American Icon Project

Artist Statement

Smothering my tiny lips with my mother’s favorite, bright red lipstick was the finishing touch to my role as an old lady. Dressed in a white, floppy hat and a raggedy blanket over my shoulders, I used a long stick for my cane as I limped about the house. I would pretend to be mad about something and begin to complain, while scrunching up my face and waving my finger. My parents sat in the livingroom watching and laughing, and I loved all the attention. Ever since I was a little girl, I used to put on silly acts and performances for my family, close friends, and even my babysitter. After one of my little routines she said “You’re so funny Holly, one day you will become an amazing actress,” and ever since then I have had a great passion for acting. When I was 5 years old, my parents invested in an acting summer class with Junior Theatre,which I continued almost every year until I was 12. I performed in a group show at the end of each session, while also starring in school plays ever year throughout elementary and middle school. After a couple years of doing play after play I realized that I was unfortunately not the most talented actress. In fact, no matter how much I loved it, I was not impressive at all. This has not changed my love for the hobby however; but it has put it on a stand-by for a few years due to the lack of inspiration.

Just recently I found an inspiration that persuaded me to chase my love for acting, and that was the motivating icon, Audrey Hepburn. Researching about her childhood and how she got to be as famous as she is today made me realize that she too had some struggles to reach her goal; yet she did not succeed by giving up on what she loved. Audrey Hepburn’s passion was ballet and dance ever since she was a little girl, and Audrey was constantly attending multiple classes to achieve that dream just like me. She first started when she was about the same age I was, but her childhood craze was soon interrupted for some time during World War II. Just a few years later after the war had finished, she started dancing yet again, but this time in more serious and well-known performances. Her dedication made me realize that no matter what happens, you should never give up on your dream. Soon I hope to start taking more acting classes and hopefully even get an internship at Junior Theatre, in desire that I too will reach my dream.

I am inspired by not only Audrey Hepburn’s perseverance and accomplishments, but also by her amazing lead roles and fashion trends. Her most famous and inspirational role in my eyes was 1961’s Holly Golightly from the popular film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This movie demonstrates her iconic role for aspiring actresses everywhere, like myself. Her fashion trends also influenced me a great deal, with her extremely tall and slender body, she fashioned a new attractive body type. Today, girls around the world, including myself, thrive to be tall and skinny, just like Audrey Hepburn. I would love to have her body and even though I don’t agree with it being seen as the only body type in today’s society, I still admire it. Audrey has influenced me to chase my dreams, and never give up. Her success and fame made me want to try just as hard as her, in hope that some day I too will feel accomplished. I admire Audrey Hepburn in everyway and think she is truly an inspirational, American icon.

Reflection:

Researching and writing about the three different American icons, Audrey Hepburn, Marylin Monroe, and Rosie the Riviter, taught me not only about the background of them, but also about why they were icons in my eyes, and everyone else's. For example, at first I thought it would be really cool to do Marylin Monroe, but after researching about her I realized that she did not inspire or relate to me at all. To everyone else she created a new voluptuous body type and stood as a sex symbol, but in my opinion she was not a true American icon. Another main thing I feel i learned about all these icons was if they made themselves iconic characters, or if society did. Rosie the Riveter was needed as a promoter for America at that time, therefore, society made her an icon. While on the other hand, Audrey Hepburn followed her dreams of becoming a dancer and star, thus becoming an icon. Overall, throughout this project I feel I learned the most about exactly what makes an American icon and how they affect our society.

Whether it from my classmates during class, or teachers outside of class, every critique i got changed my artistic statement at least a little bit. When we were doing the critiques in class, I looked everything over and read each comment, seeing what i should fix and what i should keep. This helped me make a better paper, but i still was not satisfied. During my x-block, I asked my ninth grade humanities teacher, Diana, to also critique my paper. She did, and one comment she put was "What if you start off describing one of your costumes or acts?" This one little comment made my paper from okay, to great. I painted a picture with words and felt it intrigued the audience more. Then when I got my last critique from Anne, she said she liked how I made the beginning a description of my acts. She also made a few pointers and suggestions that I took into account and made my rough draft into a final.

Overall on this project, I feel I did the best of my ability. I was resourceful with both taking the picture and writing my artistic statement. I searched and used a few different people's clothing and jewelry, and I used my surrounding classmates and teachers for critiques. Even though the developing made my face look really dark o my picture, I'm still very proud of my work. The artistic statement was the best I could do too, therefore I am extremely happy with my final products for this project.