I decided to take the title of the exhibition and mold it into the piece literally. At heart, this work is about the fun of community and building joy in small spaces. Midsummer Orbit depicts two cosmic creatures in the middle of a dance, with a backing band and a stage, in the last hours of the day. Maybe the dance is for an audience, and maybe it isn’t. The moon and sun will repeat their journeys elsewhere soon, but for now, they get to spend time together. The yellow and blue of the sun and moon are the main focal points of the piece, as well as their shared connection.
Bright pinks, blues, and greens were priority flanking choices for me as they went hand-in-hand with the fuzzy, dreamlike state of the piece. There are no flashy or bold elements. This is also the reason why I chose lineless shapes and soft shadows.
This dance is in progress— not at the beginning or the end— and that moment is bright and colorful. Making this piece helped me to realize that living six years in the future all of the time is not viable. The present is beautiful and important, and if skipped over, can no longer build any future joy. Many moments, especially small ones, deserve to be put on a pedestal and celebrated instead of glossed over. The process of having fun may be forgotten, but the glow of the day will linger in memory forever.
