Caitlin Roark
Everyone uses gestures of some kind to communicate with others. Whether that be a subtle tilt of the head when talking about another person or a frantic waving of the arms when excited, people rely on their body movements to aid their speech. Hand gestures in particular are especially important in communication because they help to give visual indicators about how the speaker is feeling emotionally. In other words, the ways in which a speaker uses their hands creates a personalized visual language to communicate with others. However, it is important to note that not all gestures convey the same meaning for different individuals. While one gesture of rubbing the palm of a hand might convey anxiousness to one person, the same gesture could be a sign of confidence and power in another. As a result, I have found that it is important to develop your own emotional awareness in order to interpret the emotional visual cues of others.
My hands have always been visual indicators of what I am thinking or feeling. When developing this project I spent time observing the gestures I would make on a daily basis and digitally painting them on a larger scale in order to research my own personal kinesics. In a way this project served as an outlet for me to reconnect with my emotions and learn the ways in which my body communicates subconsciously with others. The first paintings mainly revolved around hand gestures or movements I would make when feeling anxious. I focused on anxiety in the beginning of the project because I tend to brush aside emotions of fear and anxiety the most. Growing up I was constantly told that acting nervous, shy, or anxious was a negative thing so overtime those emotions became more and more repressed. I felt it was the best option to focus on representing those physical representations first in order to better understand the rest of my feelings. However, the final collection of work contains a wide variety of hand gestures and hand signs that I felt represent me the best and show the entire range of my emotions.
This collection of paintings also serves as a way to invite the audience to observe their own kinesics. By presenting these images of hands on a larger than life scale, it allows the viewer to be confronted with gestures or movements that they can relate to and recognize as representations of their own emotions. As a result, the secondary purpose of this project was to challenge the visitor to improve how they understand their own personal nonverbal communication, in order to better express their true feelings and create stronger and more rewarding relationships with others.
THE ARTIST’S HAND SERIES
The Artist’s Hand 1
17” x 11”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 2
17” x 11”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 3
11” x 17”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 4
17” x 11”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 5
11” x 17”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 6
17” x 11”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 7
17” x 11”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Artist’s Hand 811” x 17”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
THE VIEWER SERIES
The Viewer 124” x 36”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Viewer 224” x 36”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
The Viewer 324” x 36”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
DAY IN THE LIFE SERIES
Things Seen
11” x 17”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
Things Hoped For
11” x 17”
Digital collage, Archival inkjet print
BIO
Caitlin Roark is a multimedia artist living and working in Malibu. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree at Pepperdine University in studio art with a minor in multimedia design. While she is trained in a wide variety of media, the majority of her work involves the combination of traditional analog practice and digital technology, to explore the relationship between the two.
Her newest collection was a series in self-exploration, created to emphasize self-acceptance and personal understanding. She focused on her personal non-verbal cues, encouraging others to consider the various ways we communicate. The work was created digitally, but in a hyper realistic style.