Secondary Visual Arts

I want my audience to view my artwork as a warning: that if they do not recycle their paper and plastics, they will have fake bouquets.

Being in lockdown, I wanted to investigate materials I could use, as roses can come in all shapes and colours within nature. I used an old tissue box, newspapers and magazines, wire, hot glue, and string.

I also edited photos to show many iterations, and that work can be improved by computer modification.

My main aim was to raise awareness of artificially made food, hoping that the audience can understand issues that pervade our society, even in the very food we eat.  

Due to lockdown, I had to adapt and create from materials I had at hand. I have come to understand my art practice, being able to think creatively even within limitations e.g. COVID-19. 

The concept for my ‘onsite’ body of work was about how people interact with their surroundings. I experimented with different positions of the human form. 

My ‘remote’ work (collage) interprets relationships people have with their animals. I wanted the audience to relate to it, with personal experiences of animals in their own lives. Being remote, I had to really step out of my comfort zone and look at options [for materials]. 

Contrasting man-made lego ‘minifigs’ with the natural environment highlights the damaging effect that humans have on that environment. Alongside is a message of hope and progress with Lego’s new environmentally friendly outlook.

Trash trumpet was the idea of mixing the materials that I had available with something familiar.

The wood lion represents the courage and trust that we all need throughout this time.

I want the audience to notice the beauty and the uniqueness of how humans express emotions through our facial features and expressions.

To evoke the concept of the complexities of emotion I have painted two portraits, both with the same facial expression of null emotion.

My artwork is of a beach and cliff setting. In the ocean the white water is the loudest part of the sea – I want the viewer to imagine hearing the waves crash against the rocks.

‘Alone: a moment in time’ reflects how I see the world. We are trapped in our own sadness; it seems we may never escape. Left by everyone and everything only for us to be alone once more, in a moment in time. 

My soft, yet dark sad colours were influenced by the way I see the world, as well as Van Gogh’s very last paintings.

I used my character Idris Alaxis to represent the harm of categorising people. Putting people in boxes is our natural tendency as humans – our brains are hardwired to categorise people. However, doing so reduces people to labels, limiting our ability to view them as anything else.  

Charcoal series of works.