Art has multiple interpretations. The same picture to me may look completely different from what others see. Some paintings and sculptures remind me of my past and I feel especially drawn to them. Art helps me realize how far I have come and how events have shaped the person who I am today.

While walking around the Nemeth Art Center, three paintings caught my eye. These paintings are named “Coral Landscape I, II, and III” by the artist, Christopher Harrison. The far left painting glowed different colors of green. The middle painting had more subtle tones of red, orange, and brown. Lastly, the far right painting was a shallow yellow. The three alone had no meaning, but together formed like pieces of a puzzle. If one were missing this piece would not be complete.

The paintings reminded me of how different things in my life came along and shaped the person I have come to be. The home I grew up in and the summer activities I participated in are some factors that seemed small in the moment, but have had a big impact on my life. Many events in my life have shaped me and I am proud I experienced those things.

The first painting with the blue and green represents the lake and I’m reminded of a particular event that occurred at my Grandparents’ cabin. Every summer they rent a rustic cabin for a weekend. Many summers back, my cousin, Kora, and I were swimming. We came up with a great idea to play chicken. I was on the bottom holding Kora on top of my shoulders. We were facing against my brother and one of my younger cousins. The game was a stalemate for a while and eventually they pushed Kora on top of me backwards. We both fell and landed on our backs. Her legs were on top of me and pushed down on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know to let go so I held onto her legs. I touched the bottom with my feet, but I couldn’t push up. I was drowning. Gasping for air, I gulped down the lake water. Seconds that felt like minutes later, I let go of Kora’s legs and I could finally stand. I was relieved that I could breathe again.

Ever since then I have not liked swimming. During this event and even after I was shocked, but didn’t think it would change my life. It did though. After that I was always skeptical of going swimming and only liked being in water if I could touch the bottom. The blue shades throughout  “Coral Landscape 1” reminded me of this event that still affects me today.

The bright blues from “Coral Landscape I” flow nicely into the reds and oranges of “Coral Landscape II”, reminding me of another life changing event. The bottom of “Coral Landscape II” is dense with colors and gradually rises to a faint orange color. This color change reminded me of the morning. Ever since I was little my breakfast in the morning consisted of cereal. I never thought that every morning after, it would become a consistent thing in my life. Because of my morning cereal, I now like to keep things consistent throughout the day if I can. Having a schedule and doing things the same way each morning and day keeps me in place. If one thing changes I feel out of my element and can handle it, but I would prefer not having that interruption. Who would’ve thought that starting off young and having cereal for breakfast every morning would make me want consistency throughout my life. “Coral Landscape II” reminded me of a simple morning activity that has continued to make me want consistency.

Again, Christopher Harrison moves my eyes from the flowing orange in “Coral Landscape II” to the dull yellow in “Coral Landscape III”. It is not as bright as the others and contains a yellow base background with black and brown dots lining the bottom. The painting has a warm, cozy feeling to it and reminds me of my own house. In my house, we are very family oriented. I like spending time with my family and doing things with them. Ever since I was little we all would gather in the living room and not in our own rooms. Now, we do the same thing. This has made our family grow closer together instead of secluding ourselves in our own rooms. This simple action of sitting together in the living room has made me be more of a family person. I am a homebody because I miss not chatting with my family after a long day. That is who I am. I love being at home with no care in the world and being surrounded by my family.

The three paintings form together and tell a story of their own. The drowning incident, cereal for breakfast, and living room sitting have formed big parts of my life. These things have shaped who I am and how I have come to be the person I am today. “Coral Landscape I, II, and III” have reminded me of the life events that have shaped the way I think and act today.