Author: Kendall Zinn

Part 1:

Part 2: “Thetis” by Casper Gras depicts the Greek goddess Thetis who is known for her feminine beauty and motherly tendencies. She is in a contemplative pose where she is seen in drapings with her hair in an updo. She is sitting and holding a swan-like animal very sternly with a hand around its base and a hand around its throat. Given the context of who Thetis is, I deduct that this sculpture is about motherly protection and sacrifice. While she is seen to be hurting the swan, I think that she is still depicted to be graceful. I think that this sends the message about duality and while women are thought to be pure but they can also be “dangerous”. The drapings on Thetis have the connotation of an ideal being such as a Greek goddess. I also think the drapings give a sense of the importance ancient Greece has placed on beauty and the human experience. The swan only strengthens the connotations of beauty and grace that Thetis already depicts. Also both women and swans signify purity and innocence. I have different ideas of ways to distort this sculpture. One of the ways I think I could distort it is by adding a feminine figure standing behind Thetis offering a supportive hand on the shoulder. By adding this figure, I think it would send a message regarding motherly figures and support. It would represent the ways in which all of our maternal figures are still with us today through the impact they’ve had on our lives. I was also thinking about distorting Thetis through entangling Thetis with the swan. I think that swirling the two figures together could offer an interesting perspective of animal and human cohabitation and the way we interact with each other. Lastly, I think it would be interesting to distort the sculpture by making the swan appear abnormally small, to suggest how we often dominate nature whether that be a good thing or bad thing. Or in reverse, making Thetis small could offer commentary about how we are seen to be the lesser beings from the ways we have destroyed our environment.

Part 3:

Part A. During the covid pandemic it was hard for individuals to meet together. This created a national feeling of isolation. However, for holidays and birthdays my family had a knack of making the best of sad situations. For instance, Thanksgiving 2020 was the first holiday where our usual family was unable to gather together. Thanksgiving being my mom’s favorite holiday we normally went all out for the holiday. However, due to the pandemic and covid protocols we needed to find a way to make the holiday more special when it appeared difficult. We decided to still invite another family very close to us over and set up games for everyone to play. In the front yard we used our cornball set, bowling pins, and a football to create our own at home fowling set. In the living room we had balloons, feathers, and sharpies to draw our own turkeys. We then set up these turkeys in our backyard and used the BB gun to “hunt” them. We still talk about how much fun this Thanksgiving was and it makes me happy to think that my family rose to the occasion.

Part B. 

1. Family
2. Balloons
3. Crafts
4. Football
5. Bowling Pin(s)
6. Dinner Table
7. BB Gun
8. Bullet (BB bullet)
9. Turkey
10. Doodles

Hello, my name is Kendall Zinn. I am a Psychology major with a minor in Design. Around campus I am involved in Delta Gamma and have just moved into a house off-campus. I am taking this class to fulfill a requirement for my Design minor, however, I am excited to learn what Digital sculpture entails.