that feeling for me with this painting. I wanted it to look like she’s stepping down from the heavens to greet you and pour her shimmering light into the evening sky.
Dawn, 2020 Going into this piece I knew I wanted to use this time to represent androgyny, no clear definition and open to interpretation. I wanted the mood of the piece to have a slightly darker mood, I referenced a lot of images lit by candle light to create the effect of this lighting.
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Moonlight, 2019 I have always thought of moonlight as a soft feminine presence. When it came to visualizing both her and this painting, I focused on the colors and radiance the moon reflects. Glow and lighting was an extremely important factor, as well as the rendering of the face and emotional intensity shown on it.
Sunset-Moonlight, 2020 For this work my goal was to display strength in femininity.
Moonlight-Dawn, 2020 I wanted to show the relationsip i imagined between these two divinities. for this transition, I imagined a strong, loving attraction between the two of them.
Sunset-Daylight, 2020 For these two, I envisioned a playful relationship surrounded by beautiful colors.
Portfolio
Copyright Artwork and all contents of this book Copyright 2020, Hannah Boswell All Rights Reserved