Artist Statement

My portfolio project explores the theme of Intrusive/irrational thoughts in mental health . Within this theme, I have chosen to focus on how different artists show irrational thoughts and mental health within their art works and through their variety of styles. Some artist preferred to present intrusive thoughts in a more a direct way, in which you can clearly depict what the piece is about and how it relates to particular disorders. Whilst other pieces take a more subtle approach, in which you need to analyse the piece to find a deeper meaning and tends to be open to interpretation. I have decided to mix these types of artists to explain how irrational thoughts are a struggle for people with mental health disorders. I would like to show this in a surreal sense, and to elicit an emotional response from the viewer, that differs between each individual. I want my work to have a subjective experience to whoever views it, as well as represent my views on how an individual experiences intrusive thought.

 

I have been influenced by the artist Robert Carter, who shows irrational thoughts in a surreal expressive way. He shows this through his work, such as ink clouds pouring out of an individual’s head labelled ‘dark thoughts’, and another by a person in a fetal position making up someone’s brain in bright red labelled “brain sick II’. I particularly like how Carter uses colour to highlight the emotions shown by the individual, as well as the photoshop he uses. I chose this artist because he allows me to create the surreal look I aspire to portray in my work. You can see this in my work by the way I have merged photoshop and photography to recreate his inventive art pieces. I have also been influenced by the artist Pierre Yves Riveau, who shows irrational thoughts in a more subtle way that requires a lot more analysis to depict his pieces. He shows his work through decomposition of classic video game characters, with cracks, graffiti and brick walls seeping through. I liked his “Distroy’ collection and how he uses pencil to construct different shades and points out key features of his pieces. Pierre would allow me to create that subjective experience I would like in in my art pieces. You can see this in my work through my use of photoshop and pencil to mimic his artwork. Finally, I was also influenced by Pat Perry, who brings both of my artists together through similar components in his work. Pat Perry creates pieces with cut out individuals filled with different sceneries, both in pencil and coloured pencil. You can see this in my work through the development/artist copy I created influenced by Pat Perry, by using photoshop and my photography.

 

To further my project, I took photographs in the style of my artists. I captured photos of acrylic paint in water, to create the ‘dark thoughts’ splurging like in Robert Carter’s art piece. I took pictures of my classmates to bring each element of the photography together through a main subject. The photos displayed the emotions of Robert Carters’ subjects in his pieces, as well as the angles and expressions of some of Pierre’s artwork. I used photographs from a collection of years from trips and holidays to mimic Pat Perry’s collage of individuals with various objects and sceneries within them. Photography was a big part in my project and helped me bring each component of every artists together in a sophisticated yet creative way.

 

For my developmental work, I merged the ink videos I captured, with the photographs of my classmates combining them with a range of digital media and texts to combine the works of all my artists. I created 3 purely digital piece, in which I used photoshop to bring everything together.

 

My final piece consists of 3 digital elements, 2 animations and one still image as the centre piece that’s distorted, to resonate my theme of irrational thoughts. I then placed a new video is hooted of black and white ink over the 2 animations to centre the focus on the middle piece.