For our final project, I wanted to revisit the idea I had for the last show in creating digital collages. I pined through tons of vintage photo archives in order to find similar, black and white images that felt cohesive. I then edited the photos to convey my theme, which was toxic relationships. I wanted the photos to symbolize those relationships, and not necessarily just romantic ones, because friendships can be toxic too. I used motifs like dead grass, deteriorating paint walls, flames, etc. to represent how it feels to be in those situations, it's like you lose a part of yourself or you suffer and it's not healthy. Overall, I wanted the digital aspect of this project to be stronger. I initially had to intention of using led screens or phones behind cut out elements of the photos using gifs on the screens to give the photos more life and movement. However, time got away from me and personal circumstances got in the way of executing that aspect of the project, so I had to just go forward with my digital collage prints. I like the images I created, and plan to rework and tweak some of them after finals just to further polish any errors or minor flaws they might have so I can add them to my portfolio. I really like this concept and plan to keep building on this series in the years to come. I think in the future I could also expand this project using other digital elements like lights and motion sensors, and not just led screens, I think there's a lot of potential to expand this idea if I keep playing around with it!
