This piece is composed of a swirling blue, purple, yellow, and white background with sweeping wide brushstrokes. Interspersed throughout the artwork are cutouts of magazine pages showcasing happiness on people’s and animals’ faces as well as snippets of cities and machines -- human creations. The entire work mimics the surface of the Psyche asteroid, with its crevices and its streaks of gold running along the top. The collage elements are cut in wave shapes to blend in with the direction of the brushstrokes.

What Could Have Been

Christine Zhou

October 30, 2019

Major: Mechanical Engineering and Visual Art

Genre/Medium: acrylic and collage on paper

About the work: Psyche, possibly the exposed metal core of an early planet, is the manifestation of what could have been. Perhaps what is now an asteroid could have developed into an Earth-like body. Instead it is devoid of life. My piece represents what Psyche could have been — a habitat housing billions of organisms and their joys, celebrations, sorrows: the collection of their emotions. This piece incorporates collage elements: cut-outs from a variety of magazines that capture human lives. The flowing acrylic brush strokes represent the dynamism of our constantly moving and growing lives.

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Date Added: 10-30-2019
Credit: Christine Zhou

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