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Through the development of my works, I have enabled myself to achieve my theme of self-exploration. Their development is more valuable than the finished piece itself in achieving my goal. This was evident to me in creating my Tivoli piece. After looking at pictures of different angles of the town for several hours, I slowly became more connected to these places, exploring every corner and crack, slowly realising and discovering things I had never noticed before. When I returned to visit family, I had a very strange sensation being there in person, for once I actually felt like I knew this place and it felt very familiar. It was things like this which through the creation of my pieces I was able to uncover. This gave me a greater understanding of my own identity and is what helped me achieve my goal of self-exploration. Rather than being a visual representation of my theme, my pieces were a guide to help me in achieving it.
The body of the work aims to leave little hints on various parts of my life which I feel have influenced who I am today. Abstractness is a motif which the majority of my pieces portrays which could reveal a part of my identity. This wasn't something which I originally intended however it developed over time which again shows that this body of work has helped me in achieving the theme of self exploration. My pieces also tend to have brighter colours such as my use of bright reds and yellows in my self-portrait and the bright landscapes in Wadi Shab and Tivoli. The way I have chosen to organise my exhibition aid this by putting my pieces as a timeline from left to right of the order of my pieces in their creation. This aims to show the development of my ideas and progress of my exploration and how it changed from when I started.
Exhibition Pieces
Self-Portrait
Acrylic Paint and Oil Pastels | 70 x 50 cm
In connection to my theme of self-exploration, my starting point was a fractured self-portrait where I take apart individual features of my face and warp and distort in a cubist style inspired by Pablo Picasso’s and Dora Maar’s cubist works.
Tivoli
Oil Pastels and Ballpoint Pen | 70 x 50 cm
Taking inspiration from the stunning views of my home town in Italy, I made this fractured piece of specific angles of the town. The fractured nature of the piece allows different angles of the same focal point to be explored. Moving right to left slowly transitions you from one side of the town to the other.
Tribal Mask
Medium: Clay Sculpture, Decorated with Acrylic Paint | 12 x 37 x 25cm
Having lived my early childhood on the island of Borneo, I was intrigued by jungle and the Tribal people which lived there. This sparked the idea of a Tribal Mask. Through research of various different tribal populations around the world, I created the mask based on common features around the world. The pattern painted on the mask is inspired by an ethnic group in Kenya called the Kikuyu people who use it as a face paint in certain ceremonies.
Wadi Shab
Oil Paint on Canvas | 50 x 40 cm
During my short stay in Oman, I explored the various Wadis around the country. Wadi Shab was one of the biggest. This piece incorporates the various sensations of scale and beauty of the canyon.
Interconnected
Ballpoint Pen | 30 x 42 cm
The piece is a scrapbook of my travels across my home country of Italy. The hands symbolize the connectedness of the North and South parts of the countries and the varying cultures in between and bring in it together in my travels across both sides of the country. Famous landmarks and symbols are drawn around the map