#Will it be a narrative comprised of introspective thought through the lens of one particular angle that no ones ever dared to question

[vanlegion]

TUCKER IS -

Teal! He's Teal. Hands down. I have solved it. How you ask? I'm obsessed with a certain Maroon Nerd and on a filter in my art program I hit Difference and was like 'Huh... OH!' Also this:

HA! Which makes Caroline Cyan. And then I did this for Shits and Giggles:

Hehhahaha~ I love how the show joked about first Grifs colors then Tuckers colors. X3 Hehe. And then for some more fun Sarge Red FF0000 vs Caboose Blue 0000FF Maroons hex is 800000 and is seared into my brain now along with FFA500 which is "FUCKING ORANGE" (A very bright orange) Random - I always thought York was Gold.

[apeerreview-blog]

Cynthia Tedy - Retrospective: Before I Grew Up (Selected Images)

To what extent would we welcome the chance to go back to a simpler time like childhood and thank those who’ve formed us? Illustrator Cynthia Tedy has done just that in a recent series of illustrations titled, Retrospective: Before I Grew Up.

- Jared Peer

“When we are much younger, our thoughts are simpler and naive. What intrigued us back then may be very different from what intrigues us now. However, there might be parts of our childhood intrigues which persist to adulthood, or even shape who we are. Looking back at our childhood wonders is one way to see who we were then and now.” states Tedy.

Simple, poetic, and situated purely in memory the illustrations of Cynthia Tedy are the tender reminders of development we rarely pay respect to. Stylistically, Tedy employs a generally monotone palette with simple lines that create the figures and forms. Not only does this give her the room to highlight specific elements in the image through the inclusion of a bright red or white, but further references the aspect of memories. The gathering and recollection of memories often results in a muddy mixture of moments with specific aspects sticking out.

Accompanying the illustrations are works of poetry that provide supporting information of the illustration’s narrative or subject manner. These lines of poetry mimic the bareness and simplicity of the illustrations giving us a quick moment of viewing.

“Teacher” is composed of three main elements, a figure holding a clothing hanger and a bird that is completely colorless. The bird can be recognized as a crow and draws meaning from ancient and native cultures. Being seen as an intermediary of life and death the crow carries with it the gifts of wisdom and law. However, being colorless one can infer that this crow has yet to receive the knowledge and wisdom. Which is reinforced by the text written below, “You never feel the need to paint my feathers with any particular color. When the time of flight comes, you’d like me to reflect the colors of the world as I experience it.”

The last element, the empty clothing hanger, according to dream theory interpretations can be seen as overcoming difficult obstacles. The figure brings the clothing hanger up and into the view of the crow, possibly showing the crow of future obstacles to overcome and eventually learn from.

“Hairdresser” introduces us to a momentary tension, an action frozen in memory, and another figure. This figure, which may be Tedy or the aforementioned “Hairdresser”, pulls up her hair as broken scissors fall from her mouth. “Should there be more, or less? Are we here, or there? Am I you, or us?” reads the text below the image. Perhaps the actions of the hairdresser should be seen through a metaphorical lens, where the decision to have their hair cut is more of keeping, altering, and moving aspects of yourself. Seeing something a small as a haircut; Tedy pays respect to the notion of introspection and eventually change.

One of the most dynamic illustrations in the series, “Aviator” gives us a moment of impact. Coming from the right side of the composition a boy rushes forward eyes’ closed and head cast slightly downward, as his arm reaches across the length of the image. At the center of the image, a bird collides with the boy’s head and we are left viewing the impact frozen in time. This work, despite being dynamic in composition is visually one of the more empty ones with only two subjects and the supporting poetry.

“Your uniform could be your death robe. The white is stark, like something well-cared by a father. The black is bottomless, like the wisdom passed from a mother. Won’t you fracture your love for the same wonders from the same sky, over and over again?”

This “Aviator” bears a uniform that in a metaphorical sense is comprised of the lessons as taught by his parents. This echoes the overall concept of the series, but as this Aviator is a person presumably from Tedy’s past he becomes a larger metaphor for her to learn from. The last line of the poem implies a confrontation of sorts that continuously re-occurs, but is done so nonetheless at the risk of something that is loved. In the sense of the “Aviator” one can say that love is the sky and flying, yet there is always a constant fear of actually flying and all possibly outcomes of doing so. This lesson or metaphor for facing fears for the sake of what you love becomes clear between the man and bird’s conflict.

Despite rarely being consciously thought about, the lessons and memories acquired from our past dictate most aspects of our lives. A final question occurs as in this series; How would you honor and pay respect to those lessons and memories?

Images courtesy of Cynthia Tedy.