Jennifer King

Cheerleading is a sport I have been involved in for seventeen years. As someone who has experienced this sport from all aspects (participating, spectator, coach and judge), I have a deep emotional passion for the sport on an extremely personal level. I find it graceful, powerful, beautiful, strong, and uniting. I wanted to portray all of these emotions into my work of art. I feel birds represent all of these characteristics. They move gracefully through the sky and are beautiful, strong creatures. When they migrate or fly in flocks they unite and fly as one. I see the beauty of cheerleading within birds and used them as a key representation of how cheerleading makes me feel. The push towards a more abstracted piece has allowed me to grow from my more concrete works of art. I do not want one to look at my piece and instinctively think Cheerleader, but instead feel the emotions that the piece gives off that are representative of cheerleading to me. I am aware that very few people will have strong emotions towards cheerleading, which is why my piece is not simply a cheerleader. The viewers’ emotions felt through viewing my piece is what makes my piece significant