Freestyle Academy proudly presents

Conceptual: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Kyra Palmbush (2017)

For English, I was challenged to explore the feeling of love through the experience of religion.

For this project, I chose to demonstrate my concept statement using the symbolism of an open gate to portray love and water to portray religion. The lines of cups depict an open gate and evoke the emotions of openness, acceptance, and confirmation, all traits associated with love. Water represents religion because of the significant role water plays in many religious practices, and stories. Religion is not all physical, and is generally based on belief rather than concrete evidence. The shadows help portray that something can be seen and real even if it is not physically tangible. The colorful cups that lead to the champagne glass at the center of the image are meant to replicate stained glass that could be found in a place of religion, while also demonstrating the complex emotions and colors that love can be experienced as. The main focus of the image, the champagne glass, is colored red to show the main color of love and signify its importance in the piece.

My photograph exemplifies the concept statement from English because the spacing and alignment of the cups leads your eyes towards the glass in the center of the image and through this motion, creates a sense of awe and wonder. I purposely placed the cups in a way that allowed for the shadows to be in line with one another and create a straight path for the audiences’ eyes to follow. This spacing leads to a sense of concreteness and connectedness despite the fact that the cups are not touching and are only connected by the shadows they create. The center glass in the piece has a powerful presence and could be interpreted as a religious figure or of something with great wisdom and strength. The colorful glasses play and tease the audience with their vivid tones, giving the feeling of lightheartedness in between the intensity of the image as a whole.
Visitors 1064