Gabriella Hudsons A2 Exam Evaluation

The title of our A2 exam was “Inside, outside and everything in between”. Initially I began researching the idea of mental disease and how the “inside” distorts the “outside” in regards to mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, but as my researched developed I became increasingly fascinated with the disorder, dysmorphia. The greatest interest to me is how society and images portrayed in the media can impact on our self esteem so violently it leads to individuals mentally distorting their physical appearance.

I began my research by looking for information on the disorder; I then produced my own photos. I was heavily influenced by the work of Belinda Eaton and her work on “dysmorphia”  who purposely uses extreme angles to obscure the body. Instead of using angles I decided I would physically distort my own face using rope and hair grips. I then edited these images and using the clone tool on Photoshop to overlay watercolour drips onto them, which gave a really dramatic and distorted effect. I also overlaid animal imagery over the top to perpetuate the idea of how we are all animals, but animals are free from mental distortions unlike humans; the overlaying of the animals also added to this grotesque imagery which I used to portray the distorted body image in the dysmorphic’s head.

After obtaining these images I began to use different types of mediums to explore the idea of “dysmorphia”. I began by using pencil to show the harshness and “grittiness” of the distorted image I was creating. I also used inks making sure I stuck to cold colours, such as greys and blues to represent the pain of this crippling disorder. I found when using inks I could create “explosions” of drips and this added further dimension and obscurity to my pieces.  I also created a series of etchings which I felt developed my use of different mediums and I really appreciated the way it allowed me to use the harsh edges and texture to display the harshness and distortions of dysmorphia on the body.

 




 I also began exploring textile work I proceeded by painting a realistic image of a friend with oil paints then I enhanced the skin tone using cold colours to create an almost grotesque image, I believe using oil paint was the best medium to blend and contrast these colours, I then stitched over the piece almost to represent an manifestation, to portray how the disease manifests over reality. I also enjoyed sewing over images and tearing away the paper to show how the disorder cripples people and manifests itself, and how reality is torn away from the individual.

In order to continue my research into this idea of how animals are free from distortion, I visited tropical world hoping to capture images of birds, which represent freedom. With the images i wanted to give a notion of “surrealism” and I was influenced by impressionism and the works of Degas and Monet, I love how in Monet’s waterlillies have such clarity but are painted in a abstract way. I started to incorporate this technique into my art as the abstract really coincides with the ideas of distortion of the mind.

I was also inspired by contemporary artist Charmaine Olivia whose paintings are extremely intelligent in the way they capture light and the depth of expression. I attempted to recreate a few of my own photos in her style which really developed my use of depth and traditional painting skills. 

For my final exam I decided to create a large scale piece using oil paints. I used two of my own images which I had taken of a friend and painted them using the concept of light which I had acquired through Charmaines Olivia’s work; to show the distortions I enhanced every element, I contrasted the lighting and I experimented with colours to give the piece a slight distortion. I also incorporated the “animal” concept from my research which portrayed the message of “how animals are free from the distortions”. I also attempted to add a certain degree of impressionism into my work which intertwined with the original painting to show the manifestation of dysmorphia and how it consumes its victim.