Rebel | Research Notes
My initial response and reaction to the brief for the "Conflict" exhibition was thinking of refugees of war, having to leave everything they own behind, with only the clothes on their backs as their remaining possessions and identity. For visual reference, this reminded me of Spielberg's film, "Schindler's List"; the iconic and horrifying true story of the Holocaust, with German businessman Oskar Schindler saving around 1000 Polish-Jewish refugees. The single use of colour is so emotionally powerful in the film, highlighted through an item of clothing.
For what can be considered a "grittier" subject topic, this allowed me to experiment and research beyond my usual subject practice, enabling the chance to push myself both artistically and academically.
In terms of applying inspiration to my own work, I liked the idea of featuring a single item of clothing, symbolising being a refugee or a victim of conflict. This led me to deliberate on more contemporary conflicts and clothing, such as army worker boots, in allusion to more recent wars such as Iraq and Afghanistan. With researching into shoes, I wanted them to portray the physical strain and tension that comes with such toil, with them being worn and ripped, holes, broken soles, etc.
The painting is on a natural linen canvas so there isn't the harsh contrast of dark hues vs white, but of a more muddy, dirty and organic blend of colours, also a reference to the use of camouflage worn by the army. While painting, a few streaks of colour smudged on the canvas, but yet again I felt that instead of this resulting in an error, this too embodied the notion of being beaten down, in all senses of the word.
