Heather Snyder Art and Design: Memento

Process Photos

Inspiration

Tara Donovan, Artist

Memento

Title: 5th Grade Accident

Approximate Dimensions: 5" x 2" x 3.5"

Medium: Clay, Silver Acrylic Paint, Liquid Latex

Artist Statement

My memento was designed around a memory of mine from the fifth grade as the class went to resource. An acquaintance and I were sent to retrieve a forgotten clipboard and were told to hurry to catch up. The other student had gone up the ramp and into the room to fetch the board while I waited at the bottom. When I heard him come out and begin to lock the door, I turned to walk and start making my way back to the class. He, in attempt to catch up to both me and the class, ran down the ramp and slipped on something. He landed on his knees and skid down the remainder of the ramp, skinning his knees to the bone. I remember his pale face, folded skin and the reflection of the ramp clear as day. We screamed for the teacher, but it took a while for her to take us seriously.
What I vividly remember from this time was used to inspire my piece. What stood out to me most was his face and how color had completely drained from it, thus I made it my focal point. It was designed in the shape of a knee cap for his injuries and folded skin was created through liquid latex. The silver triangles and knee cap were both constructed from clay. The silver triangles represent the ramp in abstracted form and were designed to poke and prod the individual as its held, emphasizing how sharp and painful the memory was for me as a child. Clay was also used for its weight, and when the piece is held its heavier than it first appears, just as the memory is for me.
For the memento, I went a direction I was entirely unused to, to push myself beyond what I normally do. I never do work related to anything gory and rarely anything negative that I find difficult to talk about.