When I first started studying art we watched this video in class and I was immediately inspired by Gerhard Richter's process of painting these large pieces of art. I like the adding of layers and scraping and taking them away to reveal elements underneath.
This inspired me to create an art piece in the form of a portrait which was a final piece for a brief for college. The portrait was mixed media as we were doing a painting unit learning differing painting techniques and I decided to use them all in this piece. I
had words collaged onto the background and over this I scraped acrylic paint inspired by Gerhard Richter's technique. I wanted to be able to partially see the words. The piece was about my daughter who suffers from a variety of health conditions and how over the years many people have commented that she does not look ill. It is a piece about how disabilities people suffer from are often unseen by others and are as such 'hidden disabilities'. However for those who suffer with ill health it is very much a daily battle and often a battle to simply put your face on!
This portrait was of my daughter on a day where she had enough energy to put make up on and experiment, trying out a Marilyn Monroe look and in my opinion looking stunning. I painted this in honour of her and how courageous she has been, continues to be through all the health challenges she has faced, does face and also looking ahead to what the future holds with progression of these health problems and how she faces them with a smile, with grace and courage and I greatly admire that.
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