Chantell Hore
Lake Illawarra High School
JUST US
Drawing
Charcoal on Canvas
Inspired by my studies of Bill Henson’s use of dark moody lighting, my original intent was to express the personalities and moods of my dogs in a similar manner. However, during some exploratory concept drawings with charcoal, I decided to work with charcoal on fabric and to extend and develop my ideas to represent our family as a whole, complete with moods, personalities and the strong bonds between us. I retained a monochromatic colour scheme but focused on the bright, more joyful and quirky nature of my world. The resultant body of work reveals the real bosses of our home.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Bill Henson, Robert Billington, William Wegman.
Marker's Commentary
Just Us is a joyful work that uses a loosely pyramidal structure to organise members of a family - human and dog into a portrait work that celebrates humanity and their relationships. The highly considered and skilful execution in charcoal medium replicates the textural surfaces of skin and fur in an expert manner. The audience is given an insight into the individual personalities within each of the subjects, humans and dog, as well as the relationships between them. People and dogs overlap and crush together reinforcing the connection and closeness of the family and their relationships. The facial expressions, body language and the interactions communicate much of each of the people and dogs. Just Us plays out as a warm, delightful interpretation and representation of how dogs really are mans (and woman’s!) best friend.