The Girl in the Train Station There’s a girl in the train station, but she’s far from ordinary. Her face is pale, her eyes clear blue, and her hair red, short, and fiery. She’s almost a ghost, almost a girl, but she doesn’t really fit. She’s been battered and beaten but she refuses to quit. She knows that one day everything will change. No longer will she be thought of as strange. They will know her in every nation. They will know her as more than the girl in the train station. A Picture / Poem by Liz Roosa’16
Callisophia 2014 A publication created collaboratively by Elmira College students and the Women and Gender Studies Program
Artist Statement: Alexandra Hood’15 The intention of this series is to create an emotional, thought-provoking reaction from the viewer on the themes of emotion, vulnerability, and beauty. As my own emotions bleed out into my work, stripping down all barriers hiding my own everyday emotions, the viewer has the opportunity to react or relate in their own way. A compelling part of my ongoing series is how a relatively eerie, uncomfortable image also conveys beauty and human understanding. It is the natural response to fear submersion in water as well as it is natural for water to symbolize peace and tranquility. The contrast of image and ideas can allow the viewer to experience and evaluate their own reaction to the work. Are these people just dipping their heads underwater or are they submerged? Is someone holding them down? Are they in a bath? In a pool? Why are they underwater, and why that expression? In all of my art I put in the entirety of myself and my raw emotions; each piece is a self portrait that I display, welcoming interaction and personal connection with the viewer. I like to make the viewer uncomfortable, making them think about things deeper than the everyday and allowing them to ask questions and access the reasons behind their initial reaction to any piece, as well as recognize beauty even amongst any kind of darkness.
Photo in response to Alex Hood’s water paintings pictured on inside front cover Logan Hardy’17