Sculptures
This piece explores the idea of going against the grain. At first glance the sheep all seem to be going in one direction but upon further inspection you will notice 5 of the sheep with a pure white coat are going in the opposite direction. These 5 sheep represent 5 of my friends who I believe live their lives differently from the standards of the world because they love differently. They not only verbally tell me that they love me, but I also see them show love to strangers by going out of their way to be kind to them. I asked my friends if they would help me show love to others by writing words of love and kindness on cards that viewers would be invited to take with them. Some cards simply said, “You are loved” others said something like, “I hope you heal from the things you don’t talk about”. I wanted this piece to not only represent a different kind of love but also act on it.
So much of the news and social media we see today is constantly covering all the negatives of this world and I’ve seen it breed so much hate. Love and kindness have become a topic that is seldom covered but it’s something that we need like water. I chose to depict society as sheep because much like sheep we can tend to have a herd mentality, in that people will typically follow what we see as the social norms. Society will tell you that it’s weird or “cringy” to tell your friends “I love you”. I think that as a society we don’t tell people that we love them enough, other than our romantic partners and families. I want this piece to encourage its viewers to love the people we may not typically think to intentionally love like our friends, co-workers, classmates, and even strangers. You never know what a person is going through and sometimes a simple act of kindness or love can really have a positive impact on their day or even their life.