Retrofuturism is what the past believed the future to be. Hopeful imagery is scattered across the ’50s depicting flying hover cars, skyscraping utopias, and integral new technologies. We look back on these images now and laugh at the unrealistic standards the future was held to. Although predicting who we will be in the future has proven futile, we as humans, still try. We still try to picture a future that allows us to grasp the significance of existence. Like many others, I have always had a general awe of space and a draw to the distant future. The obvious appeal to the future is the promise that you will be a different person. A person who potentially can understand more, who has experienced more, and who has lived more. 

This series aims to represent this marriage of past and future while highlighting specific ideas of retro-futurism. The two main components are compositions and portraits. The composition’s aim is to connect symbols and characters from the past and future in one cosmic environment. The portraits will introduce human-like characters interacting with light, color, and figure. These interactions will illustrate a natural awe of the cosmos and set a steady tone for the series. Each character represents a period in time and a certain aesthetic. They each have their own personality and fascination with time, whether that be the future or the past. These intertwining personalities and characters all share one common story. They are literally connected by a continuous thread of graphic curves, inspired by the interior design trends of the ’70s. But they are also connected figuratively. They all exist in a space where they are most fascinated and captivated by the space they don’t exist in. Through this shared captivation, these characters find ways to actively defy the linear structure of time and exist where they feel they belong.