The artists that inspired me the most in deciding what my portfolio project would look like are Christopher Wool, Barbara Kruger, and Mel Bochner. I’m very interested in using text in my pieces, and these three artists do it exceptionally well. Kruger and Wool’s ability to use very few words in their work while projecting messages that could have essays written about them is very impressive. While Bochner’s ability to enhance text with colors and backgrounds that make his pieces fun to look at is something I am striving for as well. In my portfolio, I created multiple pieces exploring the connections between human emotion and animals, along with text to further convey those emotions. I've found that a lot of common human experiences and emotions are expressible through animals, and particularly how these animals interact with each other. In the case of my pieces, these emotions include the guilt of seeing your enemy within yourself, the love in flirting with your partner as if it is your first time together, the anxiety of feeling unwelcome in a social setting, and the pride in competing in a physical competition or sport.