Artist: Bobi Bosson
Media: Ceramics, Screen Prints, Mixed-Media, Paintings, Sculptures
Website: https://bobi-lee.com/work
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbieleeboss/
Bobi Bosson is an extremely talented artist with a well rounded portfolio. She has always considered herself to be creative, always into the arts and doing crafts, but she had never explored art professionally until she started college. She went it thinking she would do animation, but she soon realized that wasn’t the route for her. She learned she loved the details which led her to do a lot of oil painting. As time went on she began to explore new media and tried sculpting. It wasn’t long till she then tried out screen printing and found out she loved it. For her screen printing can be very collaborative with others at the shop, which led to a lot of mono print pieces. Currently, Bobi is doing a lot of interdisciplinary work. She’s incorporated ceramics with some of the other techniques and art forms she knows and loves. Even though she is not stuck to just one media, all her pieces and projects a lot of her pieces have a similar theme of expressing self and body image in a positive way, specifically women’s figures. In general, she is communicating positivity and celebrating through her artwork.
Bobi’s interdisciplinary work caught my attention the most. On the surface it may look like a simple piece, but it is the details that were put into these pieces that make them so amazing. Her piece “Come at Me Bro,” a ceramic screen print, is by far my favorite. At first glance it seems to just be a ceramic bust of a female torso, with some stuff on it. But, it is that “stuff” that makes this piece so interesting. This woman’s body is covered in different images and words, which is the screen printing. There are so many different components to this that make it so amazing. The layering and placement of each print on the body seems perfectly placed. It’s like the body is covered in tattoos that come together to tell this story and message that is greatly understood and relatable as a woman. The shape of it is quite dramatic because it really accentuates and exaggerates the curves of a woman; but it is because of those curves that it all flows nicely. In terms of color, it is quite muted, which makes sense because it almost makes it that much more realistic. It’s much easier to see it as an actual woman’s body with this color palette; there are however these pops of color with the scattered yellow butterflies in the back, that express this sense of beauty and feeling of freedom. This piece is truly powerful and inspiring because she took this newfound interest in ceramics, and combined it with her love of screen printing to again express the beauty of a woman’s body, but also the feeling that gives and experiences that come with it.
Throughout her time as an artist, Bobi has done many projects and series, each with different points and purposes. She isn’t inspired by just one thing, it is more everything together. To try and narrow it down though, a lot of it has to do with love and beauty and embracing and celebrating that which comes with each person. For example, her For the Love of Drag series perfectly summarized this. She was inspired by what they do and their amazing talent, so by painting these photorealistic portraits of these queens, she is celebrating these beautiful people and portraying them how the world would see them in such a positive way. Bobi’s mind and soul is constantly changing and growing and learning new things, so again to be inspired by one thing would be impossible; but besides just being open, an overall message I’d say she carries with her is to embrace love and stay positive, which is undoubtedly seen throughout her work.
Bobi’s story was so much more relatable to me that I initially thought it would be. Her constant craving for more and trying something new is something I truly resonate with. I too have been obsessed with doing arts and crafts from a young age, and like Bobi, I can’t say I’m stuck on just one thing. Of course I’m not a professional, award winning artist like Bobi, but it is the fact that she is willing to explore new media and try out new media and ways of expressing that inspires me. Her attention to detail while still being so open, experimental, and free is what is truly amazing to me. Because there is so much that goes into each of the pieces, there isn’t just one way to interpret them. Her focus on the body, and the beauty of our bodies, is what gives off this loving and positive feeling that I believe everyone can sense with viewing her work. Overall, Bobi is an extremely talented artist that uses aspects of real life that maybe some people are insecure about, and she twists it into such positive and beautiful messages, which is something that the whole world needs to celebrate.
