Useless Fish

This idea originally formed from my senior year in highschool. I went to a college prep school, so when the news got out that I was going to be attending an art and design, I got mixed responses. Some were excited for me, others were curious as to how I was going to get a job from it, but something that one person said really stuck out to me. This person had been telling people that I was going to a pointless school to get a useless degree, and that they were going to make more money than me. Because art is something that I put so much love into, I took this comment very personally, and felt like they were saying that I was useless. At first I was just going to make this piece as more of a way to express my feelings, so I literally painted the word “USELESS” onto the canvas. I felt as though this might have been a bit too straightforward to put in my school’s hallway, so I ended up painting over it with pure red acrylic paint and then using paint markers to draw a striking blue goldfish. The reason I picked a blue goldfish is because it doesn’t really make sense, and it sticks out like a sore thumb against the bright red background. Later I realized that you can still see the word “USELESS” behind the fish, but I think this makes me like the piece more. I felt more confident in my skills and choices after creating it.