Although this was a mandatory class for all new students at St.Edwards, Visual Seminar offered me different insights on various paths I can take once I graduate. After almost 10 Alumni presentations, I have finally understood the Visual Seminar Agenda™ — to use reverse psychology so that we feel the intense urge to graduate and make a name for ourselves. Yes, even though it may seem as though the goal was to make a select percentage of the class either fall asleep or daydream, for those of paying attention, this class showed me what my future will hopefully look like. Its lookin aight.

Preservation, Digital, 2016

Renewed, 8.5×11″ ,Mixed Media, 2015

Hime, 5×7″, Digital, 2015

Fuzzy Spirit, Watercolor and Ink, 2016

Audra Auclair

Audra Auclair is a contemporary artist based in Canada. Auclair creates stunning otherworldly portraits and scenery, often painted with various mediums such as watercolor, gouache, and ink, as well as digital software. Her style can be described as dreamlike and whimsical, drawing her inspiration from nature and mythical beings. Auclair credits anime as her main inspiration since she was a child. Similar to a comic, Auclair builds intricate storylines within her art that speak out about social issues, global warming, feminism and more.

Auclair has been working as a freelance artist after making the decision to not attend college. Auclair has taught herself the skills she uses now in her art. She posts her work through social media platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr, and Patreon. She has recently completed her latest project, a book entitled MASAYUME Japan Sketchbook, which features a collection sketches that draw inspiration from her trip to Japan. The images I will be featuring in this post are my personal favorites and inspirations.

The movie Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, is a narrative of the condition the main character, Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce), faces in his day-to-day life. He shows the viewer how he has adapted to his inability to form new memories by revealing tattooed ‘facts’ on his body, photo documentation of important people and places, and the small notes he leaves for himself. After a home invasion which resulted in the rape and murder of his wife, as well as his short-term memory loss, Leonard becomes fixated on finding whom he believes to have killed his wife- John G. Throughout his journey to find John G, it is revealed that the people whom he trusts had been exploiting his illness for their own gain. The movie concludes after Leonard is told that he is Sammy Jankis and subsequently shoots his former friend Teddy.

Memento is a psychological thriller intended to make the audience question their perceptions of truth, facts and reality through the twisted ‘reality’ that Leonard lives. In emotional scenes, such as the scene in which it is revealed that Natalie, a trusted friend, is consciously taking advantage of him to solve her own problems, the viewer is forced to wonder what it must be like to be Leonard. We step into his shoes and apply our lives to his condition; this causes the viewer to question their faith in Leonards’ methods, judgements, and his perceived facts and envision it as our own.

I believe that the director intended the movie to comment on the importance of context within an image. Little to no context provides an opportunity for the viewer to insert their own ideas of the images’ true meaning, while a fully explained image does the exact opposite and can allow for people to blindly accept what they are told.