Spotlight on Artist Abigail Cutler

Welcome to The Elective’s digital art museum, dedicated to the incredible work of AP Arts students. Each week we highlight a work or series created in one of the AP Arts concentrations—AP 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design, and AP Drawing (the AP Program also offers Art History and Music Theory)—as well as a statement from the artist (and, occasionally, their teacher).

From the first cave paintings to contemporary breakthroughs in virtually reality, art, in all its forms, has been a crucial way for people to process, make sense of, comment on, and grapple with the world around them. In 2020, there is a lot to process and grapple with—and AP Art students have risen to the challenge. The work many of them submitted in their final portfolios is explicitly of the moment, from commentary on the covid-19 pandemic to the celebration of people of color to the nature of heroism in perilous times.

The work is often challenging and provocative but always insightful, inspiring, and expansive.

This week we feature a mixed-media work made by Abigail Cutler from Lassiter High School in Marietta, Georgia.

Here’s Abigail’s statement on the work:

“What is the connection between drugs and the human anatomy with people diagnosed with psychosis? With my portfolio, I wanted to show the disconnection between the mind and body when it comes to drugs and mental illnesses because today's society is the most affected and exposed to mental and emotional issue; they turn to drugs for help instead of people.

To make this artwork, I took the idea of not taking prescribed medications, and I used prevalent anxiety and inner insecurities that swarm the mind when not on proper medication. Hence, the repetition of, ‘Do you see right through me? I see right through me.’

I used acrylic paint, magazine paper, digital images, and a permanent marker for this work. I painted the woman’s face separate from the border of paint strokes and rectangles. I digitally edited the pieces and put them together in Photoshop before adding an overlay of nerves. I had to experiment with several different images of nerves before finding the right one as well.”

Here’s a statement on Abigail’s work from teacher Suzette Spinelli:

“Abigail Cutler is a very independent-thinking student, with an amazing, strong insight into what her creative process will become each time she works on her selected art. Abigail is a student that can mentally visualize something from real life into a profound work of art. Her experience is not the final art but a trigger for a new idea. This helps her create art that becomes higher-level, incorporating critical thinking skills that she thrives upon. Abigail is driven with an underlying emotional connection within her art, where she is flexible with no boundaries. She also has a strong commitment to follow through with any issues that will arise and work through the issues, experimenting with multi-layers of thinking and mixed media. Abigail is always seeking moments of astonishment.”

And here are a few more works from Abigail’s portfolio:

Student statements are lightly edited for length and clarity.