A-level Summer Exhibition Online 2018

The Tiffin Girls’ School
I captured this moment early one morning in Amsterdam, when an elderly man stopped for a moment to sit at a tram stop, with his dog beside him. It was a short, still moment, but I felt there was a power in his quiet contemplation. It made me consider how sometimes it is important to stop and allow ourselves to think, and to be alone.

Photography. 259 x 173cm.

The Tiffin Girls’ School
The photograph this painting is based on was taken on a warm, sunny day, when the subject was unaware of the camera. It is this candid, everyday nature of life that I have aimed to portray in my piece, using soft, warm colours and highlights to create a portrait which captures the easy, relaxed nature of the moment it depicts. I was influenced by the work of Cristina Troufa, who uses portraiture to explore big questions in life. My piece, however, focuses on simplicity, and the small, everyday aspects of life.

Acrylic on canvas.. 120 x 120cm.

Guernsey Grammar School
Ever since I started photography I have looked at landscapes. As I have moved forwards I have started to look deeper into landscapes and look at different areas. For this image I was looking at curves in different landscapes.

Photography. 2.6 x 3.7cm.

Haringey Sixth Form
This is a portrait of a friend. I was trying to create a piece that explored the theme of viewpoints and chose this composition in part due to the interesting angle of the shot. I wanted to look at people in a casual way rather than make a strong statement.

Acrylic and oil on board.. 100 x 70cm.

Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School
Behind this body of work is an extensive amount of research into the figure of Eve throughout culture and history, and articles on the true scientific origins of humanity and race. Across history, Eve is a figure that has been used to oppress women within society, and so I set out to create a piece celebrating and empowering the legendary first woman, based on an accurate biological depiction of Eve. In this piece of work, I am influenced by the work of Kehinde Wiley in his blended painting, and have also been inspired by the photography, creatively directed by Moshoodat Sanni.

Gouache paint, cartridge paper. 63 x 84cm.

King Edward VI College Stourbridge
For this piece I was inspired by Lucian Freud’s depiction of the larger figure. After considering Mom for the subject of my project; I explored her relationship with body image and how she viewed herself versus how she wished to be perceived. I chose to paint on such a large scale in order to highlight how I see her as beautiful, and to allow her to confront her insecurities, hopefully viewing herself as the same.

Acrylic on canvas. 150 x 100cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
When documenting my choreographed interpretation of my mother’s influence over my brother, the works of Nan Goldin, Sian Davey and Corinne Day caught my attention, due to their fascination with children, family and the raw truth. These are three elements I strove to expose. With Lydia Panas’s compositions in mind, I dressed my brother in women’s clothing – mainly my mother’s and my own – to represent the gradual manipulation of his character. He seemed unaware of how at ease he was in the clothing, and how used he was to being bent to the will of others.

Medium format camera with 120mm colour film. 42 x 59.4cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
When documenting my choreographed interpretation of my mother’s influence over my brother, the works of Nan Goldin, Sian Davey and Corinne Day drew my attention due to their fascination with children, family and the raw truth which are three elements I strove to expose. With Lydia Panas’ compositions in mind, I dressed my brother in women’s clothing – mainly my mother’s and my own – to represent the gradual manipulation of his character. He seemed unaware of how at ease he was in the clothing, and how used he was to being bent to the will of others.

Medium format camera with 120mm colour film. 42 x 59.4cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
When exploring the topic of ‘Land Use’, I focused on the place I call home. The county of Dorset is known to have kept its connections to traditional crafts and trades. For centuries, the area has produced generations of skilled craftsmen and women who to this day continue to practice their profession. In this series I investigated a selection of people; a hurdle maker, a blacksmith, a master thatching company, a crocheter and a chimney sweep. My intention is to inform the advancing society of where all forms of industry originated, and how important they still are.

35mm black and white film, Olympus OM 1-N, Silverprint. 40.64 x 30.48cm.

The Grey Coat Hospital
Being immersed in the theme of the refugee crisis, I became fascinated by the structure of tents, and the ways in which they can be alternated between a 3D and a 2D form. I produced refugee tent nets out of scraps of fabric, and then proceeded to make collograph prints of them using a printing press.

Caligo relief ink, cartridge paper, fabric, ribbon, thread. 29.7 x 42cm.

Southport College
Attention!…Stand at ease! This photo is of a line of veterans all following the call of the sergeant in the memorial service of Remembrance Sunday.

“you can take a soldier out the military but you cant take the military out of a soldier”.

DSLR, 50 mm, memory card. 33.07 x 23.62 cm.

Bedford College
This whole piece of work is rather close to me, as it’s all based on my great grandfather who escaped from an Italian war camp, my idea was to create a first person view of how he escaped. This is one of the images I used, and it is meant to look like a war camp cage.

Photography. 21 x 30cm.

Holland Park School
This series of plaster pieces is inspired by my exploration of British culture and its place in the modern world - something especially relevant after Brexit. Through creating these pieces I asked myself “What makes a British person British?”. After being inspired by the work of Martin Parr, I conducted a photoshoot of far right group Britain First, and was inspired to create a work that reflected their harsh views, views which society deem abhorrent and immoral. I combined plaster and crockery to present alternate representations of Britain, a merging of the traditional and modern Britain, the exclusive and inclusive aspects to our society.

Crockery in plaster. 84 x 116 x 5cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
The project focused on the idea of ‘place’, the meaning each person ascribes and what makes a location unique. Many assume village life is isolated and dull but, through this portrait, that stereotype is challenged. This photograph is part of a survey series, inspired by photographers such as Alec Soth. The portraits play a significant part in revealing the story of this place by attaching people to it. People have the ability to experience, interpret and shape a location which then, in turn, influences and shapes others’ interpretation of a place. That is what I hope to achieve through this photograph.

Medium format colour film.. 59 x 42cm.

Cambridge Tutors College
This photograph is from a series which I photographed where I tried to show how the roles of the sexes are seen within the home. This young couple, despite education and emancipation still conform to traditional roles with the woman continuing to performing the majority of the housekeeping.

Digital photograph. 45 x 30cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
This image is part of my series titled ‘taboo’. I covered a range of issues that carry stigma from feminism to racism, all from the perspective of myself, a white male. This resulted in inappropriate, uncomfortable and controversial images, the aim was to be uncanny visually and mentally. I was inspired by the work of Torbjorn Rodland. This image was inspired by trophy hunting. The hippo foot can be seen to be crushing the subject showing the natural power of this animal, a role reversal of classic trophy hunting photographs.

Photography, inkjet on fiber paper. 75 x 50cm.

King Edward VI School
This painting explores the relationship between humans and isolation. I was also experimenting with all the possibilities of portrait painting, including the impact of negative space on the canvas. I was inspired by my surroundings, at school and at home, and so the painting features my doorway to my room and a school uniform. I was influenced by the work of painters Euan Uglow and Robert Bevan, and artists such as the Impressionists, who relied on friends and family to model for them.

Oil on canvas.

The Thomas Hardye School
Exploring the concept of angst and alienation, I was influenced by the German Expressionists and painters including Harald Metzkes and Karl Hofer. My painting is about isolation and estrangement, emphasising the bleakness and despair that pervades humanity. I wanted to convey this through the closed off figures and austerity in the dearth of colour. It is a reflection on the self and on society.

Oil on board. 114 x 72.6cm.

The Holt School
My father had a bike accident and suffered a broken wrist, and cuts and bruising to his face, which have left permanent scars. I first photographed him using angled lighting. From the photograph, this observational portrait was drawn in pencil to allow me to capture the detail of his swollen, distorted features and pained expression, particularly in his eyes, and to show how his face merged with the shadows that appear to cling to him.

Graphite pencil. 29 x 42cm.

Burford School and Community College
This piece features the hands of my mum grasping my brother’s face tightly, which pushes the cheeks to create an interesting composition. The contrast between the rough drips of green and the calm and unwilling face of my brother are to show the difference in emotion of the two subjects.

Stoneware clay with a vintage green glaze. 15 x 30 x 15cm.

ACS Hillingdon International School
Investigating themes relating to race, gender and sexuality, this piece is inspired by the sense of fear and prejudice experienced by people when encountering the unknown. In this photograph I am modelling the sculpture as an extension of my hair and identity as a young, black woman.

Human hair, wire, tape, newspaper, and glue. 18 x 18 x 9cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
I created this piece using scrap wood to give the piece tonal and textural variety, and copper pipe which defines the form.

Wood, copper, galvanized wire and plaster. 48 x 92 x 27cm.

Cheadle Hulme School
My A-level project discussed the theme of emaciation and the effect that the world surrounding us has. I get particularly frustrated with narcissism in society due to people’s obsession with the presentation of themselves and the whole facade that comes with social media and youth culture. This was my final piece made out of clay, based ironically of myself, which I find adds a personal aspect to the issues I am discussing in my work.

Clay. 70 x 53 x 32cm.

The Grey Coat Hospital
I’ve been tackling the under-representation of Asians in the media, including the stereotypes and prejudices that we are confronted with. I decided to interview many young Asians, which gave me insight and inspiration to create visual content. Some things were particularly striking- someone had used the term ‘suffocating’ to describe how they felt about these issues as an Asian. I began creating work that evoked these feelings of suffocation, vulnerability, and oppression to demonstrate just how offensive and demanding these prejudices are; we internalise this racism and begin to doubt were we are from, and who were are as individuals.

Oil on sewn latex.

Thomas Rotherham College
I gathered inspiration from my own experiences with mental health as well as from Dutch still-life paintings that focus on deterioration of physical substances. The mind is extremely temperamental and can deteriorate very quickly, which I have portrayed by incorporating decay in my portraiture.

Oil, acetate, ham, cheese, bread. 18 x 18cm.

The Harrodian School
For my piece, I explored the theme ‘Limitless’ in Abstract art and Automatism. I focused on Kandinsky who was extremely suitable as his work does not have a beginning or end, nor does it depict explicit scenery. He removes all recognisable objects forcing the eye to continually move around the work. Kandinsky suffered from synaesthesia thus was able to express feelings and music through shapes and colours. By accessing my unconscious I created biomorphic shapes floating in vibrant colours, whilst being influenced by music and my current mood.

Oil on canvas.. 70 x 50cm.

Bideford College
I created a large scale sewn piece depicting the scenes of a table, post bingeing session to depict the day to day reality for someone who suffers with bulimia.

Sewn textiles. 50 x 35cm.

Thurston Community College
This piece, like my other works, is a communication of my internal experiences. The imagery is taken from my sketchbooks, and translated into the format of a chess game. The pieces become characters that I conceived, while the board becomes a map of my mind. The drawing started from a comic-strip depiction of the human brain, and now references the insanity of the likes of Where’s Wally and Heinz Edelmann’s ‘Yellow Submarine’. Chess is a classical game of war, depicting a medieval battle. I have taken this meaning and twisted it into a metaphor for the mind, in particular mine.

Cartridge paper (white/black), modelling clay, spray paint, paint pens, acrylic paint.. 64 x 64 x 11cm.

Lady Margaret School
This piece is an embroidery on stretched canvas. It is based on my investigation of how we define drawing, during which I looked at accidental marks and drawings that we make subconsciously as we go about our lives. The image I embroidered is cropped from part of an essay which I wrote out and left out in my workspace to be marked and ‘drawn’ on, as a record of my everyday living. I wanted to contrast the strenuous process of embroidery with the instantaneous marks made without thinking. I was influenced by artists such as Tim Knowles who explore the nature of drawing.

Embroidery thread, streatched canvas. 60 x 100cm.

Concord College
I was inspired by transparency of white textiles and the symbiotic relationship between black and white. Dotwork style used helps to highlight the fragility of the structure and how lightweight this piece of white netting is. As a reference I’ve used two photographs taken by me and used both of them so that one flows into the other, which makes the piece look even more abstract.

White gel pen on black foamboard. 84 x 59cm.

Brighton and Hove Sixth Form College
I was inspired by Beckmann’s use of the chaos and the macabre to draw attention to brutally real depictions of vulnerable people. In this image my mum is the tired performer representing how overworked she is as a GP, and yet how she is still expected to carry out domestic responsibilities. I am the clown because of my obsession with control. The girl on the ground is meant to be vulnerable in her own sexuality, but for herself not for patriarchal society. The disconnected phone represents the loneliness of how images of contemporary women owning their own vulnerability, and being complicated, are not present in society.

Etching ink, card. 49 x 36cm.

The Grey Coat Hospital
When wearing this piece any sounds made inside, even screams, become muffled whispers to listeners on the outside. This piece explores the juxtaposition between the freedom of self reflection, and the restricted perspective of the outside world as well as the obtrusive shape one develops when wearing the piece.

Paper, fabric, string, chopsticks, heavy duty tape. 180 x 17 x 17cm.

The Thomas Hardye School
In this series I wanted to explore the abstraction of natural form by creating a repeating motif but varying the colouration and texture. I achieved this through the use of Raku firing to get varied vibrant colours and smoking over a porcelain glaze for a matte grey finish. The tentacles of are made from copper pipe that has been heated to give it a coloured patina.

Raku stoneware, copper pipe, epoxy.. 39 x 58 x 115cm.

St Benedict’s Senior School
Within this piece I wanted to explore the internal architectural spaces created by urban environment I live within. It was inspired by Anthony Caro’s Early One Morning and the ability of his sculptures to explore space through both horizontal and vertical lines.

White emulsion and wood. 300 x 200 x 300cm.

Radnor House School
This photograph is of a number of tourists in Salzburg, in a central square. The shapes of the tarmac are reminiscent of an abstract composition, and the pedestrian’s shadows act as slender caricatures of the person they mimic. I was most interested with this interaction between shapes in this photograph.

Photography. 136 x 102cm.

Queen Elizabeth’s (Boys) School I became interested in examining the link between the clinical and the personal using an unconventional material. The intimacy yet inaccessibility of the word Savium also alludes to my ulterior (and superior) interest in the dichotomy between the clinical and the personal. I became intrigued in how the personal space of the body might be examined in a forensic manner. In the end this strange display successfully evoked the fundamental tension at the heart of dentistry; that of intimacy and distance, the personal and the sterile.

Chewing gum, string, nails, casts (plaster of Paris). 256 x 200cm.

Twyford CE High School
This photograph is one of the first I had ever taken on film, having been inspired by the likes of Robert Frank. This photograph captures Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ‘decisive moment’.

Olympus OM10 (illford hp5 film). 2740 x 1830cm.