Everyday Life
Under the theme of ‘Everyday Life’ this project was about domesticity. The project focused on objects which relate to particular indoor living spaces: bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms, or living rooms. Playing to my strengths, I created a narrative without including any people in my work. I wanted the viewer to find comfort in seeing familiar spaces and household objects. Firstly, my photo shoots showed different objects in my house. For example, cutlery is set out on the dining table or stored in kitchen drawers, whereas toiletries (e.g., toothbrushes, soap bars and shampoo and conditioner bottles) are kept in the bathroom. Overall, I found it interesting how people’s lifestyles changed throughout history; viewing still-life art was like seeing a snapshot of someone’s living situation during the time the artists were active.
Observational Drawing
Oil Pastels
This was a response to Adrian Stokes’ paintings. The texture of the acrylic paper magnified the coarse texture of the artist’s work. Using the oil pastels motivated me to create variation in texture by working on different surfaces. To make the subtle beige tones, I blended and smudged the pastels with my finger which also made the lines less solid. With the objects blending slightly into the background, I thought that this added to the distance between the drawing and the viewer. This was because Stokes’s paintings look blurred, creating the illusion of the objects getting harder to reach.
Joining Techniques
This mixed-media collage is made of different types of paper. Firstly, I arranged the paper on an A1 piece of brown sugar paper and used different joining techniques: a glue stick, a stapler, Sellotape, and paper packing tape. I then referred from my own photos to do ink and bleach studies on different areas of the piece to further add dimension and depth. The different joining techniques make the piece more cohesive because they add to the variety of shapes.
When making the screen prints, I layered dark blue ink on top of some of the ones with brown ink. I then added watercolours before intensifying the contrast with coloured pencils. The solid layers of colours and the contemporary subject matter reminded me of Hilary Pecis’ whimsical still life paintings. By experimenting on top of the prints, I had depicted the casualness of domestic settings.
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