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hysterical women.
Semester 2
My final piece for Year 1, Semester 2 is made of two canvases, one A2 and one A4. To the left, is an acrylic painting of a women ‘hysterically’ trying to reach towards an anonymous man. Keeping the man anonymous is important in centering the focus towards the portrayal of the woman. Furthermore, presenting the other subject only with their shoes and trousers forms a preconception that is of a man, exposing the stereotypes andideas set in the views and therefore bringing the ideas of this artwork to life.
The words “slut”, “emotional” ,“weak”, “fragile” , and “submissive” enhances the abstract nature to this contemporary artwork, as developed in my documentation, expressing the negative preconceptions that may hold women in society and the green colour pallet is built on the idea of envy.
Francis Bacon inspired me to create one piece of artwork connecting across two canvases. A together yet dinstinct nature separates the elements of men and women in one society, forming a deeper meaning and connection my artwork that Bacon also expressed in his artwork inspired by his lover George Dyer.
My ideas on scale and continuation of this expression of emotion also developed from researching Lucian Freud, although adding more expression through my brush work alongside the compostion of body language and facial expressions.
The use of texture was developed from my research into impasto, as well as Jenny Saville and an exhibition piece that fascinated me, being ‘Figure (Woman)’ by Magda Cordell. I used pallet knives to lay down the initial layers of colour and built more layers onto that with paint brushes. I enjoy how the colours appear to battle against each other, similarly to how I described in my analysis on Cordell’s artwork. I brought this research and made this into my own style, by bringing this texture and colour into the background (similar to that of impasto techniques) to symbolise how the battle in society is everywhere, that women live and breathe it: it is their reality.
The idea of hysteria was central to my final piece, as I developed my unique perspective on the portrayal of women.
Moving forward in my art practice, I intend to build on my work by expanding my scale and subject matter outside of young women. With large scale, it is a challenging way to build on your art and expand your skills and ideas. I find large scale artwork sets a larger president in its message and has a bigger impact to people observing it and look forward to developing from this project further in my second year of university.