Revealism

A New Strategy for Artistic Expression

By Nikki Rademaker

Overview

This final project was created for the course Strategies in Creative and Performing Arts. The assignment was to propose a completely new strategy for making art. Each student had to come up with an original artistic approach that included its own meaning, context, and techniques. The strategy had to be interdisciplinary and include at least four existing artworks across three different disciplines.

This project taught me how to create my own artistic strategy with a clear message and purpose. I learned how to analyze artworks across different disciplines and connect them through a shared theme. Furthermore, it helped me practice writing in a structured, reflective, and creative way.

My Art Strategy: Revealism

I created a strategy called Revealism. Revealism focuses on shedding light on hidden or silenced voices in society. It aims to amplify marginalized narratives by using contrast, contradiction, and subversion. Instead of avoiding sensitive topics, Revealism uses art to confront them. It draws attention to the gap between how things are and how they are perceived.

Revealism uses techniques like irony, juxtaposition, recontextualization, and paradox. These are used to challenge dominant stories and reveal truths that are often overlooked. Artists who work in this strategy take traditionally negative or constraining elements and turn them into something powerful. The goal is not just to expose, but to transform.

Included Artworks

To support the strategy, I analyzed four existing works from different fields:

• “They shut me up in Prose” by Emily Dickinson – a poem about silencing and self-expression.
• “because i liked a boy” by Sabrina Carpenter – a song that reclaims public judgment through contradiction.
• “The Two Fridas” by Frida Kahlo – a painting that reveals dual identity and emotional conflict.
• “Non-Violence” by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd – a sculpture that transforms a weapon into a symbol of peace.

Each artwork uses contrast in its own way. This could either be visual, verbal, or structural, to reveal deeper truths. These examples show that Revealism works across disciplines and media. The full report elaborates on how these works relate to the strategy and how Revealism can help reshape narratives in art.

You can download the full report here.