Shelby Koehler

2011-2012 2D Design Portfolio

Central Idea of Concentration

• Existence comes directly from our perception but to discover the essence of a person, all things tangible can be of little help. My concentration aimed to express the intangible part of the mind, focusing on raw feeling that can be, at times, a challenge to describe or even rationalize. My idea is to detach logic and emotion to where emotion stands alone. Here I am able to take those feelings that are groundless and impossible to explain, and make palpable.

How Work Reflects Idea

• Non-objective naturally begins my exploration of the indefinable. The first 4 works illustrate emotion that emerges from a starting point, outward. For example, Image 1 radiates from a center focal point and Image 4 pours from left to right. This movement is reflecting the development of strong feelings that range from nostalgia to wonder.

• The next development was emotions that cannot be defined by a single source. These emotions flow like an infinite body of water that is ever changing and unpredictable. Image 6 has no obvious beginning, like thoughts driven by emotions.

• Image 7 that reads, “Fuck this establishment,” is groundlessness in its most pure form. This is hate without reason. It is spite for only spite’s sake. Emotion is the only justification behind this statement. If logic were present, this notion would no longer exist.

• Faces also became important in my expression. While focusing on the intangible, I was drawn to faces because they are what seems to connect the physical and psychological.