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After reflecting on the nostalgia of childhood and female identity, i decided to focus on how I want to paint/ perceive myself as a woman and the important women in my life so I painted a portrait of my best friend (top) and a self portrait (bottom) including human flaws such as chapped lips, eyebags alongside the fun colours and staples of femininity  

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The top image is an oil painting of the street I grew up on as I’ve never really liked where I live but as I was painting it there was a nostalgia and fondness showing that when we memorialise things it becomes protected in our memory as something beautiful and untouchable therefore warping our perception of the past. Reminds me of the quote “I don't think the past is better, just cause it's cased in glass, protecting us from our now and later.” However, there is a slight coldness and surrealism in how it is warped in the painting compared to the rose tinted film photography with flares I have explored previously, as there are mixed emotions; a fondness for familiarity and a fear of how I felt when living there.

The next two oil paintings are on wooden panel in a similar style to Mark Tennant’s work. These are based on old family photographs of my mother and uncle from mid-90’s and early 00’s and do have more warmth than the previous painting but still the blurred details and not quite there backgrounds alongside colder colour choices continues the warped memory and surreal perspective.

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Influenced by old film photography and the rose-tinted effect that it creates. Idea of nostalgia and how our perception of past changes.

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Top images: linocuts showing sexuality mixed with distortion, dehumanisation and surrealism.

Bottom Image: collage exploring perception and surrealism.

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Etchings from photoshoot

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Various monoprints showing sexuality and statuesque nature through grayscale

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More research on various artists influencing the style and ideas in my work.

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Top image: study of one of the photoshoot images as an oil painting

Bottom image:  Developmental work, oil painting expressing similar idea of dehumanisation as seen in the museum and just being seen as ‘tits and a smile’, combined with colourful expression/ campness 

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Photoshoots exploring the “female gaze” I focused on how classically feminine staples e.g. make up, jewellery, pink can slip into the surreal and camp creating something fun and creative therefore being reclaimed rather than used to suffocate or oppress women as a means to meet beauty standards.

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Artist research and inspiration from female photographers and the shift to female gaze focusing on more surrealist style rather than equating feminine to beauty.

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The top images show a collection of contextual influences one of which is the book 'A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women' which inspired me to base a project on the male gaze and presentation of the female persona in art. I then visited the Walker art gallery in Liverpool and noticed how the majority of art was of the nude female body, but the majority of artists were male. I was particularly struck by the room of statues predominantly of women and how it was literally objectifying women as just creatures to be looked at and although they were stunning in appearance, I couldn’t help but feel strange about it. I was also reminded of the Guerrilla Girl movement specifically the piece 'Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum?'. Resulting from the experience in the gallery I began creating some preliminary pieces in watercolour and pen and wash to explore the statuesque imagery and lack of identity I felt when in the gallery. Then I began to develop my ideas further to see if there is a difference between female nudity done by female artists vs. the male gaze. I noticed there was a lot more life in the way I presented the body even through trying to create the solemn and inanimate nature I subconsciously inserted movement and colour. In this development, I decided to scan the drawings and edit them digitally creating multiple copies of the same drawing each edited in different colours.

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Bottom images: 1st attempt at using colour and texture in a more controlled way in a portrait. 

Top image: more subtle attempt with focus on colour

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Three examples of experimentation in abstract portraits featuring ways of creating texture in different mediums. 

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Study in use of colour and brushstrokes to create texture and movement in oil paintings.

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Experiments in creating texture in portraits through etching, oil paint and mono-printing.