Ryan Dupree

Title: Generations

Topics: Intergenerational Connection

The following are photographs of a project completed by Genevieve Ryan DuPree (age 3) and Patrick Harold DuPree (age 71) in response to an objective to collaborate on a creative project assigned by the father of Genevieve and son of Patrick, Ryan Patrick DuPree (age 45).

The objective of the artists was to create a creative piece which would incorporate each of the artist’s vision of what their relationship to each other meant. Each of them were to create a singular piece, and then collaborate on a third piece which allowed both of them to express themselves in a combined artistic vision. The first image is the combination of all three pieces. The far left being the combined piece, the middle being Patrick’s and the far left being Genevieve’s. In the following shots of the work. The medium of clay and paints were decided upon by the commissioner, Ryan DuPree.

The second photo is the work provided by Genevieve. When asked about the development of the piece, the artist noted “I smooshed the dough flat so I could paint it”. The artist also noted “I like purple so I used it a lot”. In reflection of completing the piece under the advisement of her grandfather (known as “Dude”), Genevieve noted “I liked it a lot and Dude helped me a little bit”.

When Patrick was asked similar questions about his work, he noted “I wanted to make something that held all of the pieces, just like I like to hold Genevieve”. Patrick noted that his favorite color was blue and therefore was a prime color of the middle piece. He placed a smiling face on the side of the work to express his feelings when creating the piece as he was never sure he would be able to complete such a project with his granddaughter.

Patrick also noted the image in the middle of the work was to signify the transition from young life to an older positioning in the life cycle. Patrick noted “I can barely remember being Genevieve’s age, but I know I would have enjoyed this work if I was asked to do it”. It was noted that despite instructions to have the single piece be developed by a single artist, Genevieve’s particular style could be observed within the middle of Patrick’s piece of work.

The two artists were not asked to comment on the collaborative piece. However, the commissioner had plenty to reflect upon. The precision was observed to be completed by Patrick, while the shape and outside work complete were completed by Genevieve. As this work was intended to be a culmination of the commissioner’s studies on aging, the piece was impactful due the relationship of the three parties. It could be said that it takes a lifetime of many family members to create such a piece, the beauty of the work may only be appreciated by those who have experienced this particular life paths. Ryan determined the title of the piece to be…