Visual Representations of Existentialism
Mollo Hersh
Honors Project: Visual Representations of Existentialism
Course: Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
Instructor: Peter Hudis
I’m Mollo Hersh, and I plan on graduating from Oakton College with an Associates Degree in the Arts in the spring semester of 2023. Afterwards, I’ll be pursuing a Bachelors in Arts for Animation, with a minor in Environmental Studies at Columbia College in Chicago. My goal as an artist is to combine my love for drawing, film, Philosophy and the natural world. At Oakton, I’ve been able to explore these interests through Science, Humanities and Art classes. I also work part time in the sustainability office and participate in the Honors Program.
For my Honors Project, I created three art pieces that express the topic of existentialism. I took inspiration from Jean Paul Sarte’s fictional work, as well as his essay, “Existentialism Is a Humanism.” In preparation for creating these pieces, I analyzed my favorite stories of Sartre’s, emphasizing the symbolism he used, pivotal moments in the plot, and main themes explored. The first piece I created, titled “No Exit” (below) was painted in black ink. It depicts the afterlife, legacy, guilt, vanity and deception. The next piece, “The Wall,” was created using charcoal. This picture depicts hitting the dead end of life, self preservation and the liquidation of time. The last piece I created, titled “The Bedroom,” was made in pencil. It depicts a woman and her husband’s descent into insanity. I created prints of each of these pieces in order to present them in an open gallery discussion. Overall, I enjoyed the process of creating these works, the research that they involved, using symbolism to represent philosophical concepts and the experimentation in new artistic mediums.
