BETTY, KNIBBS
‘A self-portrait about failure’
My theme through unit three and four studio art is fears and phobias. I wanted to represent fears that personally affect me, one of which is the fear of failure. I wished to create artworks that pushed me out of my comfort zone (which I never step out of due to this fear) and that best expressed how I feel.
For my artwork I drew a self-portrait, I choose to use an image of myself wearing my school uniform and posing as if it’s a school photo. I chose to include an element of my school in my artwork as lots of my negative feelings towards myself comes from the idea of doing well at school or not. Every math SAC that I failed, I’ve took to heart and every time my friends have asked my what grade I got, the embarrassment I feel if they got a higher mark has left me with so much shame. I also chose to wear my year 12 jumper as I feel year 12 has defiantly created the most pressure when it came to failing as it can affect my career and success after school. My self-portrait is not a normal self-portrait as I am wearing clown makeup. I’ve chosen to do this to represent how I feel when I fail, I feel stupid, as if I’m being ridiculed at, like the pit of a joke, like a clown. I wanted to really show my audience the shame and embarrassment I feel. The makeup is in the shape of a mask to symbolise how I try to mask my feelings, I don’t want anyone to know I care so much about failing. I don’t let them see my feelings by putting on a (metaphorical) mask. For the background of my portrait and the two extra canvases I used a pastel yellow wall paint. To add texture, I added sand to the paint and applied it to the background. Using red ink on the other two canvas to contrast from the yellow background, I stated “I called my mum to tell her I really need help” on the first canvas, and on the second “we talked about the weather instead”. I choose to use this message as I feel it very subtly says what I’m meaning, which is I can never ask for help as I’m afraid of people seeing me as failure. I don’t want to be seen as struggling or weak. I wanted to create a message that said what I feel and mean but engaging the audience think about it for a minute, to interpret how they feel.
Acrylic paint, ink and sand on linen canvas (80cm x 80cm)
BETTY KNIBBS
“Boys will be Boys”
Exploring the theme of sexual assault, I chose to question why women fear to come forward about their personal experiences with it and the response they may get from the people around them. My artwork consists of three undergarments, all of which are the colour white to symbolise fragility and purity. I’ve chosen to represent this idea on underwear as underwear is a very private thing which is only supposed to be seen when the wearer wants it to be seen. Underwear also represents armour and protection in a type of way as it is protecting very private parts from the world. Using red wool, I stitched the word “slut” into the middle of the G-string, the response “were you drunk?” onto the left padding of the bra cup and the very common statement “boys will be boys” onto the corset. These words are in the colour red to represent violation and aggression. These words are very harmful, and I wanted to communicate this by using colour.
Purchased textile undergarments, red wool
Folio Pages
OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING (Step Up)
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