Hanna Park
Gosford High School
SCREEN
Painting
Acrylic and oil on canvas
My body of work examines the overbearing reality of technology taking over the role of parenting. Inspired by the surge of media and technology used for online schooling, the three portraits of my family express my personal experience of this concept. The contrasting lighting on opposite sides of my parents' faces creates shadows representing technology and its ability to envelop an individual's thoughts. The work's shades of blue are a reference to 'blue light', with the intent of focusing further on technology and emphasising my message.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by studying and interpreting the following artists: Nam June Paik, Heinkuhn Oh.
Marker's Commentary
This accomplished, large-scale triptych reveals a sophisticated approach to portraiture. Astute modelling of fabric, hair, skin, and facial features enhance the realism and believability of each sitter. There is a highly refined handling of oil paint throughout, with careful layers of glazing enhancing the sombreness of each figure and their direct gaze connecting to the audience. The use of chiaroscuro with strong contrasts between light and shadow, deliberately underpins the stillness and mood within the series. The glow of light within the paintings is heightened through the deliberate monochromatic blue colour palette, accentuating an almost cinematic approach, whilst draining all sense of the outside world, rendering the inhabitants almost as if lifeless.
The single word title builds layers of complexity into the series SCREEN suggestive of a computer monitor, where the family members retreat to become passive consumers of online content. Yet the screen infers all mass media, television, or even mobile phones, and our obsession with the world beyond our own space. The lack of interaction between the family members and the quiet space each inhabits is suggestive of the faces being on a screen and the audience is viewing them, almost prying into this family's world.