Gallery

ARTWORK DETAILS

Name: Kiralee McFetrish	School:
Title: The Façade of Life's Patchwork	Medium: Installation
Description: 2 sheet canvas paintings, 1 small cartridge paper painting, canopy, duvet insert with pillows, flip book charcoal drawing.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Façades are deceptive fronts that people figuratively build to hide their behaviours, addictions, and emotions. The quantity and texture of the laptop sleeves are symbolic of comfort people find in ambience and knowing they are safe and comforted. Uniting the sleeves together is a black thread, representing the chaos and disruption that mental health issues have on people’s lives, that somehow connects people when we realise that we aren’t alone. The cubby shaped figure represents childhood, a time where we worried less and enjoyed the little things. Displayed inside are paintings that expose my life behind my bedroom door.

ARTWORK PROCESS

To create the canopy, white cotton laptop sleeves were sewn together in 4 columns, each column consisting of 19 or 20 sleeves. Contrasting black cotton thread was used to sew them together. This was hung from the ceiling using 4 fishing lines, and 4 circle hooks. Each line was secured to the canopy using split pins. The paintings were done with acrylic paint on canvas; each an image I took of myself during moments of impulsive decision making or experiencing a meltdown. The charcoal image was completed using charcoal pastels, charcoal powder, and a brush on a fold out book.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kiralee McFetrish

My name is Kiralee McFetrish and I have been studying art for 3 years at The Gap State High School. I plan on taking a gap year in 2023, and travelling while making art along the journey, with the intention of observing and illustrating human behaviour through art. My focus in this body of work is the Human Condition; the characteristics that shape human existence such as thoughts, emotions, memory, behaviour, and conflict. Reflecting on personal experiences, I wanted to evoke feelings from my audience that made them reflect on their own experiences, since they teach us life’s lessons.