lead/serve- are they not one and the same

   This print, like Make a Mess, was inspired by Corita Kent. She was a nun who combined pop art with social activism and if that's not the coolest sentence you've ever read then I don't know what to say.
 After my BFA midway show, one of my professors tasked my classmates and myself to try out a new art process, something completely different than what we were used to. I started to research modern Catholic artists that weren't painters, drawers, or had figures in their work, and that's when I stumbled upon Corita Kent.

   Her work was bright and playful and therefore nothing like my own. I tried to think of what kind of messages to incorporate in this new style and was very influenced by a book I was reading at the time, "The Privilege of Being a Woman" by Alice von Hildebrand. It discussed femininity and masculinity in light of Catholicism. There were so many beautiful points in it and it stayed in my head for months. One of the more memorable parts was about the idea of servant-leadership in romantic relationships. So often, men are under the impression that it is a God-given right to lead, while women must serve. Yet, aren't the words synonyms? Do we not lead by helping, assisting, aiding, guiding, serving another? Do we not serve by helping, assisting, aiding, guiding, leading another? 

   For the artwork, I knew I wanted the emphasis to be on the word 'serve' so I had that take the focal point with being in the foreground and a bright color. 'Lead' shines through but works in the background.

   Yep, I used Microsoft Word to design this piece. Take THAT all of my graphic design professors.

   The above photo shows the first layer of silkscreening. I wrote the word LEAD on a separate piece of paper, cut out the letters, then placed the letters on the poster paper before silkscreening. After the paint was laid down, I peeled the letters off so their outlines showed.

   I waited until the first layer was completely dry (didn't take too long), then I wrote 'are they not one and the same', 'SERVE', and some small shapes on a large piece of paper. I used an x-acto knife to cut out the letters and shapes so I had this giant stencil. I placed the stencil on top of the poster paper then silkscreened red paint on everything. I peeled the stencil off, and since the only place the red paint could go was in the spots that I cut out letters, this was the end result.