ARTIST STATEMENT
My artwork explores how emotion connects to experience, specifically the loss of my childhood friend, Claire Elise Ollier. My work, Claire, was created in a personal context and portrays a ‘timeline’ of objects leading through her childhood, transitioning from toys and bright colours to hospital equipment. I have communicated the painfulness of loss through death, and how jarring it is for a life to end so early. I created this piece specifically to evoke the feeling of grief and sadness in my audience through various symbols connecting to my own experience which are recognisable to others at the same time.
ARTWORK PROCESS
My process started with a series of photographs of objects relating to the girl who I have based this work on. These objects include toys, clothing, flowers, and hospital equipment I used these to draw a ‘timeline’ of her life, starting with childhood toys and objects and transitioning to hospital equipment. After I had the objects drawn, I added a vine throughout the background which symbolises the life within her. It begins as a flowing and lush colour, and changes to an almost dead and wilting plant that somewhat resembles a heartbeat.
