ARTIST STATEMENT
‘Mess’ expresses a truthful, personal, and physical manifestation of struggles, both my own and those of others. I’ve captured my bedroom, the most personal space that I possess, to display an unrefined view of disarray in complete stillness. The ‘mess’ in our lives can accumulate over time, as represented figuratively. In a symbolic sense, my bedroom is a display of what can happen when life gets too difficult to handle – the mess in our heads. ‘Mess’ is a reminder to take a moment to be still amongst our everyday surroundings and avoid isolating ourselves from the beauty in this world.
ARTWORK PROCESS
Student extensively researched the ‘art of stillness’ after viewing a TED Talk by travel author, Pico Iyer. Student investigated her own Inquiry Question: How can we persevere through our own personal struggles to seek beauty in our surroundings and self? Using her research, the student then developed a series of metaphors and allegories to interpret themes of perseverance, true beauty, and stillness. After taking her own photograph of her bedroom for reference, the student applied a detailed charcoal layer (focusing on outlines, proportion, and tone) onto canvas before finally completing the artwork with a colour layer of oil paint.
