This is a painting I created for my final piece when studying A-level Fine Art. The theme for my final piece was human form. I chose the sub theme of disease and wounds. This is because it is a large part of the body’s reconstruction. It plays a role in how the body can look when not standard and how the body works to correct the problem. I also wanted to work on the contrasting ideas of beauty and horror. This is between how the body can feature horror of wounds but beauty of how the body looks when healed. I then went on to work with both together. This was researching the idea of beauty within horror. So this wounds can be viewed as beautiful. This piece was the final piece of my theme. I chose this canvas idea through the research of taking images. I then thought about how I could use the materials I use to connote the idea behind my work. This is an acrylic painting of a peer student. I took images of her with painful expressions on her face. I painted this acrylic painting with only three colours. The primary colours of blue red and yellow. I then created a mass amount of base colour by using these three colours with added paint of white.To then create the definition of the contours and highlights of the face by adding more amounts of a single colour. For example, the shade by the cheekbones are deeper; I used more blue in these areas. The artist Jenny Saville inspired my brush technique in this painting. She uses abrupt visible brush strokes. This makes the painting rough and textured. The rough, messy texture mirrors the pain the subject is experiencing. The brush texture subtracts the smooth accents. Therefore, as an audience, we gather the negative atmosphere of this painting. I then used more red tones around the eyes, this was to create the perception of a black eye. This is the wound. The black eye is a common wound in the bruising family. The healing process is quick and not as painful as other forms of wounding. However, I was tackling the idea of healing and wounds. The black eye is a stereotypical wound of domestic violence. I made the subject a victim of domestic violence. The physical healing of a black eye is quick, yet the healing process of mental emotions of domestic violence can be long and heart-aching. Disease and wounds not only affect the physical aspects of the body but also the mental health.The feedback I got for this painting has been endless. I have this on the wall in my living room, despite the negative atmosphere of the painting I am still extremely proud of this painting. My family all love this painting and when guests arrive, they all manage to find their own ideas of the painting. The overall ideas are endless and can affect and touch every person in a different way. This is why I love this painting. Every person gives me feedback that it touches them in certain ways all differently. Some may say she’s a victim of rape, of hate or of love.
