Aesthetics- The Value Of Art
By: Lucy Ragsdale
John Kenn Mortensen
Background
"He was born in Denmark in 1978. He is a writer and producer of television shows for children. The father of a pair of young twins, he finds he has little time to do anything much, but when he does have a spare second, he draws pictures of monsters on post-it notes." -mymodernmet.com
Quote #1
(Interview Question, "What are your pieces based on and/or what are you inspired by?")
"Some on childhood nightmares but mostly I am very inspired by literature and folklore, Stephen King is without a doubt the biggest inspiration, both his work-methods and his stories. The other one, is of course, H.P. Lovecraft."
Reflection #1
John Kenn is an artist who intertwines horror and creativity in his pieces. Most of his pieces are very off-putting, but at the same time extremely original. Just like Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft (horror authors).
Quote #2
"It is a little window into a different world, made of office supplies."
Reflection #2
Most of his work is made on Post-it notes, which i think is very creative. He takes an ordinary thing and spins it into a creepy masterpiece.
Rebecca Sugar
Background
Rebecca Rea Sugar, born July 9th, 1987, is an american animator, composer and director. She is best known for creating the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, which made her the first woman to independently create a series for a network.
Quote #1
"I hope to represent people who have felt a lack of representation, but I hope to also show people that have felt represented that they can also relate to characters that are not heteronormative, and to families that are not traditional, maybe even more than the more generic characters and families that they've been seeing on tv."
Reflection #1
Rebecca Sugar is an openly bisexual woman who has broken down many of the society standards of women, the LGBT community and animation in general. She puts openly LGBT relationships into her show, she creates non traditional family environments, and diverse characters and actors throughout her show. She's taking leaps and bounds that no other animator has been brave enough to do.
Quote #2
"I really want to dedicate this show to everyone who's ever felt, for whatever reason, like an alien walking among real people."
Reflection #2
Again with the representation theme, Ms. Sugar wants to create a place that kids, teenagers or even adults can feel like they're not weird or alone in some places where being yourself isn't good enough, or is even dangerous. I feel that putting this message out there for kids is extremely important, because in these years where we have so many questions but not enough answers its nice for someone to show us that its ok and that thats just being human.
Artist Statement
The art community is a diverse and ever expanding place. There are so many ways art can affect society and humans, through just having a nice thing to look at and realizing things in ourselves that we didn't have answers to before. Art is how we deal, how we communicate, how we love, and how we express ourselves as individual beings. Art is a big deal to me, its been apart of my life since I was born. I come from a family of artists and musicians, and to be able to have a life where I can express myself freely through painting, music, and writing is something that I would never ever take for granted.