Amelia Medbury
Blayney High School
PERSPECTIVES OF A NEGATIVE SPACE
Drawing
Charcoal, pastel, acrylic wash on Fabriano paper
Inspired by perspectives and how they affect the expression of emotions, I used techniques of angles and body language in my body of work to represent the negative spaces between social performance and duty. My work explores themes of feminism, domestic stereotypes and mental illness indirectly by using a private setting, where a person is often left to their own thoughts and prospects of nihilism, self-realisation and physical detachment. My intent was to create an intimate and vulnerable conversation between the work and the viewer.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Cristina Troufa, Robert Hannaford.
Marker's Commentary
Perspectives of a Negative Space is an evocative and emotive exploration of the experience of the everyday during the lockdown in 2021. The framing of the subject within the domestic spaces and tasks of the everyday effectively communicates the visceral experience of isolation and the daunting confinement experienced by many during the pandemic. The audience is focused on the struggles of the internal state of mind across the three expressive panels through the moody colour selection, the strong diagonal leading us off the page and the surrounding room interiors being a suggestion with limited detail. The deep rich hues of the hair, contrast against the skin tones that appear bruised in areas, suggesting a battered struggle to stay functioning in isolation. The title of the work enriches our understanding of the concepts underpinning the work, referring to both the artistic conventions of negative space and impact of restrictions of the lockdown on our internal state of being.