Alyssa Bachrach
ARTWORK
Art helps me express emotion and turn my experiences into visuals. Some pieces reflect themes like trauma or healing, while others come from curiosity or imagined characters. I’m inspired by films and stories, especially their mood and world-building. I usually start with a visual idea and work intuitively, using traditional media like graphite to capture emotion and texture. My art reflects how I see and feel the world.
SKETCHES & PENCIL WORK
I began experimenting with graphite pencil to study facial features, skeletal structure, and muscle anatomy in order to understand proportion.
Then I moved on sketching full faces to practice bringing those elements together.
For this project, I created a composition using three sketches of my face from a live music performance, with my guitar at the bottom to pull the piece together.
SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION
This series of work explores the emotional and psychological impact of trauma, inspired by personal experiences as well as the broader human experience of fear, anxiety, and recovery. I aimed to express feelings that are often invisible, dissociation, vulnerability, and isolation, through distorted forms, blurred faces, and shadowy figures.​ In this series, I used a variety of mediums including graphite pencil, acrylic paints, and colored pencils. This collection of work recieved a score of 5 from College Board in the AP Art & Design Portfolio assesment.
PAINTINGS & PERSONAL PROJECTS
This section highlights a few pieces I’ve created in and outside of structured assignments. Some are still in progress, but each reflects personal inspiration, whether emotional, visual, or spontaneous. These pieces gave me space to explore freely, without pressure, and allowed me to focus on what naturally interests me. Even when unfinished, they represent an important part of my creative process.
