Lamont Gallery - PRESENT 3 - The Annual Student Art Show, June 1, 2020

Thomas Wang ‘20 Ithaka Blooms, 2019 ART 500 As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body.

- “Ithaka” by C. P. Cavafy Ithaka Blooms X, Digital photograph, coated with cyanotype solution

“Adolescence is a period of great growth, where children are expected to mature into adults ready for the real world. There is often a sense of getting to the next stage, where adolescence and high school exist only for college or getting a job. However, there is so much life and value inherent in adolescence. It is a time of the fondest memories, a time of death where the younger self is destroyed, a time of the greatest beauty. Ithaka Blooms is a body of photographs that explore themes of adolescence, both in its literal sense and other periods of transition. Influenced by Masahisa Fukase’s Ravens and Nicolas Janowski’s Adrift in Blue, Ithaka Blooms consists of a mixture of digital scans and conventional photographs. The photo series uses the motifs of flowers and water to examine the relation of time, beauty, and death. Each photo is also coated

Lamont Gallery - PRESENT 3 - The Annual Student Art Show, June 1, 2020

with a cyanotype solution that will darken with exposure to light, slowly obscuring each photo over the course of the show. Ithaka Blooms hopes to disentangle the complicated narratives, pressures, and challenges that surround adolescence.”

Instagram: @td.wang

Ithaka Blooms III, Digital photograph, coated with cyanotype solution

Ithaka Blooms II, Digital photograph, coated with cyanotype solution

Ithaka Blooms IV, Digital photograph, coated with cyanotype solution

Ithaka Blooms XI, Digital photograph, coated with cyanotype solution