SAVE ME,

IM LOST
alison poehlman

concentration

What is the central idea of your

concentration?

The main idea of my concentration

is personal, emotional loss. I
focus mainly on dealing with the
feelings of losing identity and
include the effects of losing
those who help make you your
best, like best friends or lovers.
Frustration and hopelessness
often occur as a result and are
the main driving emotions
behind my work. At the end, a
sense of hope is only beginning
to be restored because
recovering from heartache and
figuring out who you are
afterward take time.

How does the work in your concentration

demonstrate the exploration of your idea?
I experiment with how a lack of defining
features affects perception of a piece. Only
covering the eyes is meant to show that
there is still hope. In 1, it literally says save
me; in 4, though they are very lost, if they
let go of who doesnt want them, they could
recover; in 10, the friendship is still intact
but 1000 miles apart. When covered, it
shows the wish for good things to return like
the friend in 9 and happiness in 11. When
gone, it shows a complete lack of hope like 2
with the death of a lover and 8 with the
permanent loss of a toxic friend.
At first, my pieces are very angry and frustrated,
as is shown through predominant passionate
red, but it soon dilutes into a soft pinkish
purple as the fiery emotions dilute into
sadness, confusion, and hopelessness, as
can be seen in the contrast of 1 and 6; both
are roughly the same idea, but 6 shows
much more weakness than 1.
Most pieces include collage to show the
complexity of the range of emotion. 2, for
example, has lyrics to a sad song in the
background, but the foreground shows
bloody and ghostly imagery; the anger and
resentment has a strong layer of sadness
beneath it. In 11, I am superimposed in b&w
onto a color picture to show that I still have
the sadness inside that separates us, but I
am accepting help.

save me from my self destruction

acrylic paint, tempera paint, pencil, printed paper
11/9/2012

i guess i`ll go home

sharpie, acrylic paint, tempera paint
11/2/2011

i guess i`ll go home (detail)

sharpie, acrylic paint, tempera paint
11/2/2011

stay with me
sharpie, crayon, acrylic paint, tempera paint, construction paper,
tracing paper
3/2/2013

reflecting
mirror, pen, tracing paper, acrylic paint
11/13/2012

mess
tempera paint, tracing paper
11/25/2012

what?
printed paper, pen
11/12/2012

haliegh
photographs, printed paper, acrylic paint on sketchbook
7/13/2012

it looks so meaningful written out like that

photograph, scrapbook paper, ink, pen
4/18/2013

1000 miles
photograph, tracing paper, acrylic paint, feather, sharpie, poker chip
11/6/2012

ryan
photographs
12/2/2012

paint you wings

tempera paint, sharpie
1/22/2013

breadth

cubist painting
oil paint on canvas
1/12/2012

ms. mcbrien timed draw

crayon
10/14/2012

hi.
photographs, pen, chain, dvd, twine, sharpie
2/26/2012

ink of paper
ink
12/19/2011

mandala
construction paper
2/17/2012

sand dollar
charcoal
10/13/2011

art nouveau
sharpie, colored pencil, watercolor
10/13/2012

sheet sketch
pencil
10/2/2011

vulnerable
pencil, sharpie, tempera paint
5/18/2012

octopus sketch
pencil
3/17/2013

ocean thumbprint
oil pastel
3/13/2013

sketchbook cover
map, acrylic paint
9/16/2011

influences

general

My emotions throughout the year and my

past experiences; I was very lost and at a
loss for ideas, so I began work based around
that, but I soon started drawing from what
was happening around me.
I got many ideas from my dad and he pushed
me along.
The class critiques actually helped me a lot;
you guys stirred a lot of ideas in my head.

roman dirge

artist

catherine cheek

artist

artist statement
Before high school, I was one of those people who tried to draw in anime
style and whose figures were way out of proportion (with giant heads and
all), but everyone still said it was good because it was better than the
average stick figure. I only tried drawing people and barely ever
experimented with any media other than colored pencil. I had a lot of
potential that could have been utilized, but I didnt take another art class
until 2nd semester of 10th grade, where I was refreshed of the design
principles and allowed to experiment with painting paper-mache figures,
drawing using words, and I finally learned the basic rules for human
proportion, and have only learned more from there. Ive always had a
knack for drawing from observation, but I started to fine tune that skill as
well (though it isnt really apparent in my concentration). I have
experimented a lot, with pencil, with oil, with fabric, with clay, and have
discovered that my preferred aesthetic style is collage (which IS apparent
in my concentration!). Though art isnt the first thing I turn to when I need
to express my emotions, when I do, my pieces are very personal and
contain a depth that I sometimes dont even intend. Im developing my
own recognizable style, which I never really had before this year, and I
think I can only improve from here.