Caroline McKnight

    In my sustained investigation, I have explored the questions: How do certain objects evoke memory and gratitude? How have these objects shaped who I am today? As I have grown this year, I have come to understand the importance of practicing gratitude. Through art, I am able to express my gratitude for the experience/person by visually representing them through objects. 

As I practiced gratitude, nostalgia pervaded my everyday life as a senior. I felt that it was only right to practice it through my art as well. I used my past practice of printmaking, drawing, and painting to experiment with different mediums, but focused mostly on oil painting. I primarily chose personal images that I could connect a memory, a person, or a place in my life to, something or someone that I could celebrate and express gratitude towards for their contribution to my childhood. Each of my pieces is personal because I am able to honor the people and places that are important to me through my art and show gratitude for those memories they evoke. In starting my AP Art Portfolio, I started with a piece of seaglass, an object whose vibrant colors and translucent appearance fascinated me. My eagerness to draw such a challenging piece provoked my thoughts to think about the meaning behind seaglass for me. When thinking of the significance of sea glass in my life, my mind immediately linked the object to my time spent in the Bahamas one spring break, spending hours walking up and down the beach with my mother and sister, searching for washed-up seaglass. This fond memory I had with such a simple object provoked me to further question how other seemingly simple and surface-level objects can provoke all sorts of memories and associations for other people as well. This piece on seaglass led me to find several other objects with symbolism behind them about something in my life, with a goal to give significance to these negligible objects. In sharing these pieces, I hope to inspire others to practice gratitude and to live in the present as I have learned that time is fleeting, and appreciating the little things fosters gratitude for the present moment.

In starting my AP Art Portfolio, I started with a piece of seaglass pieces, an object that was fascinating to me with its vibrant colors and translucent, illuminating look. My eagerness to draw such a challenging piece provoked my thoughts to think about the meaning behind seaglass for me. When thinking of sea glasses' significance in my life, my mind immediately linked the object to my times spent in the Bahamas one spring break, spending hours walking up and down the beach with my mother and sister, searching for washed-up seaglass. This fond memory I had with such a simple object provoked me to further question how other seemingly simple and surface-level objects can provoke all sorts of memories and associations for other people as well. This piece on seaglass led me to find several other objects with symbolism behind them about something in my life, with a goal to give significance to these negligible objects. In sharing these pieces, I hope to inspire others to practice gratitude and to live in the present as I have learned that time is fleeting, and appreciating the little things helps to slow the passing time.