Artist Statement

Syeda. Syeda. Syeda. Syeda. 

Did I just make you read my name four times? Yes and no. 

The last Syeda listed is me, the others are my sisters. I see the same name you do, but each time I read the name, I see a different face. 

Now don’t get me wrong, we’re a group of girls that look alike, sound alike, have the same sense of humor, are the same height, same shoe size, and evidently, we have the same first and last name, but we’re completely different… I promise. 

This isn’t about how they’re different from me or vice versa, I just wanted you to understand why it’s so important for me to be my own person.

For starters, I chose Media as a major because I enjoy the creative aspect of the major and the fact that it’s completely different from anything my sisters are doing.

I was first exposed to Photoshop in middle school when I noticed the app on my old desktop computer. Earlier in the day, I told my younger brother he was adopted from a farm and to stay true to the story, I was determined to prove it with a photo. 

I started off using Microsoft Paint, which unsurprisingly left me with an unrealistic photo, so I moved on to Photoshop. By the end of the day, I had a photo of my brother eating cake in the middle of a field next to a cow. 

His three-year-old mind was blown and it is that kind of reaction I want from my work.

I enjoy editing photos, combining real and fake images to create something that could be real, but most likely isn’t. I want my work to tell a story, something with multiple elements that gives the viewer a chance to create an experience for the focus of the piece. Most importantly, I want my work to have a unique characteristic that sets it apart from anything else of the same medium.

As I spend time working with media, I hope to find what that ‘unique characteristic’ is.