Eloise Shields
Scripps College, Media Studies
StuckIn BurnOut
Stuck. Since March of 2020, I’ve felt stuck. Stuck in a moment of confusion, denying that typical life has turned into a series of zoom calls with friends or peers and facetime with relatives. Stuck inside a screen whether it be my phone, laptop, or tv - for school, a form of escape, or source of news. Stuck inside my home. Stuck inside my thoughts and emotions. Stuck, and not able to move forward, backward, up, down, or side to side.
In my project "StuckIn BurnOut", I decided to take pictures of the people in my quarantined community in Claremont and use their outlines to portray our shared feeling of not being able to move forward in life, physically and emotionally. These outlines don’t move, they don’t change shape, but they do change color which symbolizes the alteration of emotion, but that never quite results in transformation. The illustrative pieces use shapes and symbols to create an illusion of motion or feeling of depth, allowing for a glimmer of hope or expectation of movement. I’m using an Instagram account to present my work to highlight how many people turned to social media to maintain a sense of connection. My colors represent the strong, aggressive, and contrasting feelings I’ve felt mixed with a strange feeling of passiveness and lack of interest. My final product is an Instagram page filled with op-art pieces that represent my friends during this difficult time, entwined with bold sayings that highlight a pressing need to step away from our screens as well as this feeling of burnout.