Portfolio · Fine Art · GCSE and A-level
Fine Art girlhood & identity
My fine art pieces centre around a sociological study of “bedroom culture” by McRobbie and my personal observations, exploring saturation, identity, colour palettes and texture, and how materialised objects have come to resemble identity and the performance of femininity.
I analyse how childhood conventions influence idealised feminine ideals in adult life, using pictures of mostly myself, my mother and my two sisters. The work spans A-level Fine Art, focused on motion, personal identity and the female form, and GCSE Fine Art, focused on emotion and expression.
Final pieces
The gallery wall
details: the hand and the face
Reference to final piece
Photograph to final piece
Throughout my projects, I have digitally edited my photographs before developing them further into physical media with vibrant oil pastels.
A-level · identity and motion
Complex and resistant
My Investigation explores the complexity of female identity within culture and society, focusing on how patriarchal, media-obsessed and consumerist perspectives categorise, fragment, exploit and degrade all types of women across our globalised and fast-paced world with unrealistic beauty standards and features of capitalism.
I am interested in the tension between how women are perceived externally and how they define themselves internally, relating to Charles Horton Cooley’s sociological concept of the “looking glass self”. The theme of “motion” is literal, through expressive lines, chaotic layering and compositional flow. It also represents the constant reshaping of identity and resistance against static labels and stereotypes imposed by wider forces.
Recurring symbols in my visual diary: mirrors, reflecting self-perception, broken glass, referring to the fragmented nature of modern identity, and hands, symbolising female autonomy.
Bedroom culture
Toys, packaging and the objects of girlhood
A-level · Elaborate
The layered nature of women
I intend to explore and celebrate the complexity, diversity and layered nature of modern female identity through richly decorative symbols, mixed media, texture and colour. My work is influenced by artists such as Nisha Boehm, Ellie Kerr-Smiley and the Guerrilla Girls, who combine beauty, distortion and activism.
A key aspect of my project is primary photography, particularly in the portraits of my sister, friend, mother and images of sentimentally gifted flowers. I have consistently digitally edited these photographs in the style of my favourite artists before developing them further into physical media with vibrant oil pastels. This layering and constant evolution itself reflects the layered nature of women.
The piece is presented as a cut-out, mirroring the layout of an online editing platform with its fragmentation, reinforcing ideas of disruption, individuality and non-conformity.
Contextual research
Artists and thinkers
- Jenny SavilleRaw, unidealised artworks of the female body. Her manipulation of scale, composition and layering influenced my application of vibrant oil pastels.
- Keith HaringA highly graphic visual language, helping me intertwine symbolism and social commentary with simplified motifs.
- Bea StrouckenA quieter, psychological perspective on the emotional weight of portraying a vulnerable female subject.
- Nisha Boehm, Ellie Kerr-Smiley, the Guerrilla GirlsFlorals, abstract portraiture and typographic activism.
- Angela McRobbieThe sociology of “bedroom culture”, underneath the whole body of work.
