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In this journey, I began paying more attention to the motion of nature and all its aspects. I looked into artists such as Dale Chihuly which was one of my biggest inspirations throughout the IB Art course. His work focuses on allowing nature and gravity to create its pieces. Although I could not recreate this in the same way, I tried my best to analyse the actions taken by nature along with movements of animals and plants to help create realistic pieces. I made sure to use different mediums all the time to help represent the different parts of nature and how they are built. Pieces such as the Beauty in Colours painting show different perspectives of the same part of nature, representing beauty in its differences and yet identicalities.
Although I started my works with a simple idea of nature, it slowly grew over time into an understanding of nature rather than a thought. All of my pieces would have a connection to not only life, but also death, showing all sides of living. In the end, placing all my pieces together creates an image of life on earth. Each piece writes its own story and yet all together make one tale of beauty. What I love about this theme is that it brings together everyone, no matter where we are from or what language we speak. This is a theme everyone can understand and relate to and if I have done a good job, it will be reflected in how viewers react to my exhibition.
Exhibition Pieces
Blinded by Nature
Oil Paint on Canvas | 60 x 75 cm
In relation to my theme of Nature, I started out with this portrait of myself with a peacock feather over my eyes. Inspired by Polina Bright paintings in which she covers the eyes or the mouth with an element from nature including flowers and feathers. I chose the peacock feather for its recognized symbols of beauty and joy along with other meanings; keeping a peacock feather in the house is believed to bring good luck and prosperity.
Double Face
Glass Paint on Resin | 30 x 4 cm
The main idea was that this piece would represent the four elements along with life and death, like the circle of life. This was done by using sand and resin as earth, which also represents the ocean. The wind is from the idea that there is a current twisting the jellyfish in a circular motion. Life and death are represented by the jellyfish themselves as they look alive but are actually just a painting. The fire part of the four elements is the light shining through from behind the piece.
Way of Life
Clay and Acrylic Paint on Canvas | 40 x 3.5 cm
The sunflower is a flower which rotates and follows its life source; the sun. It often represents faith and adoration and can be seen as a very spiritual flower. The beauty of this flower is that gives significance to true faith along with loyalty to something bigger than themselves. I find it is a very subtle flower that follows life, which is a beautiful thing to think of. My hope with this piece is that people understand its beauty not only as a flower but also for its way of life.
Tridacna
Acrylic Paint on Clay | 10 x 9 x 6.5 cm
This piece is focused on coral reefs and is purely inspired by sea life. Giant clams are a very important part of coral reefs. They help protect fish along with protecting coral reefs and their extinction could be very harmful to coral reefs. The point of making this piece is to allow us to notice the beauty and importance of reefs as without them sea life could die out completely.
Awaken
Chicken Wire | 89 x 22 x 30 cm
For this piece, I wanted to bring to life a real animal. Although it can be seen as a kangaroo, the shape is not 100% one animal and from a different angle might seem like a different animal. The purpose of this piece was to have an open mind and leave it up to interpretation. The animal can be either hung, representing death, or sat down, representing life.
Albero della Vita
Stained Glass | 30 x 94.25 cm
This piece is a mosaic focused on the circle of life and mother nature. The tree is shaped as a woman nature she has created all around her. In front of her stomach there is a waterfall, which is created from her hands to represent that she is the creator. Water is the basis of all life forms, which is why the circle starts there. It then continues all around her as it passes from a yellow developing stage to the red matured stage up until death back down at its roots where it starts again.
Clay and Acrylic Paint on Canvas
Clay and Acrylic Paint on Canvas | 60 x 75 cm
This piece was made with the intention of showing that nature is beautiful no matter the colour. The clay flowers are coloured whilst the flowers flat on the canvas are black and white, to represent the flowers coming to life with the 3D effect. It also captures life on a still canvas keeping nature alive in our minds. The piece can be interpreted in many ways and adapted to personal circumstances or thoughts. It can also be seen from any direction as there is no wrong way of looking at it.
Land and Sea
Acrylic paint on Wire and Paper Maché | 12 x 23 x 30 cm
Sea turtles are important in the ecosystem for any animal that survives on seagrass beds and coral reefs. This means that they are carry a vital role in marine life, similarly to the giant clams. My inspiration for this piece was the turtles shell as I find it particularly fascinating and beautiful, giving marine life an extra spark. I also chose the turtle they are both land creatures and marine creatures.