Artists Statement

My creative work is a reflection of my own feelings in response to happenings in my life. This body of work reflects on grief and the emotional shift after the loss of someone special. These works are different to anything I have ever created in both my material outcomes and conceptual ideas. These visual art courses have allowed me to really connect with what I am creating and discover what it really means. 

 

Drawing Studio

 

What I want to see.

Mixed media on cotton rag paper.

What I want to see is a still life of found decor objects. I decided to use gestalt theory as I find realistic still life boring. This piece is a reflection of how I felt at this time in the semester and what I would have liked to see. Life should be lively and moving, not still.

Expired

Mixed media on cotton rag paper.

Expired depicts a vase of dying flowers illustrated using watercolour paints and black felt-tip pen to convey the shapes of the flowers. Flowers in full bloom are associated with youth, beauty and pleasure. Wilted or dead flowers however, symbolise the fragility of life and the swiftness of passage from life to death. In this case, these flowers are wilted and dying, representing the death of someone close. The bright colours however have remained, as the people closest remain. Damaged but ever so strong.

 

Glasshouse

Mixed media on cotton rag paper.

Glasshouse is a gouache painting with black pen drawing layered on top. This piece is special as I have always had a soft spot for the Glasshouse Mountains. I have driven up and back to the Sunshine Coast to visit friends and family more often than normal this semester and these mountains truely inspire me. The entire landscape on the way through is just magnificent, all complete with the mesmerising sight of these giants. This work is inspired by the work of local artist Katie Whyte. Both her use of colour and organic shapes contributed to the inspiration of this work.

 

Painting Studio 

Untitled

Acrylic on canvas.

Untitled is an abstract acrylic painting on canvas. This painting is a reflection of my emotions during a time of loss. The colours are an interpretation of a particular person in my life.

Lost

Acrylic on canvas

Lost is an acrylic portrait on canvas depicting a woman with wandering eyes. This piece is connected to what I see (see below) as this woman may be the person struggling with the judgment of others wandering eyes. She is lost in who she is and what I see allows her to see the world in a different way. 

Collide

Acrylic on canvas

Collide is an acrylic painting on canvas. This work uses various reference images to convey an idea of two completely different environments that are of equal aesthetics however rarely exist together. The rainy city contrasted with the soft countryside illustrates this juxtaposition.

 

Printmaking Studio

Mixed Feelings

Screen print on cotton rag paper.

Mixed Feelings is a screen print on cotton rag paper. This piece represents my own mixed feelings about entering this course. I designed these shapes on procreate before the semester started as I was eager to learn more about printmaking. Along with this excitement was nervousness as painting is not something I generally have the patience for.

 

Dragonfly

Lino print on cotton rag and textured paper.

This collection of nine lino prints, each depict a dragonfly printed from the same carved linoleum block. Dragonflies have recently become incredibly special to me. “Dragonflies having flown the earth for 300 million years, dragonflies symbolise our ability to overcome times of hardship. They remind us to take time to reconnect with our own strength, courage and happiness.”

 

What I see

Concertina mixed media on cotton rag paper.

What I see is a mixed media concertina book using cotton rag paper. This work conveys a conversation between two people. The first person is struggling with the judgement of the eyes around her. The second person, a friend perhaps, grounds the other by opening her eyes to the beauty in the world. To focus on the wonderful things in life. This piece is also an extension to my post cards from earlier this year, What did you see? as part of the Fill your eyes exhibition.