Meredith Muller

Meredith Muller is a student multi-disciplinary artist who was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas and currently studies art, art  history, and spanish at Loyola University in New Orleans. She is currently finishing her sophomore year as a studio art major, but takes a particular liking to drawing mediums, specifically portraiture and hyperrealism. Her art frequently depicts the human body, animals, and nature imagery, and she is not afraid of taking a humorous or ironic approach to these depictions. This is reflected in her sculpture through the creation of head/ facial decorative pieces as well as the creation of partially-human looking figures. She has won many awards such as first place in the 2018 Thea Foundation scholarship, second place in the Arkansas 2015 Congressional Art Competition, and many awards from the Arkansas Young Artist Association during her highschool years. In 2018 alone, AYAA awarded her second place in “oils, realistic”, second place in “scratchboard/ silverpoint, realistic”, third place in “colored pencil, expressive”, fourth place in “portraits, realistic”, and honorable mention in “mixed media 2D, abstract/ non-objective.”

 


“Sentience”
9”x7”x13”
Window screen project

 

 


“Becky” 
20”x11”x6”
Found object project

 

 


“Mask Hysteria”
Toilet paper, scotch tape, thread
Shelter as an identity project

 

 

Shelter as an Identity-- Mask Hysteria
    
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, people have been desperate for ways to protect themselves during this wildly unprecedented and uncertain time. With no vaccine available and unclear direction from government officials, no one really knows what to do to stay safe. People everywhere have sought physical shelter by self-quarantining in their homes. When it is necessary to leave home, such as to visit a store or run an essential errand, nearly everyone you see is wearing surgical gloves or a mask; people do this as a way of seeking emotional shelter. This practice of wearing protective medical equipment has been very interesting to observe and analyze, and not just because public spaces now look like they’re scenes from an eerie sci-fi film. 
Due to cross contamination, the act of wearing gloves to protect yourself from this virus is likely not going to be nearly as effective as one might think. Just because your skin isn’t coming into direct contact with any contaminated surfaces, you would still just spread the virus to anything you touch with the gloves on, like a cellphone, that could infect you later. Additionally, only N-95 masks, which are incredibly hard to access due to high demand, are capable of filtering the virus from the air to protect yourself from others. Most masks are only able to stop particles from traveling outward and infecting others around you. While this is still a considerate action to take, it will be ineffective at shielding yourself. Instead of protecting us, gloves and most masks just give us a dangerous sense of false security in a time when we all feel powerless and scared. 
Another effect of the fear caused by this pandemic has been stockpiling and mass-purchasing of essential items, especially toilet paper. People are seeking shelter in the comfort of items, even though it means many others will be stranded with empty shelves and nowhere to buy their own essential items. To illustrate this desperate grasping for a sense of shelter and security through stockpiling and use of ineffective protective gear, I have decided to craft my own pair of gloves and a mask out of toilet paper. Toilet paper is the perfect choice of material for this purpose because it is so fragile and non-protective while still being such a coveted item. The resulting products are intended to look like they wouldn’t be protective or effective, just like how the actual things people wear are functioning (reflecting/ mirroring the ineffectiveness of some of the methods people are using to protect themselves from infection). This piece illustrates the desperate and vain attempts people make to feel sheltered and safe during this time of fear and uncertainty. 

 

Class of: 
2021
Meredith